what i'm doing

Sigh. I swore this wasn't going to turn into What I Did Today. But it seems that once one is blogging, the impulse to record more about one's life is very strong. Also, it's already an easy and convenient way to update friends I don't see or speak to often, even before the move. So it seems I have succumbed.

I will, however, keep these entries brief, and give them an easily identifiable headline so they're easy to skip over if they bore you to pieces.

So what am I doing?

- I'm leading (along with another wonderful volunteer and generally cool person) an ACT phone banking crew every morning except Monday. It's terrific - very upbeat, I get to be around liberal or progressive activist/volunteers every day, and it gives me an outlet through which to channel my zeal about the election. All that while helping Kerry win the all-important state of Ohio. Great stuff, I highly recommend it.

We're doing a get-out-the-vote marathon on Election Day, calling every time zone. We'll be there from 9:00 am until 11:00 pm, and I'll be there all day if I can talk Allan into watching the returns from the SEIU call center. (If not, I'll leave at 5:00.) Callers are signing up for 2- or 3-hour shifts.

- I'm glued to the playoffs. Right now the Yankees are up two games to none, and most Yankee fans have the Red Sox dead to rites. I am not among them. In 1996 the Yankees lost the first two games of the World Series at home, then went on to win the next four. In 1986 the Mets did the same, though it famously took a fateful seventh game in that one. If any team can pull this off, it's the 04 Red Sox. We shall see.

- Buster has a problem with his eyes. After several trips to the vet and countless tubes of antibiotic ointment, we took him to a veterinary ophthalmologist and learned he has dangerously high pressure in his eyes, putting him at high risk for glaucoma. In an amazing coincidence, the symptoms he was experiencing were unrelated to this! Typically with glaucoma, there are no symptoms until it's too late to save the animal's eyesight. Wow, scary.

He also has uveitis (inflammation) in both eyes, also not good, but not nearly as serious as the pressure. It was the uveitis that caused us to see the specialist, and that's how she found the high pressure.

Poor B, it was such an ordeal for him, being in a strange place, the doctor doing all kinds of tests and scary-looking things to his eyes. One exhausting morning and $850 later (ouch!), we are administering two different eyedrops three times a day, and waiting for a follow-up appointment. His blood test results came back negative, which means there is no underlying disease causing the problem. I am hugely relieved about that.

- I bought a new desktop computer, my old one showing signs of imminent demise. It's fast and zippy, I finally have a flat panel monitor, and I love it.

- My handheld organizer is dying. Again. It's the third or fourth Wizard I've had. I love them but they are not durable. Also, I'm hot to get portable wireless internet access. My good friend Alan K (and who is anonymously quoted several times in this blog) is helping me choose a "pocket PC". He is, in his own words, foaming at the mouth about his, a true evangelist, and I am an enthusiastic, if somewhat ignorant, disciple. I shouldn't spend the money, given the two expenses above, so I'm a little conflicted about that. But you know me, the Queen of Rationalization. If I want to do something, I'll find a way to feel ok about it.

That's about it.