An Unusual Allergy Left Me Perplexed

I voted - had breakfast first and then went to my polling station. When I went it wasn't busy, but friends who voted elsewhere later in the day said their locations were filled and hopping, and statewide numbers were higher than expected. That makes me happy, because primary elections are often either forgotten or ignored, yet they are so important. Primary election winners go on to the final ballots and election in November. 

We have a ballot system and counting machine similar to
this. There's really only one way to feed in the paper
ballot. Top or bottom doesn't matter, but sideways
just doesn't work! 

I had an older lady in front of me when I finished marking my ballot. We have a system where we mark paper ballots and feed the sheets into a machine that counts the blackened circles on each ballot to come up with the total number of votes for each portion. It's pretty easy. Use the pen, mark the circles, bring the ballot to the machine, feed it into the CLEARLY MARKED WITH BRIGHT GREEN ARROWS slot, turn away from the machine and leave. Duh! 

The lady before me seemed not quite awake yet. I'll just assume she hadn't had her coffee. She was having all sorts of problems feeding her sheet into the machine. She tried it facing sideways - didn't work. Then she tried to feed it in, holding onto the paper for dear life. The 'machine vs lady battle' went to the lady and the machine failed yet again. Finally, on the third try, she followed the directional arrows and the trough width designation, released the page, and it was sucked into the morass. 

After voting, I usually grab an "I Voted" sticker
to wear on my shirt for the remainder of the
day. It can remind people who see you to get
to the polls and vote, if they haven't done so
already. 

On the way out of the area, when asked if she wanted an "I Voted" sticker, she said "No thanks, I'm allergic," and continued walking. The election judge and I looked at each other quizzically as she walked out. "I'm allergic?" The stickers are normally pressed onto clothing for the day and she was clothed in a rather nice summer dress. We just couldn't figure out what part of the dress would be allergic to the sticker. I fed my own page into the slot, accepted my sticker, and headed on to the shop. 

Looking at my calendar this morning, I have three Wednesdays before my friend Sharon arrives for her annual visit. I guess I'd better try to get some housecleaning going, even though it's beastly hot today. Maybe I'll sweat off some weight - LOL. Still, since the majority of the candidates I voted for made it to the next round, I'm pretty happy. Lots to do today, so no taking it easy. Hopefully Aearwen and I can link up for a phone convo later today - it's been FAR too long since our lives got in our way. 

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Enjoy your day.