Rough night last night so forgive me if I...umm...kind of...my bed...pillow...what? What was I saying? Oh yeah, I might space out a little today.

Sick child and sick puppy last night. What? Oh yeah, we got a puppy. Her first night was last night and she didn't fare too well, apparently picking up a virus before we brought her home. Brought her to the vet who did not inspire confidence when, after the examination, he asked, "Have you named her yet?" and tsk'd when I said yes.

The chosen name was Sally, after a character in one of Syd's favorite movies (The Nightmare Before Christmas). This was better than the alternative Syd originally came up with.

We had initially settled on Atticus for the puppy after a long successful campaign of smear and slander by myself against Syd's choice, Buddy. ("Honey, Buddy is the name of a singer with big goofy glasses that died in a plane crash. Is that what you want to happen to your puppy?") But when Syd eventually picked out a girl from the litter, it became clear the name would have to change. No problem, says Syd, we can call her Attica instead. That's a girl's name, right?

So after explaining the ramifications of naming our puppy Attica ("Darling, if we give her that name, it will bring about seven plagues, each more deadly than the last, culminating in the election of a religious zealot to the White House"), we settled on Sally.

But alas, we shall see if a strict diet of Pedialyte and soggy Rice Krispies mixed with bacon fat can nurse her back to health.

The child is nursing a more standard illness in the form of a cough due to cold which has numerous remedies, all based on the idea that if you can make it taste like bubble gum, the child will get better.

This follows on the heels of a particularly active Sunday when we had four little bundles of birth control visit us for a play date, ranging in age from "boy, that electrical cord looks tasty" to "if you don't go swimming with us, I'm going to call family services".

So again, apologies for....the drifting...dozy...zzzzzz.....

I think one of the many issues leading to the proliferation of anti-depressants these days is that it's too easy to be a skeptic. Or rather, it's too hard to be an optimist. For any length of time at least.

With instant access to pretty much any piece of information we want, it's much easier to debunk pretty much any myth out there. In fact, this is the primary reason for the existence of things like Snopes and MythBusters. (C'mon guys, it was *cool* thinking I could kill someone dropping a penny off the Empire State Building.)

Which is why many people will react with skepticism to anything new or outside of their comfort zone, as can be evidenced by the comments attached to any clip on YouTube that shows someone doing something extraordinary.

Try this test: What's your reaction when someone goes racing by in traffic in clear violation of everyone else's safety? "I hope the cops get him"? "I wish I could pull him over myself and give him a piece of my mind"?

What about "I wonder if there is someone injured in that car and the driver is trying to get him to a hospital"? Or "I hear ya, buddy, it sucks getting stuck at another appointment and being late for your job interview"? Or "Good luck with the new baby!"

But it's too easy just to assume it's a reckless driver. Maybe half the time it's true. Maybe even ninety percent of the time. But not always. And the next time you're screaming through a residential area because you forgot your kid's soccer practice now ends at 4:00 instead of 4:30, you don't necessarily stop to think what it would be like as one of the other drivers you're whistling past.

Of course, it doesn't help that the same medium that lets us verify facts before they've even been uttered has led to an onslaught of scams and cons. And that's why I'm not advocating you relax your common sense, just your negative initial assumptions. Chances are, the new gizmo on TV doesn't slice, dice, *and* do your taxes as advertised but maybe you still need something that slices and dices at least.

Some twenty years ago, I ran for class rep in my school under the slogan, "Don't vote Loose or Gay, vote Baley." For those not in the know, I'll leave you to determine the context but suffice it to say, it wasn't a shining moment in my limited political career. But I've been reflecting on that bit of smear campaigning as I play witness to the train wreck that is the Bahamian campaign process.

Tomorrow is Election Day in the Bahamas. Featuring pretty much everything from Norah Jones' song on the subject except perhaps for the final verse. In a previous post, I likened the campaign to two vultures fighting over a carcass which is still mostly accurate depending on the carcass. The Bahamas hasn't quite rotted through completely and there's still a chance it could come back to life. More on that in a future rambling.

While I'm proud of my little analogy, the incumbent party, the PLP, has gone me one better. Their slogan is "No Turning Back" which, coincidentally, is the same advice given to Lot's wife about Sodom and Gomorrah. I'm not the most religious man in the world but they started it with a commercial making comparisons 'twixt their party and Moses (with Chariots of Fire playing in the background, no less) so I have no qualms extending the religious connotations.

And judging by the gangsta rap coming from the impromptu rally in a shopping mall yesterday, one could also compare the election to a gang war. Nothing says "we can lead this country" like a thumpin' bass line accentuated with lyrics that would make Quentin Tarantino blush. To quote my daughter: "Daddy, when will the election be over? It's hurting my ears."

The campaign has made me shake my head so many times, I feel like a bobble-headed toy. Both the PLP and the FNM have submitted their fair share of little ditties designed to sway the Bahamian public with their incisive wit and acumen (sample lyrics: "Who ya votin' for? Who ya' votin' for? Who ya' votin' for? F! N! M!). After all, we can't have the people thinking their leaders speak Queen's English now, can we?

And the most common campaign material I've seen is, of course, posters. Except that they are taped/stapled/nailed/crazy glued on to streetlights, trees, and pretty much any object that isn't nailed down, including several comatose drunks. I suppose if the tactic works for advertising that the circus is in town, it's bound to work for a federal election.

The other thing that baffles me is that there are forty seats in total in the Bahamas House of Assembly. For a population of 323,000 people. That's one MP for every 8075 people. But as I dig deeper, I also notice Prince Edward Island has a provincial assembly of 27 for 135,000 people. Must be an island thing.

Anyway, D-Day looms and I look forward to it if only so that traffic will go back to normal.

And they really should just let CNN come in and take over anyway.