Jack Markell's "Dewey Wins!" Moment?

jack markell's "dewey wins!" moment?
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie

I'm not sure anyone else noticed this, and it was quickly fixed, but I did catch Salisbury's WBOC television in a Chyron error during election coverage at about 9:35 pm. They had flipped the percentages for Jack Markell and Bill Lee in the local graphics running below Bob Schieffer (sorry about how I caught you Mr. Schieffer).

This was a "Wait... what?" moment for me.

Report from a Delaware Polling Place

Karen and I headed out to vote this afternoon around one. Our polling place is the Ninth Grade Campus -- the old Lewes School -- on Savannah Road, in Lewes.

As we walked up, WBOC's "Chopper 16" was overhead, taking video of folks voting there, at Shields Elementary School next door, and at the Fire Hall, down the road. Another TV camera-person was just leaving.

Our incumbent state representative was out front greeting voters. I went over to say hello, though I voted for his opponent. He's a nice enough fellow, but I support his challenger.

I had spotted a bit of a crowd when I went by earlier in the day, but things were quieter this afternoon. We walked in and voted with no wait.

Because we live on Delaware, where Joe Biden is also running for reelection to the Senate, we had the rare pleasure of voting for him twice on one ballot. As usual, I didn't vote a straight ticket; I voted for at least one Republican and an Independent.

Afterwards, we went downtown and grabbed a coffee and a tea at the Lewes Coffee Roastery and Bakery. While we were there a couple came in and greeted some friends.

"What are you guys up to?"

"We just voted and now we are going home to celebrate."

"Well, good luck!"

"We are hoping...."

We found ourselves wondering how they voted and what they were hoping for. But we were too shy to ask.

Please Vote on Tuesday

It is terribly important that you vote in this year's election. It is always important, of course, but this year even more so. I won't pretend to be neutral; I hope you will vote for Barack Obama in the presidential election. I trust you won't be deterred by the many lies that are being spread around about him. If you are a Delawarean, please also vote for my friend Jack Markell; he's going to make a great Governor. (Not to mention Matt Denn. Vote for Matt too.)

Make sure that you have all the identification required to vote in your jurisdiction. Bring more than you need; don't be surprised at the polls.

Make sure you know where to vote. Google has deployed a Voter Info tool that uses Google Maps to geocode your address and relate it to your polling place. Don't trust this tool alone.

The image at right is Google's voter tool telling me that our polling place is the Department of Transportation building in Georgetown. It is not.

Our polling place is the old Lewes School building on Savannah Road, in Lewes. I know this because that is where we have voted in every election since we moved to this spot 14 years ago. I also know this because I checked the Polling Place Locator (at left) provided by the Delaware Commissioner of Elections office, which is a simple database look-up tool. It is not as cool and geo-techie as the Google tool, but it is accurate. I am a long-time geo-geek, but where-you-should-go-to-vote is too important to use only the cool Googly thing.

To their credit, Google is quite clear that you should always check with your local elections officials. And they have included a link to submit corrections. I did so, politely.

I will also note that I checked the Google tool using my parents' address in Maryland and it got their polling place right -- Bannockburn Elementary School. At least, that's where I went to vote in my first-ever election back in 1980, when I still lived at home. I assume Mom or Dad will correct me in the comments if I am wrong.

So make sure you know what is required to vote. Make sure you know where to vote. Make sure you vote for Barack Obama (and Jack Markell, if you can). Most importantly, please make sure that you vote.

Eleventh Golf Game of 2008

ocean resorts golf course
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie

Andy, Rich and I played 18 holes at the Ocean Resorts Golf Club in Berlin, Maryland. Andy and I had played there a few years back, but things have changed a bit. It is under new ownership after having gone out of business for a while.

Ocean Resorts is a mature course. It still has that "carved from a soybean field" for some holes, But others wind through the woods, there is plenty of water, there are tricky humps scattered throughout. It is a tight, tough course. For several holes, the scorecard recommends "a long iron, hit straight." I got the first part right...

This was one of my worst games of golf in some time. Or at least that's how it felt. I started strong, staying near par for a few holes. Then it all fell apart. I tried to rally, but was either mediocre or plain awful on many holes. I ended with a 124.

And yet, there were shots I was proud of, and some putts as well. And, it was a lovely day. Remarkably warm and sunny for November 1. I'm glad we had a chance to play.

A Cool Water Park

water park active pool 1
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie

There's a cool water park at one end of Main Street in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. The Water Garden, as it is properly called, was put in in the 1970s and it has that "70s Cement Architecture" look, but is pretty fascinating. It has many levels and different types of water features.

The NSGIC retreat group wandered down there on Tuesday evening and walked down the steps to the Active Pool, which was fairly disorienting in the dark. There are cement steps of varying shapes and sizes, surrounded by the sound of rushing water; add deep shadows and a dark sky and it is otherworldly.

Will Craig and I went back just after sunrise this morning. The steps are still daunting, but not as frightening, in the day.

There's also a quiet pool, surrounded by Cypress trees and walls of gently falling water. While we were there, the aerated water pool was closed for maintenance.

So, if you find yourself in Fort Worth, take a moment to check this place out.

In Fort Worth

fort worth morning
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie

I'm in Fort Worth, Texas, for a few days, for a leadership retreat of the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC). We're here for just two nights, with meetings for an afternoon and evening, a whole full day, and a morning, before flying back home.

There's not much time to look around, but I stepped out this morning and again just before the sun sank to grab a few photos of the downtown. I hope to get out again tomorrow morning. Fort Worth seems to have a compact and walkable downtown, but it has been quiet when I've been out.

My trip to this Fort Worth Hilton was a minor odyssey. I managed to get on the wrong "SuperShuttle" van at Dallas/Fort Worth International and got a bonus tour of downtown Dallas before catching the right van into Fort Worth. Next time I won't trust the fellow in the yellow windbreaker, with the clip-board, at the shuttle stop to make sure I don't get on the wrong van.

Meet Polly

meet polly
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie

This is Polly, our third cat. We weren't planning on having a third cat, but she showed up at the Sussex Dance Academy one day last week looking cute and lost and alone. The Dance Academy at any given time consists of a dozen or so teen and pre-teen girls, most of them with feline soft-spots. There was no way they were going to let this cat stay a stray.

She spent a few days at Miriah's house, but her family had just taken on a stray in their neighborhood. We were always on call, just in case and I fully expected to have this new cat before too long. We picked her up on Friday evening.

Mocha and Shoe are not pleased with us. They were neither of them quite pleased with being one of two cats in the house. Adding a third has them a bit miffed-off.

Shoe got over it fairly soon. He's been faced with a new cat once already, so he was a bit more used to this.

Mocha has spent much of the last two days under our bed, coming out only to eat and use the cat-box. She's been arching her back and puffing-up her tail and looking very intent. But this afternoon she has come out and is napping in the sun; not fully comfortable yet, but getting there.

Why "Polly?" She was discovered outside the Dance Academy door during rehearsals for The Nutcracker while the Polichinelles were rehearsing. The girls refer to them as "the Pollies."

Grand Opening: Crumb's

Grand Opening: Crumb's
Originally uploaded by mmahaffie

I watched a grand opening in downtown Dover this week. The Dover Mayor, a councilman, and local economic development folks joined the owners of Crumb's in cutting a ribbon on Thursday at around noon.

A few of us walked uptown to try the place out and watch the ribbon get cut. My colleague Laura (second from the left here) is involved in things Dover and wanted to attend. My friend, and former colleague, Anne Marie is the city's head of inspections and planning. She's holding the roght side of the ribbon in this picture.

Anne Marie and her husband Mike T. (one of my golf buddies and a GIS pro) joined us for lunch. Th place has pretty good food and makes a nice addition to the downtown choices.

There are now four newish lunch choices on Loockerman Street, in Dover. I'm still loyal to my friends at 33 West, but it's neat to have a few other choices, a few other styles from which to choose.

Tenth Golf Game of 2008

Mike T., Sandy, and I took Tuesday afternoon off to try out the newly refurbished Garrison's Lake golf course just south of Smyrna, Delaware. We get to play together every once in a while and when we found ourselves all scheduled for the same morning-long meeting on a day with clear afternoon schedules, we decided to use a little of our vacation time, get some sun, and show how much fun poorly played golf can be.

In fairness to Sandy and Mike, I played poorly. They played pretty well. That's Sandy in the picture there in his Tiger Woods red shirt, about to drive on the back 9.

Garrison's Lake was built in the 1960s and is a mature course. It feel into disrepair a few years ago when the ownership closed it and sold it for housing development. After an outcry against that idea, the course was purchased by the state. After some outcry over that idea, the course has reopened as a public, non-profit course.

The course as been made a little longer than it was, and the trees have been trimmed back a bit. The greens are in great shape and fairly fast. The fairways are still recovering from encroaching crab-grass but have been kept quite short and play well. It is a challenging and fun course.

May game started well. I was hitting straight, if medium-length drives. My iron play was acceptable but my putting was not great. And, when my putting started to come around, I started pulling my approach shots badly. Several times I hit what were, for me, great drives, but wasted them with poor approach shots. Frankly, I'm not used to being within a short-iron of the green for my second shot on a par-4.

With a few "blow-up" holes, I ended my day with a 120. Pretty poor. But it was a lovely afternoon, and we had fun. That is always my test for a round of golf.

Sad News

I'm saddened this evening to read that Grace Pierce-Beck has died. I remember her as petite, quiet, polite, ridiculously intelligent, determined, and very effective. Grace Pierce-Beck was an environmental leader and leading light in Delaware and on the national stage. You may not have heard of her, if you have not been intimately involved in the environmental movement. She got a huge amount done very quietly and behind the scenes.

I was lucky enough to have met her in the early 1990s, when I was working for DNREC -- Delaware's environmental agency -- and got to interview her for a magazine story.

The News Journal story linked above includes a recent photo of her. It looks like she had been fighting an illness recently, but she still had that spark in her eye that I remember. It looks like it is from earlier this year, on the occasion of her induction into the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women.

Grace Pierce Beck was a wonderful person. I'm thankful to have known her.