Random Ramblings: Elections & More Edition

Today is election day in Virginia, and I think that I speak for Virginians and those in the DC area in that we’re looking forward to not seeing anymore political advertisements. I understand that there have probably been multiple studies about the effectiveness of ads on TV and at the beginning of YouTube videos, but how many millions of dollars are spent on these ads? Let’s say that there were 1,000 commercials that aired yesterday throughout Virginia (and between the various markets and numerous network and cable stations, this is probably a very low number). Half of this would certainly be sufficient. At this point, I feel like nearly everyone knows who they are voting for today. This money could be better spent on education, infrastructure, healthcare, and so much more. There are definitely political and media groups getting rich from elections.

On a related election topic, I pass several yard signs for Bob Frizzelle who is running for the Virginia House of Delegates. Every time I see them, I wonder how he's related to the teacher with her magic school bus.

After working at the same place for over 16 years, I finally got a parking spot in the building. For the first 15 years, I took the bus and Metro to work. I worked from home for the last year and a half. Now, I'm working from the office a few days a week, but I'm not really comfortable being on potentially crowded Metro trains twice a day. With a recent train derailment and Metro taking many of its cars out of service, I feel like I made the right call for now since waiting 30 minutes between trains doesn't quite work with my schedule. 

Last Friday, The Moose's 5th grade class had a costume day where they could dress like a book character. Since he was going to wear his baseball uniform for Halloween, The Moose found a book about Sandy Koufax. Instead of wearing his team's hat and jersey, we got him a Koufax T-shirt and LA Dodgers hat. You may have your opinion about the team, but the Dodger blue color is fantastic!

Finally, I met someone last weekend named Arlo Guthrie. While he was not THAT Arlo Guthrie, I'm so proud of myself for not asking about his music career or making any reference to his name and the musician.