November 7, 2016

I had planned on leaving today, but Kim and Kate asked me to stay through the election for moral support. They really want me to stay so that they can go with me on Wednesday if Trump wins. We are going to drive to Venezuela because it will seem comparatively less fucked up than the US with President Trump.

​A 39 year old woman was critically injured at the Punkin Chunkin yesterday when one of the guns "exploded." Shrapnel hit her in the head. I don't know whether she was part of a team's pit crew or whether she was a spectator. A 56 year old man was also injured, but not critically. The Chunkin was not held in 2014 and 2015 because the landowner was sued by a volunteer "spotter" who flipped his ATV and injured his spine. The case was dismissed, but apparently insuring a different venue proved impossible in the interim. Ironically, I photographed a sign at the Chunkin informing each spectator that his/her ticket purchase per se acknowledged the assumption of all risks of personal injury, and therefore he/she couldn't sue the landowner. I suspect the injured parties will file suits against both the gun owner and the landowner, regardless of the ticket purchase “contract.”

I'm going to move back into BOB tomorrow. I could do it on Wednesday morning, but my OCD-ish-ness is prevailing. The dogs have enjoyed Kim and Kate's house. I typically roll down the windows 10 minutes prior to our arrival on South Bowers Beach, and Jasper starts to whine from the smell of the salt air. I don't let them go in the Delaware Bay because the first time I did they drank the brackish, polluted water, then vomited and had diarrhea. I think what they really like here is having a lot of floor space in which to play, plus the plush chairs in the living room on which they sleep when Kate's not looking. Both dogs will whine when I start moving things out of our suite at Kim and Kate's tomorrow. No matter how much they like a place, they like the place where I am better.