The calendar tells me it’s still fall but, for some reason, Mother Nature has it all wrong.
I’m just not ready for dead of winter temperatures in mid-November. If this is going to be the trend for the remainder of fall and into winter, I’ll be a very grumpy, unhappy guy.
I had a photo assignment at Emmaus High School in the Allentown area to shoot Wyoming Area and Wyoming Valley West field hockey this past week. The temps were in the 20s and the wind chill was easily in the teens as the wind was very stiff.
I had hand warmers in my gloves, two each in my pockets and toe warmers in my shoes. Sure, they were a bit helpful, but when you work with your hands in the cold, hand warmers don’t help. What I needed was a face warmer. Because my face was the only exposed skin, I even tried rubbing the hand warmers over my cheeks.
Did we even have an Indian summer? I can’t remember, but I sure hope one comes along.
I mentioned last week my trip to Colorado. While I was there, I kept a close eye on the weather back home. It seemed we were twinning with the same temps.
The odd thing about Denver weather is it could be extremely cold one day and the next day reach highs of 50s, 60s and even 70s. Go figure.
We have had a cold snap; our average temperature should be somewhere around 50. Looking into the next 10 days, well, that’s not going to happen. I’ll continue to deny we have winter and hope it just goes away quietly.
Speaking of Colorado, while I was gone, we had a nationwide election day. What I found interesting was, folks in Colorado do not go to a polling place to carry out their constitutional right.
Nope, they don’t have to leave the comfort of their homes and venture out into the cold, snow, or rain to vote.
The Colorado Election Bureau mails election ballot forms to every voter in the state.
That must be pretty expensive to print out ballots and stamp each envelope to send to voters.
Can it be any more expensive to mail ballots, as it is for each county in the state of Pennsylvania to fork out buying electronic ballots? Maybe – maybe not.
I bet a lot more registered voters would rather sit at home and take their time in figuring out what candidate they would like to elect than stand in line, waiting for their turn to vote, then rushing through the process.
In our last election just weeks ago, Luzerne County had a 26.64% voter turnout. Only one-quarter of voters made the effort to vote. That’s terrible.
One ward in Wilkes-Barre only had an 11.63% turnout. That was the county low while Penn Lake Park Borough had a 67.71% turnout.
The voter turnout this past election for the entire state of Colorado was 41.17%. Maybe Colorado isn’t setting the voting world on fire, but 41% is just a few points away from 50% of the state which is 25% more than the average in Luzerne County.
I’m not sure what the costs would be if every voter was mailed a ballot, but I’ll venture to guess everyone who receives an absentee ballot in our county actually sends in their vote.
Luzerne County is in the process of selecting a new electronic voting system at a price tag of $4-million with the new system to be utilized in spring 2020.
If you look at the math, each polling place has county officials overseeing the voting process. In essence, we are paying people to work at the polls and possibly paying an establishment to house voting for the day.
There are 67 counties in Pennsylvania with each county taking on the responsibility of the election process. If each county has to shell out $4 million for voting machines, that adds up to $268 million.
I’m all for the advancement of technology because there is nothing like getting election results just an hour or so after polling places close as opposed to several hours and even days.
Regardless of how I feel, electronic polling in PA is here to stay at whatever the cost.
Alex Trebek
We all have a favorite TV show, actor or game show host.
When I had my cancer diagnosis, I decided to share my experiences with the public through my column. Needless to say, Alex Trebek’s audience on “Jeopardy” is nationwide and his battle is one of the most devastating cancer diagnoses a person could receive.
The man looks amazing but looks can be deceiving. I admire his strength and conviction to keep moving forward, no matter how his day is.
I wish him well and have been pulling for him to beat this ugly beast, but when he came out that his cancer had returned and is more aggressive, my heart just sank.
I don’t look at Trebek the personality; I look at him as a dad, a husband and a family man.
I watch “Jeopardy” with different eyes these days.
Quote of the week
“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” – Albert Einstein
Thought of the week
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
Bumper sticker
“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” – Salvador Dali
