Our Madison lot looks almost bare, even though it has huge oaks and other trees on it. Missing are the elements that gave it that soft-around-the-edges look - the vines and bushes-grown-wild, the cyclone fence, the low hanging limbs on the trees. I really wish I had made before and after pictures. What sticks out like a sore thumb now is the house's need for a paint job.

The city still has not released the power permit, even though they told me the day before they would, but I'm not so worried about that today. Entergy got the lights reconnected in my name using my old permit number until we can get this silly city business settled. My renter called around noon yesterday almost ecstatic with the good news. "Just don't tell anyone who works for the city!" I instructed her, as I breathed a huge sigh of relief and prayed that my end run around the regulations did not incur the wrath of the powers that be. Our bond was finally approved, but they would not accept the bond number from one of their own respected businessmen, holding out instead for a hard copy. When I heard that, my slight twinge of guilt for pulling a sneak totally evaporated. It would not have bothered them, in the least, for me to lose a perfectly good renter. Yes, my hair got a little grayer this week.

I tried to watch the debate last night, but made the mistake of lying down to do it. I must have been more tired than I realized. I got about 10 minutes into it before losing consciousness. When I woke up around 11:30, the pundits were busy slicing and dicing and playing clips, so I watched some of that, then turned it on another station where they were replaying the whole thing and made another attempt to watch it. Again, I conked out. From what I've gathered, Sarah Palin did better than most people expected, Joe Biden managed not to bloviate, undecided voters were more impressed by him than her, and McCain's pull out from Michigan made more impact on the overall race than the debate. Maybe I didn't miss too much, after all.

Before the debate, I attended an organizational meeting at the Flowood Library for the Rankin County Democratic Women's Federation, met some nice, like-minded ladies, and managed to turn down the suggestion from a couple of them that I volunteer to be an officer. I really do not need or want anything else on my plate right now, really.