One of the things I dread most about living in Minnesota is the day on which our clocks “fall back” by an hour. *Bing!* Suddenly sunlight is so scarce that I may as well be a mole.

To counteract the blahs, today I turned to Flickr.com for some tropical eye-candy. No sooner did the photo of a juicy orange appear on my screen than a tiny little fruit fly materialized, presumably to feast on the splendid treat. I can only imagine his disappointment at finding only dust and glass instead. Sorry, little buddy. I know how you feel.

Well, I’m off to vote in Minneapolis’ first-ever “instant runoff” election. I’ll be back tomorrow with the results.

UPDATE:

I went to vote after work, at about 6 p.m. or so, and was dismayed to discover that I was only the 107th person to cast a ballot in my district.

I left disheartened. How can we be so apathetic? When people are risking their lives in Iran and Afghanistan trying to secure their right to a free, fair election, most of my community can’t even be bothered to vote.

As if to add insult to injury, I arrived home to a survey from the Republican National Committee, which has apparently mistaken me for a True Believer. (For the record: I’m not loyal to any single party. The most sane, rational candidate who I believe will do the most good for the most people gets my vote.)

Anyway, the first question on the RNC survey reads: “Do you agree with Barack Obama’s budget plan that will lead to a $23.1 trillion deficit over the next ten years?”

Um, OK. I’m not sure that figure is accurate, but no, I don’t agree with being $23.1 trillion in debt. My opinion aside, who are these guys to be pointing fingers? I have no rebuttal, except to say that, yes, our national budget is untenable. But it’s not Obama’s fault. And blaming him won’t solve the problem. If you’re not part of the solution, please get out of the way.

Oh, yes: I almost forgot. You’re waiting for my update on Minneapolis’ first instant-runoff election. I’m afraid there’s nothing to report, as there were no seriously contested big races—or snags. Maybe next time.