BlargenBlog

Moving back to Peoria has done wonders for my active/social life. It’s not that Lincoln had nothing to do (they didn’t), my main challenge was finding the time to do it. I was on the road for two hours a day, five days a week, then ended up in Peoria every other weekend visiting family (who suddenly wanted to see us now that we’d left the area–go figure).

This Saturday I was hanging out with 35,000 intelligent people in Springfield. One of them was Ollie, who provided the wheels to our little voyage, and was most pleasant company.

We arrived at about 11 and made our way to the venue. Along the way were a number of vendors but not many people. Just when I foolishly thought we had beat the rush, we reached the entrance… and found out the end of the line was X number of blocks in the other direction.

I say “X” because with the rate at which the line grew, there is no feasible way to determine how long the line was when we got to there. So after a quick-paced power walk (I ought to get a medal for keeping up with Ollie), we got to the end and waited in line for about an hour. And that was with it moving at a steady pace.

I had to abandon my bottle of water, still half-full, at the security entrance. Apparently the Secret Service thought it would be a good idea to strip people of their beverages during 90-degree weather.

We ended up about 100 yards to the left of Obama (symbolic, no?) and got a decent enough view of him and Biden. Paramedics were zipping through the crowds at various intervals to cart off those who’d passed out due to heat exhaustion (thanks Secret Service).

That reminds me. Reality-deprived Conservative scumfucks: next time you parrot Fox News’ Barackstar propaganda, keep in mind that people pass out in crowds for medical reasons too. Damn, he’s a politician, not Elvis.

Anyway, I have some footage of the event as well as a few photos. After the speeches were made and things were winding to a close, we got about 30 feet or so from the candidates before they started walking towards the old capitol. Guess my handshake will have to wait.

I’m quite excited about Biden. He was my original pick during the primaries. While there are a few important things I vehemently disagree with him on, during the debates he came off as a realist, something I respect. After he dropped out, I became an Obama man. For me, this is the dream ticket.

I’ll try to get those photos and video posted sometime tonight. I have to purchase a new card reader to get the data off the damn camera.

Later that night I ended up in a conversation about parsnips and Cheeto dye (that’s how they get the Cheetos orange, dur), at a party at my friend’s house in the middle of nowhere. Sunday I ended up painting a stairwell and changing light bulbs in the Move That Never Ends. Tonight I’ll be going there to throw away crap that’s sitting in the garage now that I’ve found a dumpster to rent for less than $400 (the nerve!). Still need to find a home for those cats, and boy have we been trying. They’re free, folks. Free cats. Get ‘em while they’re hot.