Last night was just BRUTAL in terms of heat. Even worse, we had two...I guess brown-outs....around 11:30 and again at 12:30, the power in the apartment either dropped or surged (I'm voting for dropped) and we momentarily lost power. During those few minutes, though, the heat level in my apartment rose to astronomical levels and I was covered in sweat. It was miserable. Even more so, I had to reset my alarm clock twice just to make sure I got up for work on time.

In further news, I was talking with the landlady this morning and she mentioned how she read that the cost of the vote recount in Florida cost $14 million. She said something about how she was glad that it was done in hopes of discrediting the Bush election. However, I think the money was well spent in terms of people understanding how important it is to vote. I have often heard people state that they don't vote because it just cancels out someone else's vote and it doesn't really matter. In this election it did matter. It mattered a great deal. Less than one thousand votes decided this presidency (regardless of which counting method you go by). If that's not a sure sign that every vote matters, counts, and makes a difference, then I say bravo. It's time that people wake up and realize that the future of the country depends on what they do at the polls. If you do not let your voice be heard you lose the right to complain about our nation's progress (or lack thereof). Of course there will be those who complain that the butterfly ballot in Palm Beach County where over 3,000 people voted for Buchanan (most of them believe erroneously). However, no one talks about the two page ballot in Duval County were many unsuspecting people voted twice for president as the list of names spread to two pages and ultimately voided their ballots. 2000 was a harsh lesson for everyone to learn and I hope this election year we prove that we have been taught well.