Recycling, the Chargers and Sample Ballots

The Old Broad Ponders – Just Before She Takes Off for Vegas

By Judi Curry

So here I sit with two 36 gallon bags filled with plastic bottles; one 33 gallon bag filled with bottles, and one 33 gallon bag filled with aluminum cans and no close place to go to redeem them. My neighbor said to me that I should just throw them into the blue recycling receptacle and put it out in front of the house come recycling day.

Why? I am paying for those bottles, cans and glass containers.  Why should I just throw them away?

I remember when I would return those items to the grocery store and get my “deposit” back.  Why can’t I do that now?  The closest place to redeem those items will cost me almost the same amount of money in gasoline to get there that I will get back from the redemption.

To quote Turko – “it ain’t right.”  We need to have a recycling center in the Ocean Beach/ Point Loma area again.  Contrary to what the people living around the Prince recycling center stated, the research I did found that there was little crime at the center; that there were no more homeless turning in their recyclables than homeowners/renters, and a service was being done for the community.  Ocean Beach and Point Loma need to have a recycling center in our neighborhood.

Those Raiders and the Chargers

Oh those Raiders!  I have felt so betrayed by the Charger’s leaving San Diego.  I looked around my house and found Charger blankets, Charger shirts, Charger shoes, Charger jewelry, Charger jackets – you name it, if it had the Charger logo on it I bought it.  When the team was losing – and I don’t remember it winning very much – I still supported them. I yelled with the other fans; I was sad for an entire week when they lost. I was upset when Drew Brees was traded and we (?) got Rivers instead. (Look at Brees now!!!). But I still rallied behind the Chargers like the rest of their fans.

I have 5 grandchildren and a niece that live in Orange County. For some reason they have been Raider fans ever since they were old enough to see a football game.  There has always been a friendly rivalry among the “San Diego” clique, and the Orange County group. My grandsons would come to the house for breakfast before going to the Charger/Raider game, all decked out in Raider gear.  Not to be outdone, although we did try to “outdo” them, we all had on our Charger uniforms and dressed our dogs up with lightning bolts!

So last week the Los Angeles Chargers played the Oakland Raiders.  And there was no way in hell that I was going to root for the Chargers.  The Raiders have always been a good team, although sometimes a “dirty” one, and I was looking forward to the Raiders creaming the Chargers.

I couldn’t get myself to wear Raider gear, but I did use two of my shirts to wash the car just prior to the game.

As I sat in front of the television I expected to see a good game, and looked forward to rooting for the Raiders. (There was no one with me so I could do so without any repercussions from others!) And what happened?  The first quarter ended with Oakland not scoring, and the Chargers making a field goal.  The second quarter ended with the Raiders scoring a field goal, but the Chargers scoring two touch downs. The score at half time was 3-17.  Come on, Raiders, do something!  When the Chargers played in San Diego, they usually choked the second half, so I was hoping that would be the same situation this time.  So far River’s is playing a near perfect game.

The third quarter ended, for the Raiders, the same way it began.  They didn’t score, but the Chargers did – again – also the same way as they began – with a field goal.  OK Raiders!  Now’s the time.  You have 15 minutes to show the Chargers how it is done.  And lo and behold they scored a touchdown.  The game was a wee bit closer now . Yeah. BUT the Chargers scored again, and the final score of 26-10 (Chargers) was my first – and maybe my last – experience of rooting for the Raiders.  I know I will never be a Los Angeles Chargers fan; I will never purchase another item with their logo on it, but I don’t think I will buy anything with the Raider emblem on it either – at least – not yet!

And an aside – to the guy that wrote to me about my comment on Next Door that the reason the airplanes were being diverted tonight – Friday – was because of the lightening over the ocean – (“I’m sure that upsets you too, I expect to see an article soon about how you want the weather to be moved”)  just want him to know that I enjoy the lightening show and will not be writing about it in the near future. But I did notice that his picture is with a huge fish that I presume he caught – I might just do a column about over-fishing the continent.

What’s Going On With The Sample Ballots?

I had heard that we were going to going to receive our ballots on October 9th, a Tuesday. The reason that we weren’t going to get them on the 8th was because that was a Federal Holiday and there was no mail delivery.  Tuesday came, and I did not receive a sample ballot. Wednesday came and I received the “California General Election Guide”.  I looked it over, wrote some comments in the margins, and waited for Sample Ballot to arrive.  On Friday I received my absentee ballot, but no sample ballot.  I had done a lot of reading and campaigning for this election, so I had an idea of whom I was going to vote for, and what propositions I would support (or not support.) I filled out my absentee ballot and mailed it out on Saturday.

Then on Tuesday the 16th of October, I finally received my sample ballot.  It was too late to do any good, and I was annoyed, because it was bulky, had some good information in it, and worthless at this time. As I looked it over anyway, I was to see so much “advertising” in the back pages.

In the meantime, I am taking care of a neighbor’s house while he is on vacation. I promised him I would send him his ballot when it arrived so he could vote in this election.  Now he lives one block from me. He is registered to vote in the same party that I am registered.  He received his absentee ballot today.  Did he receive his sample ballot also? NO. What in the world is going on?

How are people supposed to vote intellectually if they don’t have objective information to read and look at.  We have been bombarded by commercials for weeks.  Are we to believe them?  Many people do, because “if you tell the lie often enough you will be believed.” I can’t help but feel that this election is very similar to the Kavannah “job interview.”  Don’t bother me with the truth; just get it over with. Someone in the Registrar’s office needs to be called on this. Don’t send out the absentee ballots until the sample ballots have been mailed out.  I can’t help but wonder if this election is going to be a sham also.  This is not the America that I taught about all those years ago. Shame.

Addendum:  I thought I was finished writing this article, but I have received additional comments from my Next Door Neighbors that bear repeating:  One neighbor sent me a link telling her that the sample ballot would be available to her on-line. Interestingly enough she is registered as an “Independent.”  It still has not been sent to her – on-line or by mail.

Another neighbor wrote that he finally called the Registrar of Voters to find out why he had not received his ballot and was told that the Department of Motor Vehicles had “unregistered” him.  If he wanted to vote in this election he needed to reregister.

Something sure smells fishy with this election.  If you haven’t received your ballot, a call to the RoV might be a good idea.  Wonder how this will all pan out?

On my way to Vegas.  Take care of San Diego while I’m gone.