Election Day Part II

I had to recover from Election Day in order to actually write about the insanity of the day. I ended up working about 17 hours that day, and was TOTALLY braindead the next day. I am shocked that I didn't call Bob Kiss "Smoochie" on-air or commit any other blunders. (Well, there was a doozy, but that is another story.) Here is the rest of the day:

3:15pm--Flop down on couch, attempt to nap.
3:30pm--Wake up as I couldn't sleep, and headed to Milton to see how the school budget vote was going and to get reaction from voters.
4:00pm--Start interviewing random people, some of whom looked at me funny, but got a few decent quotes.
4:30--Depart Milton, head to Colchester to do the same.
4:45--Arrive, bump into a few people I got to know during the strike, and then start talking to more random people, some of which did not like the fact the district was asking for more money after the strike. Really, not surprising at all. (Side note, Friday there is a recount on the passing of the budget as it passed by only eight votes.)
5:30--Head to Burlington for the real fun of the evening.
6:15--FINALLY find a place to park and start hobbling to City Hall on one and a quarter knees.
6:30--City Hall was just ELECTRIC!! There was quite a bit of excitement over the IRV, and the various issues that were on the ballot. I also bumped into one of the guys from VPR whose name escapes me. As always it was a great conversation.
7:00--Meander Church Street in search of coffee, and then head to Sweetwaters to talk to the Kiss folks. Now those are NICE people!! I had a fantastic conversation with Kiss' stepson about VAA, the Waterfront Theater, and how the election was panning out.
7:30--It's go time everyone, here come the votes!!!

We skip the timeline for awhile, as when I say I was having fun, I was really having fun. Maybe I am a sick and twisted humanoid, but being at City Hall when the votes are announced ward by ward is an interesting experience. Each of the Ward Clerks goes up one by one and announces the totals for each ward. This year, it was a bit different with the IRV as there were two and even three sets of votes that were announced. Now, all of us news people were writing furiously and calculating votes as we went, wondering if the IRV would kick in.

8:30--Miller loses her own ward which was not a good sign for her.
9:00--The final vote is announced and Kiss has 37%, Miller 32%, Curley 26% which means the IRV kicks in. Kiss and Miller are the two left, Curley, Cowpoop, and Loyal were out. (Poor Loyal, only 58 TOTAL votes.)
9:05--The final vote is announced and Kiss wins, pandemonium breaks out.
9:20--Head to Sweetwaters for the victory party and interviews.
9:45--Kiss enters and I swear that Sweetwaters shook. What a scene it was, and Kiss was just so low key about everything. He had this look of "aw shucks" and made his very short victory speech. To me this was a good sign as the man had just won the election, and it was like he found a quarter on the ground. He is very low key, which to me means he is all business and ready to face the tasks at hand.
9:50--Interview Kiss, leave Sweetwaters, and head to the Scuffer to talk to Curley.
9:52--After hearing Curley rant and rave about Miller and Kiss, I got a quote from his campaign manager and left. Curley more or less ripped into Kiss for not taking his congratulatory phone call which was WRONG!! I was there when Kevin called and Mayor-Elect Kiss could not hear him over the noise, and tried to call him back. I told Kevin I was there and that Kiss was trying his hardest to talk to him, but Curley wouldn't hear anything of it. Also, when I walked in, Curley was raving about how he is glad Miller didn't win and that he would have saved the city from the horror of a Miller administration. Needless to say, I don't think he recognized me as a reporter, so he has no idea someone was listening. Kevin, always assume there is a reporter around right after the election results are announced.
10:10--Talked to a couple of people outside of Sweetwaters and headed home.
10:45--HOME!!!!!!!!!!!
12:30AM!!!--Finally fall asleep after unwinding. Total time of the day was 17 hours or so and I was so tired and so wound up from the day that I couldn't sleep. Here are the totals on the day......

1--Times I locked myself out of my car.
2--Full meals eaten.
7--Cups of coffee.
15--Interviews with voters.
17--Interviews/Discussions with politicians.
17 1/2--Hours worked.
24--Phone calls made to various camps, wards, etc.

What a day. As exhausted as I was, and it took me a day and a half to recover, man did I ever have fun.