I haven’t been posting lately, not because nothing is happening, but because too much is happening. This blog has always been primarily a vehicle for recording my travels, plus a record of the books I have read. Well, I haven’t been traveling and I haven’t been reading. So what have I been doing? Work. Lots of work. A part-time job for pay and a part-time but very time-consuming volunteer job.
The job for pay is with Visiting Angels. Yes, I have become a caregiver. At this time I have two regular clients – an 82-year-old man who has been nearly blind for over 40 years and a 100-year-old man who was recently notified that he is now America’s oldest living combat Marine. Yes, he is one of the dwindling number of WW II veterans. With the travel time and relatively low pay, I am not totally convinced that the money justifies the time I invest, but I like these men and feel that THEY think the time I invest in them is worthwhile. They occupy my weekday mornings.
The volunteer job is helping secure the elections in Lee County FL. I am organizing and scheduling nearly 100 volunteer poll watchers. These are people who sit quietly in the polling place, observing the paid workers there and reporting any violations of the law or county election procedures. To me, poll watching is less interesting than watching paint dry and I wouldn’t want to do it myself. And I really don’t expect for them to find major problems as my experience as a paid poll worker in previous elections has me firmly convinced that elections here are extremely well run and very secure. But this year isn’t like previous election years, so I think being vigilant is wise.
Early voting started yesterday and will continue for another week. I am the primary person responsible for receiving and responding to problem reports from all of those volunteers. That will consume my afternoons this week. Then comes primary election day, August 18. That will be an intense day. There are a few after-election activities that will demand my attention (and, please, Florida, NO RECOUNTS). But then things will quiet down for a time, until the November general election.
So how am I going to treat myself for all this hard work? Take a cruise, of course. More on that later.