Saturday, October 31, 2020

Spooky Times!

 It's Halloween once again!

Yeah, like everything else this year, it was kind of a bust. Usually, I'd spend this post talking about New York Comic Con, show you what I got, and show off the cool cosplays I saw.

That didn't happen this year. And it got me bummed.

But fret not, dear listeners! I recreated me experience as best I could and still managed to stand on a really long line this past month.

I voted early for the first time last Saturday! Yes folks, New York finally entered the 20th century and had early voting for the first time in a presidential election! I knew lines were gonna be long, and was prepared for a wait, but...woof.

When I early voted during the primaries, I was in and out in five minutes. Of course, I went on the LAST day of early voting. And primaries don't get a big turnout in the first place. I saw long lines around the country and thought, maybe New York would've gotten its act together and I'd only wait about an hour, maybe two, tops.

Ha ha, no. Thanks to the lack of polling places for early voting, plus covid limiting how many people can be in a space at once, overall enthusiasm to vote, and bragging rights to have voted on the first day that early voting was ever held, I waited on line for a total of four hours and fifty minutes.

Want proof? Here's the timestamp of that first picture, when I got on line:



Compared to when I got out of the voting booth:

Yeah, I was there for a while. But completely worth it. I had to pee by hour four, and thankfully that's when I reached the building to even REACH a bathroom. And THAT was a hassle in and of itself.

But it was all worth it in the end. I waited nearly five hours, but I would've gladly waited more. And I live in one of the states where my vote for president doesn't even matter! But there was also all the important downballot races, and you know I filled in the bubbles for those.

Just for fun, here's where I was at the one hour mark. Didn't make it TOO far in, but I knew I was in for a wait.

Here's two hours. We all thought we'd be home free when we turned that corner.

Three hours. Nope! It looped around the parking lot before you even got close to the actual building. I was telling folks in line with me that the last time I stood in a line this long, Stan Lee was at the end of it.

Four hours. I knew that my years of experience of waiting in lines at NYCC was preparing me for this exact moment.

Roughly half an hour later: The door to get in! Actually getting in to vote took another fifteen minutes, roughly.

Hopefully this becomes worth it past Tuesday. I can barely take another four days of this nonsense, let alone four more years.

Please vote. And you've all known me long enough to know who I want you to vote for.

If we survive next week, I'll see you all in November.

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