Musings of the Chronologically Challenged™ Fourth Generation

 
A FRIEND RETURNS
Welcome back, GOC II

Prayer for Friendship

You have blessed us, O God,
with the gift of friendship,
the bonding of persons
in a circle of love.
We thank you for such a blessing:
for friends who love us,
who share our sorrows,
who laugh with us in celebration,
who bear our pain,
who need us as we need them,
who weep as we weep,
who hold us when words fail,
and who give us the freedom
to be ourselves.
Bless our friends with health,
wholeness, life, and love.
Amen.
- Vienna Cobb Anderson



NORTH CAROLINIANS

Absentee Ballots Can Be Requested thru October 26
Absentee ballots are now available and can be requested by following the directions below. The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot for the November 2004 election is Tuesday, October 26th at 5:00 PM.

All absentee ballots will include an instruction sheet on how voters are to prepare absentee ballots and return them to your county board of elections. Completed ballots must be returned BY Monday, November 1 at 5:00 PM.

Voters can also vote early (and in person) by using the one-stop absentee voting program, which runs from Thursday, October 14th to Saturday, October 30th. For more information regarding this program, and specific locations where you can vote early, please contact your county board of elections

Absentee Request for NC citizens living in the US:
To request an absentee ballot, you should send a written request to your county board of elections no later than Tuesday, October 26th. Your county BOE office can be found by visiting http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/about/directors.asp

The request must include your name, residence address, date of birth and address where you would like the ballots mailed.

Near relatives may request an absentee ballot for a voter by using the same format as above and including the relationship to the voter and the near relative’s contact information. A near relative includes: spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepparent, or stepchild.

If you have any questions regarding this procedure, please contact the NC State Board of Elections at 919-733-7173 or by email rosemary.blizzard@ncmail.net.

Absentee Request for NC citizens living outside the US and not attached to the US Armed Forces or US Government:
As a US citizen living overseas, you are eligible to request an absentee ballot using the Federal Postcard Application or FPCA. You may download the FPCA by going to the Federal Voting Assistance Program website (www.fvap.gov). You should complete one application for each NC voter.

Once you have completed the application, please mail, email, or fax it to your county board of elections. An updated listing for all of the county boards of elections is available at http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/about/directors.asp. The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot for the November 2004 election is Tuesday, October 26th at 5 pm.

If you need expedited delivery of your ballots, please provide the county board of elections with a postage-paid delivery service mailer with the address where you would like the ballots delivered included.

If you have any questions regarding this procedure, please contact the NC State Board of Elections at 919-733-7173 or by email rosemary.blizzard@ncmail.net

Special absentee request procedures for the following people:
Members of the armed forces, spouse of a member of the armed forces, disabled war veterans in US government hospitals, civilians attached to and serving outside the US with the armed forces, and members of the Peace Corps

To request an absentee as a voter under one or more of the above designations, you should complete the Federal Postcard Application, or FPCA.

These forms are usually available from the Voting Assistance Officer assigned to your military installation. You may also visit the Federal Voting Assistance website (www.fvap.gov) to download instructions and a copy of the FPCA form.

Once you have completed the application, please mail, fax, or email it to your county board of elections. An updated listing for all of the county boards of elections is available on our website.

Upon request of the voter, ballots may be faxed to you at a specified location. To request and receive faxed ballots, please transmit the completed FPCA to the NC State Board of Elections by mail or fax. Our secure line is 919-715-0351.

If you have any questions regarding this procedure, please contact the NC State Board of Elections at 919-733-7173 or by email rosemary.blizzard@ncmail.net

[Non-NC residents: Your State Board of Elections may differ. Consider this a reminder to contact them.]



SOME OLD, SOME NEW, SOME TRUE!

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM NORTH CAROLINA IF...

* You know Pepsi originated in New Bern, Cheerwine in Salisbury, and that Mountain Dew was invented in Lumberton.
* You know Coke tastes better in the little bottles and that peanuts make Coke taste even better.
* You have an opinion about UNC. You went there and loved it, or you hate everyone who did.
* Your folks have taken trips to the mountains to look at leaves.
* Your school took a field trip to the State Fair in Raleigh.
* You would elect Richard Petty or Ric Flair for governor if either ever ran.
* You watched as Dale Earnhardt was the only man who ever lived who could go 200 mph, spin somebody out, call them a you-know-what, and win the race, all in the last lap.
* You skipped school or work to go to Dale Earnhardt's memorial service.
* A toboggan to you means a knit cap, not a sled.
* You sold Krispy Kreme doughnuts for a school or church fundraiser before those glazed doughnuts went global.
* When you're traveling out of state, people ask if you're from Mayberry.
* You remember watching the ACC Tournament on television at school.
* The local newspaper covers state, national and international news in one page, but sports requires six pages.
* Most men in town consider the first day of deer season a national holiday.
* Fifty degrees Fahrenheit is "a little chilly."
* You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Conetoe" or "Topsail."
* Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waitin' to pass a tractor on the highway.
* Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
* Your school classes were canceled because of a hurricane.
* Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
* Your school classes were canceled because of hunting season.
* Your school classes were canceled because of a livestock show.
* You've ridden the school bus for an hour...each way.
* You know more about ACC basketball than professional basketball.
* You know the Carolina League is the greatest baseball league in the country.
* You think South Carolina was dead weight well shed.
* You know tea is served sweet unless you specifically ask for unsweetened.
* You've ever had to switch from "Heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
* You think ethanol makes your truck run a lot better.
* Stores don't have bags...they have sacks and are called Piggly Wigglys.
* You see people wearing bib overalls at funerals.
* You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it, no matter what time of the year.
* Most of the festivals around the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or tobacco.
* Priming was your first job...and you know what it means.
* Your idea of a really great tenderloin is when the meat is twice as big as the bun and comes with coleslaw on top.
* You say catty-wampus, yunto, ill-ass and ah-ite.
* You know the difference between a deer dog, a bear dog and a coon dog by the way they bark.
* You put security lights on your house and your garage and leave both of them unlocked.
* Your four seasons are almost summer, summer, still summer, and highway construction.
* You can tell if another North Carolinian is from Eastern or Western North Carolina as soon as he opens his mouth.
* You can spell words such as Ocracoke, Fuquay-Varina and Chocowinity.
* When asked how your trip to any foreign, exotic place was you say, "It was different."
* Hyde County is considered a foreign or exotic place.
* In the Piedmont, you see all the grown-ups go out and play in the snow.
*Schools and churches hold barbecue fundraisers with banana puddin' as the dessert.
* Your folks would rather eat at Bojangles's than McDonald's.
* You have actually uttered the phrase, "It's too hot to go to the pool."
* You consider being a "Pork Queen" an honor.
* You carry jumper cables in your car.
* You faithfully drink Pepsi or Mt. Dew every day of your life.
* You know what "cow tipping" is.
* You have your own secret BBQ sauce.
* You or your neighbors have more hunting dogs than you have family members.
* You show this to some NC friends "cuz ya know it's true, darlin."

[from Kirsten, Greenville, NC]




posted by HCL at 6:34 PM