Taking the day off. Sorta.

Today is election day, and I'm taking the day off. Sorta.

• I'll be voting. I considered doing early voting at Fenway Park. And I got my vote-by-mail ballot. But I actually enjoy the voting process, so I'll be voting in person. And I get to vote in a fun location. For anyone who watched TV in the 1980's, that fun location is the firehouse where Spenser of
  
  Spenser for Hire lived. I never saw that mighty heartthrob Robert Urich when they were filming around here, but a couple of times I had to step over the camera and lighting cables. I'll go in to vote about 10 a.m., and if the past is any predictor, there won't be any line at that time.
  
  My vote actually doesn't count for all that much in Massachusetts. It's inconceivable that anyone other than Maura Healey will be elected governor. That anyone other than Kim Driscoll will be elected lieutenant governor. That anyone other than Andrea Campbell will be elected attorney general. And if you think we just have women running for/winning statewide office, it's inconceivable that anyone other than Bill Galvin will be elected secretary of state. 
  
  My congressman, Stephen Lynch, is a throwback, old-school Irish guy from Southie, but he's reliable enough. He might as well be running unopposed. 
  
  And for state senator and state rep, for county DA and county sheriff, the candidates (D's all) ARE running unopposed.
  
  Still, I like voting. If I have any religion other than ex-Catholic, it's belief that voting matters. 
  
  
• I'll be having a nervous breakdown. Outside of the blue-bubble precincts of Massachusetts, there's a lot at stake this time around. Voting does matter. And I'm scared. (I didn't read all those books about the rise of fascism for nothing...)
  
  
• I'll be picking out new glasses. Nothing like a little shopping to get your mind off of things like a nervous breakdown, so I'll be going to Warby Parker to get myself a new pair of glasses. I'll be accompanied by my personal shopper, my niece Caroline, who will find something more interesting and stylin' than I'd pick out on my own. I know this because the past sometimes is a pretty good predictor, and Caroline has helped me out in the past. Before or after, we'll have a very nice lunch on Newbury Street.
  
  
• I will resist putting on MSNBC for as long as I can. I'll follow along on Twitter, and at some point after the polls close in the East, I'll turn on the TV. But I'll have to turn it off every time Steve Kornacki, MSNBC's ace young poll watcher/analyzer comes on. Talk about something giving me a nervous breakdown. I like Steve Kornacki, but he's a bit too manic-jumpy for me when my nerves are already so frayed. 
  
  
• I'll be hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. The best, of course, is that the Democrats hold the House and increase their headcount in the Senate by a vote or two, stripping Manchin and Sinema of all of their unearned power. (Or course, they can always threaten to leave the party if they don't think they're getting their way...Ugh...) 
  
  The best is that at least some decent governors are elected - MI, PA, AZ, WI - as opposed to Trump-sucking election deniers. It would be on beyond best if TX manages to come to its collective senses and get rid of Abbott, if FL manages to derail DeSantis' presidential lusting. 
  
  The worst, of course, is that there's a Red Tsunami, and the Trump-worshipping, election-results-denying, Putin lackeying, Second Amendment lunatics run the table. God help us.
  
  And even if the best scenario plays out, I fear that the Trump-worshipping, election-results denying, Putin lackeying, Second Amendment lunatics will take to the streets. And if the past is a predictor here, Trump will be goading them on, and they'll be armed and dangerous.

Talk about cry the beloved country...