Friday, November 6, 2020

The Waiting Game


When Olga and I stepped out the front door yesterday morning, this was the scene on our street. Foggy London town! The mist lingered through the morning until lunchtime, when the sun finally came out. Of course, by then I was at work...


...but I got to enjoy the effects of the dramatic slanting sunlight in the library.

I was checking the news all day, as I'm sure all of us are, and I was dismayed when I woke up this morning that things are still up in the air. I'd hoped we'd get a result overnight. But I'm sure the ballot-counters are being especially careful, given the closeness of the race, and I get that. I'm nervous as a cat.

Here in London, we heard lots of pops and crackles last night for Bonfire Night, but I didn't see anything visually. Sometimes when I look down the hill on the horizon I can see fireworks, but not this year. Our latest lockdown began yesterday so any celebration involving a crowd would have been impossible.

People didn't hesitate to flock to the city for a last, pre-lockdown fling on Wednesday night, though. 🙄 (That's an eye-rolling emoji, in case it's too small for you to see.)

Oh, and remember how I mentioned that the BBC had imposed new rules on its journalists that some said may preclude marching at LGBTQ Pride events? And I pointed out that my former employer, The New York Times Company, had rules that allowed attendance in a non-political way? Well, the BBC director clarified their rules, and it turns out they're similar -- non-political participation is fine. So that's good.

Other than that, we're the same here as you are there -- waiting. Metaphorically, my cuticles are a wreck.

45 comments:

  1. What are you waiting for, Steve? According to Trump he has won. And that's all there is to it. Facts are facts. Bigly. How amusing, and reassuring, that some of the TV networks actually cut yesterday's speech only a few minutes in. That is quite something.

    To bring a wry smile to your face. Published in one of the British papers a twitter exchange between two women one of whom states that the wait is doing her head in.

    "I grew up in Brazil, we have the results two hours after the polls close".

    met with

    "I grew up in Egypt. We have our results before the election starts."

    U

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    1. Ha! It's funny (in an alarming way) that Trump's vision for America is more aligned with developing countries that in the past have been democracies in name only.

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    2. "I grew up in Poland. Everyone knows you can't trust the polls."

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  2. Can't stop checking for election updates. What a shameful showing for the USA. I love fog. Also, your library looks like a very pleasant space.

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    1. It is shameful. Even with Biden squeaking ahead (hopefully) it's alarming to think so many people supported such an awful president -- and awful human being!

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  3. Both great photos. The first atmospheric and the second nicely captured rays of sunlight.
    I am not checking the news but I can't help hearing what is happening. Regardless of who wins, it is a very disappointing result to see a country still so divided.
    Our equivalent to your BBC, ABC had staff on their own ABC GLTBI Mardi Gras float this year. I hasten to add, no taxpayer money was spent.
    I am amused buy Ursula's Egyptian anecdote.

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    1. Yeah, I think it's typical in the states for large media organizations to participate in Pride parades. And I think the BBC has done it before here, too. That's why these new rules caused some concern, although the BBC guy says they never intended to stop people from marching in the Pride parade.

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  4. I can remember the 'Pea Soupers' that we used to get in London way back where you literally could not see your hand in front of your face. Fog that is. lol
    Briony
    x

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    1. As I understand it, a lot of the "fog" in the old days was actually coal smoke.

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  5. "Ow good lord guvnor! Anather pea souper dahn in Londinium! Sow fick you caddn't even see the Uncle Gus!"

    It must be nice to have a job where you can sit at your desk taking pictures of shafts of light on the floor. How do you cope with the stress?

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    1. Hey, I stood up to take that picture, I'll have you know!

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  6. I just woke up to the news that Biden is now ahead in Georgia. Just hang in a little longer, everyone...

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    1. So exciting! (Although it will be more exciting if Biden's margin grows to a more comfortable number.)

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  7. Fog And An Olga Girl Walk, Best Day Ever - Enjoy Your Weekend Brother Man

    Cheers

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  8. Like Crafty Corners, I remember the foggy, coal-dusted days in London. As a child I vividly remember the number of times my father failed to negotiate a round-a-bout in heavy, pea-souper fog--meaning we ran over more than a few of the center islands back then. Which brings up memories of cold winter mornings. Of the coal being delivered into the chute by the front door with the only heat in the house coming from a coal fire in the closed sitting room and the continually fired aga in the kitchen. My mother always warmed our clothes for the day on a drying rack next to the aga. Each morning we raced from under our eiderdowns in freezing bedrooms and dressed in the blessed warmth of the kitchen.

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    1. Sounds cold! I must say, I'm glad we've developed more efficient (and cleaner) methods of heating.

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  9. This crying sucker is still filing lawsuits without evidence of any fraud going on. They are throwed out as soon as they are filed and those trump children is making noise. No one is listening to them. (meaning the people with power) They were hollering for the republican lawmakers yesterday to step in and do something. There were silence. Sorry Trumpies you are all alone except all the cult members, uneducated and violent ones. It's sad that we do have so many terrible people walking around on earth. I think it's money driven from the promises. Sad thing is all his promises are lies. If you think back when scammers offer some of us idiot a lot of money we fall for it and in the end they get nothing and lose what they already have. Greed is not profitable. Like I said before, a lie will go farther than the truth with so many of us. Not me because I am not going to listen to promises but you have to show me what you are going to do. You're safe being that way and you won't fall for lies.

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    1. He can file all the lawsuits he wants. He's not going to win them. No court is going to throw out people's votes in the quantities he needs based on scant or no evidence.

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  10. OOPS!!!! forgot....Joe Biden is ahead in Georgia, still ahead in Arizona and now ahead in Pennsylvania. Look like more good people showed up at the polls than the bad cult members. I am beginning to start feeling good about this election process. They are being careful with the counting.

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  11. Oh, Steve! Can it be possible?
    Patience. These times call for it over and over. We should be good at it by now! I'm not, though.
    When you're walking Olga in that early morning fog, do you ever feel as if you might cross paths with a shadowy figure dressed in a hound's tooth cape and hat with his teeth biting down firmly on a smokey pipe?

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    1. Ha! It IS a very Holmesian scene. The situation is looking really good. :)

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  12. I keep wondering when the counting will finish. But I guess they are being extra cautious that the counting is correct so that the lunatic cannot make a complaint.

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    1. When it comes down to such a small margin it's important to get the counts right.

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  13. I just want to hear the words "President-Elect Joe Biden"

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    1. You and me both! I must admit I get pleasure from knowing how angry Trump must be.

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  14. Biden is ahead now in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada. Any one of those states will get him to that magic 270. I feel it in my bones that he will take all three of them, for an additional 42 points to his 264 votes so far. The more time that passes, the more confident I feel. Take heart!

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    1. I think he's going to take everything but North Carolina. With so many electoral votes, he'll have even more leverage to resist Trump's crybaby tactics.

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  15. I woke up this morning to good news and bad news. Good news is that Biden is ahead in PA and GA. The bad news is that apparently Steve Bannon tweeted and Facebooked some pretty horrendous threats that I'm loathe to repeat here. Apparently Twitter took it down and closed his account but Facebook had it up for 200,000 people to see before they took it down. Also, a militia group has arrived in Phoenix and taken up a stand in front of the county election headquarters, automatic weapons and all. I did hear that the secret service has been sent to surround Biden's home as the results are coming soon. It's feeling more like Afghanistan than America these days.

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    1. Bannon is a lunatic. But I do think we may be in for some rough-and-tumble times over the next few weeks.

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  16. That's a great fog photo. Your library looks so inviting. I think it must be fun to sit there and read. Leave your cuticles alone. Nothing you do to them will make a difference to the outcome of the election. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

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    1. The library is a really pleasant space, with lots of daylight and warm wood and art -- I feel so fortunate to work there. I'm not REALLY messing with my cuticles! You're right -- we just have to wait for this to play out.

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  17. I like the decorations you have up in your library. Now that Halloween is over, what goes in there next?
    Hoping that we will be celebrating a Biden tonight!

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    1. Actually, everything in the photo is permanent. We'll get a Christmas tree in a couple of weeks. (At least, we usually do, and I assume we will this year too.)

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  18. I too am chewing on my cuticles and have a pit in my stomach constantly. I wish I believed that a result would be an end to this election madness, but I'm not hopeful. Biden is ahead by 4 million votes, but our system is messed up. So are about half the voters in the US too apparently.

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    1. Yeah, that's the most shocking part of this whole thing -- that SO MANY people still support Trump, even after all we've been through.

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  19. Love the foggy photo! Edna has good advice about the cuticles, but I'm not sure my brain will listen. So nerve wracking! I ate an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food in my car during my lunch hour yesterday.

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    1. Stress eating! There's a lot of it going around!

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  20. That foggy London photo looks so much like our little town here on the north coast of California. Foggy foggy so often. Love seeing the sun come out.
    We are waiting and waiting and waiting. Hopefully the results will be announced today. GO JOE!!!

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    1. I remember being in San Francisco years ago and seeing fog like this!

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  21. Arizona now has TWO democratic senators, and it looks like Biden will carry the state. Who woulda thunk it? I wish the race would be called so the lunatic fringe would go sit down and he quiet.

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    1. It is amazing! Trump made a fatal miscalculation by repeatedly slurring McCain.

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  22. The stubby trees in the fog are inspiring- for a tale of horror.
    Something on my computer said that Monday it is possible for the votes to have been counted. Then hang on to your hat! The Orange army may be afoot.

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    1. They do look very Halloween-ish, don't they? For some reason the Council prunes them within an inch of their lives every autumn. The next couple of months are going to be very interesting.

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