Auntie Muriel and Uncle Ron visit. (Also: Vote on Tuesday!)

On Wednesday, my mom flew up to visit, along with my Auntie Muriel and Uncle Ron. Muriel and Ron live in Fresno. They came to help celebrate a trio of birthdays: my Uncle Gordon's, my mom's, and my mom's mom (i.e., Grandma Fong)! My mom and Grandma actually share the same birthday, at least as far as we can tell. (Grandma was born in China before 1920, but I don't know if we have an official birth certificate for her.)

From Vegas (Video poker, Ron & Muriel)

We had a birthday party at my Uncle Paul's home, but I didn't take any pictures. The picture shown is from 2001, when Auntie Muriel, Uncle Ron, and I went to Las Vegas. They still look the same. :-)

For Daylight Savings Time (DST), I only had to change 4 clocks: Jason's microwave, range, and stereo, and my car. My cell and laptop were automatic. For some reason, I remember DST being more of a burden when I was a kid!

Election Day, including the Presidential Election, is this Tuesday, November 4. Here in Washington State, I think people are even more aware of the importance of voting and that "every vote counts." That is because the 2004 election for Governor of Washington was REALLY, *REALLY* close. The main two candidates had 48.873% and 48.869% of the vote: the difference was only 129 votes across the entire state! What if this year's election is that close?

Whatever happens in the Presidential election this year, it seems like one group will feel like a winner and one will feel like a loser. That seems very tragic to me, since everyone tries so hard, and a small difference in percent is amplified, well, infinitely. (If we compare two movies, and 54% like one better and 46% like another better, what does that really tell us?) However, the end result will be precisely what the system was designed to produce: winner take all.

At this point, my old pastor would probably remind me that God is bigger than politics.