brain election

I think my brain tries to predict the future.

I went to bed early last night, needing to be up for the St. Paul by-election. I took a while to doze off (surprise!), but when I did it was time for my brain to play Predict Tomorrow's Events, a fantastic game with millions in prizes.

My brain does this a lot. Often when I have to be up early, rather than wait for the alarm, I will wake up repeatedly from 4 or so on. The only reason I know what my brain is playing is because all this waking and sleeping lets me remember what I was dreaming.

Here is a run down of what my brain thought would happen today.

-I would be working a poll set-up in an old church

-I would spend most of my time in one of the pews looking through my backpack for distractions

-someone would be training us in the intricacies of electioneering (no one would listen to the drone)

-I would never see any actual voters

-eventually the wedding that was also booked for the church today (obviously) would start

-I would need to move myself to the back of the church so as not to be in the way (by-elections aren't that important)

-when the minister asks if anyone had anything to say one of the bridal party would speak. She thought the groom was a bit emotionally mean sometimes

-the bride wouldn't react in any way

-the groom would make a comical shrug and gesture with his arms, saying Me? I'm the best!

Good try brain, I said, but it's 6:37 and I'm getting up. No prizes today, but as thanks for playing please accept breakfast.

In reality, I biked up to Bathurst and St.Clair, getting nice and sweaty, then sat in a really warm room (the one I had training in before) for about an hour listening to a lady drone about what the DRO and the IA and the RO and the PC would be doing. There were a lot of us there and most of the people had apparently worked an election or two before.

I made a decision (I'm getting better at that, maybe I'll write a post about it!) to leave. If I stayed it would be at least until 1230 and if I was actually sent to a poll I'd be working until

9 PM.

I have a job starting next week and they seemed to have enough people to fill any voids, so I claimed sickness and left.

I do have a sore throat and a runny nose, so it wasn't even a lie. Also, I did something to me knee last night and if there's one thing that can ruin an election it's a gammy knee (see: 1842 election in Canada West between Francis and Jenkins) so my departure was for the best.

And now I get to have coffee with Toon!