Okay, it’s time to vote, if you’re in the U.S. and haven’t done so already

If it's after 6 a.m. Mountain Time, I'm at the vote center. I've taken all my meals for the day with me—no fridge, no microwave, and election judges can't leave the site until the polls have closed and the center's votes have been tallied and submitted. No cell phones (or unofficial computers, of course) allowed in the vote center.

Tomorrow it's back to real life again: independent publishing, knitting, spinning, sheep, figuring out how to make the next mortgage payment (so far, the bail-out hasn't trickled this way). . . . 

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In 2008, the United States is holding its 56th presidential election. The first, in 1792, was uncontested (George Washington).

I grew up when Truman, Eisenhower (x2), Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon were the presidents. This will be the tenth presidential election I've voted in, and I've voted in three states (although I've been a resident of more than that), with voting systems that range from lever to electronic to paper ballots, both fill-in and punch-out.

• 1972   Nixon/Agnew (2nd term) – McGovern/Shriver
• 1976   Carter/Mondale – Ford/Dole
• 1980   Reagan/Bush, G.H.W. – Carter/Mondale (2nd run) – Anderson/Lucey
• 1984   Reagan/Bush, G.H.W. (2nd term) – Mondale/Ferraro
• 1988   Bush, G.H.W./Quayle – Dukakis/Bentsen
• 1992   Clinton/Gore – Bush/Quayle (2nd run) – Perot/Stockdale
• 1996   Clinton/Gore (2nd term) – Dole/Kemp – Perot/Choate
• 2000   Bush, G.W./Cheney – Gore/Lieberman – Nader/LaDuke
• 2004   Bush, G.W./Cheney (2nd term) – Kerry/Edwards
• 2008   Information in progress at time of posting

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Addendum while up at what a friend calls o-dark-thirty, although it's not quite o-dark-fifteen, actually: Got a confirming call last night from the supervisor of the vote center where I'll be working. We will have access to a fridge and a stove! Amazing!