Too Busy to Blog

I know all my many, many adoring fans are wondering where I have been for the last few weeks, but I have just been too busy to do much in the way of blogging - or even think much about it, frankly.

I'm working part-time at Target, doing clinicals 3 days a week, and also have classes. Essentially, I don't have any days off unless I ask for them from Target a few weeks in advance. For instance, in the last 21 days, I've had exactly 2 days off - those were last weekend. And one of those days I actually called in; I wasn't scheduled off. As of right now, I don't have any days off in the foreseeable future. I'll be either working, doing clinicals, or going to class - or a combination of the three - every day until at least the start of November.

I'm doing my clinical rotation at Kentucky Clinic, which is part of UK, and I really am enjoying it. I really like and get along well with the people I work with, and I enjoy the work. It's more challenging and varied than the other places I have been. The equipment is state of the art - direct capture digital equipment with no cassettes - the images are captured digitally and sent straight to the computer screen. Since Kentucky Clinic is part of UK, we regularly X-ray UK athletes; I've already X-rayed both UK football and basketball players (federal privacy laws, of course, deny me the opportunity to tell you who).

I'm still pulling, obviously, for Obama, and have been comforted in the last few weeks by his continued strengthening in the polls, and McCain's inability to do anything to stop his own slide. The polls for the debate this weeks showed, yet again, that Obama won the debate, meaning McCain didn't do anything to help stop his slide. As the state-by-state polling is right now, Obama may win in a landslide. He currently has 249 electoral votes from states that are "strongly" in his camp - "strongly" meaning 9 points or higher over McCain in the polls. Add another 37 or so to that from the states that are "leaning" in his direction - "leaning" meaning 5 points to 8.9 points over McCain. Finally, add another 70 or 80 from the "swing states" that Obama has marginal leads in currently - 1 to 4.9 points - and that gives Obama some 360 electoral votes - far more than he needs to win. In fact, just conting the "strong" Obama states right now - states where his lead is 9 points or higher (states that he almost certainly is going to win) - he has 249 electoral votes. That means he only has to pick up 21 more - and he currently has 120 more polling in his favor. What are the chances that he loses all 120 of those?

My biggest fear right now is that the polls will either be skewed somehow, or that Democrats, thinking Obama is going to easily win, will not turn out to vote. Of course, that works both ways - Republicans, believing McCain has no chance, may not turn out either. Still, the voter turnout, at this point, is what worries me the most.

I've ordered pizza for lunch - wife and kids are out shopping with the mother-in-law - and I have to work at 3:30.

Shalom.