a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
Five amigos played a little pickle ball at the Sandman’s Courts in Columbia City.
It was 52 °F (11 °C) outside when we started— not too frigid for playing outside, but we have come to like the indoor courts with their clean lines and bathrooms right by the courts.
Happy Monday. So here we are, with Election Day tomorrow.
About 50% of likely American voters have already cast their ballots. The rest will all vote tomorrow.
(New Hampshire, Alabama and Mississippi do not allow general early voting—an eligible reason is required to vote early, by mail).
Only about 2/3 of eligible American voters vote in presidential election years, and only about 1/2 in mid-term elections.
The turnout percentages have gotten bigger in recent cycles, though.
From pewresearch.org under a page heading ‘1. Voter turnout, 2018-2022’:
The elections of 2018, 2020 and 2022 were three of the highest-turnout U.S. elections of their respective types in decades.
About two-thirds (66%) of the voting-eligible population turned out for the 2020 presidential election – the highest rate for any national election since 1900. The 2018 election (49% turnout) had the highest rate for a midterm since 1914.
Even the 2022 election’s turnout, with a slightly lower rate of 46%, exceeded that of all midterm elections since 1970.
While sizable shares of the public vote either consistently or not at all, many people vote intermittently. Given how closely divided the U.S. is politically, these intermittent voters often determine the outcome of elections and how the balance of support for the two major political parties swings between elections.
Overall, 70% of U.S. adult citizens who were eligible to participate in all three elections between 2018 and 2022 voted in at least one of them, with about half that share (37%) voting in all three.
We set our clocks back one hour last night. Daylight Saving Time that had started in March, ended.
So all of the United States is now back on Standard Time, and the sun sets a whole hour earlier than it did on Saturday.
It rained for most of the day here in Seattle, but there was a break right before sunset (now at 5.58 pm).
The trees lining Capitol Hill’s 19th Avenue East still have most of their leaves.
Nice yard sign (also from 19th Avenue East).
No doubt: there are many millions of girls and women (and men) across the United States hoping that the country elects its first Madam President.
Leaves near Capitol Hill’s Broadway, revealing their beautiful carotenoids and anthocyanins (orange-yellow and red pigments).
Happy Friday.
I was out and about in U-District as night was falling, and saw several people dressed up for Halloween parties.
Fall colors, and a scooter, on the corner of 16th Avenue East and Republican Street in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Happy Friday.
Sunset was at 6.27 pm today here in Seattle.
It was a beautiful fall day here in Seattle (63° F / 17°C), with a blue sky and sun this afternoon.
The leaves are turning, and the days are getting shorter.
The new elevated Waterfront Park here in the city opened yesterday.
The park is on the central waterfront by downtown Seattle and connects Pike Place Market and downtown neighborhoods with the waterfront.
A few public art installations and a concessions area are still to be added, by early 2025.
It was a spectacular fall day here in the city (a high of 65°F /18°C).
I made a quick stop at the dentist’s office on Olive Way, and then walked along Fifth Avenue to the Seattle Public Library.
The No 12 bus no longer runs along its old route up to Capitol Hill, and I hopped on the new RapidRide G Line stop by the library to get me to 17th Avenue and Madison.
I have a lot to learn when it comes to using my phone’s camera.
There is a plenitude of settings and defaults to choose from, and once the picture is taken, all kinds of adjustments can be made to the image that was captured.
Happy Friday.
The five amigos got together at Chuck’s Hop Shop in Central District for a beer and a bite to eat from the food truck outside.
Seattle has now seen its last 7.00 pm-or-later sunset for the year— and likely the last of the 70s °F (21 °C) temperatures outside, as well.
It was raining on and off all day, and we went to Sandman’s Courts in Columbia City to play pickleball.
Summer is officially over.
The fall equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere is at Sun, Sep 22, 2024, 5:43 AM Pacific Time.
I had business downtown and missed the No 10 bus on the way back.
Oh well, I thought, it’s such a beautiful day— let’s just walk back up to Capitol Hill.
Top to bottom:
The monorail station at Westlake Center.
The Summit Convention Center, the addition to the original Seattle Convention Center. (The Arch + Summit Convention Centers hosted 160 events in 2023, up from 114 in 2022, but still came in with an operating loss of $23 million for 2023).
Fall leaves at East Pike Street and Boren Avenue.
The Starbucks Roastery at East Pike Street and Melrose Avenue.
The pooch is wearing booties.
Beer truck from Ninkasi Brewing Company in Eugene, Oregon.
Korean Restaurant on Denny Way. (And now you know how to write Korean Restaurant in Korean!).
Hey! And here’s the Google Street View car at work. Maybe an image of me will make it onto the next update for Capitol Hill. 😆
Three amigos went to the Electrify Expo 2024 here in Seattle today: an electric vehicle festival that visits different cities to showcase EVs of all kinds.
Visitors to the expo could look at, and drive, electric cars and trucks, and ride e-bikes, e-motorcycles, e-scooters and e-skateboards.
King County Metro’s latest ‘rapid ride’ bus route opened today: the RapidRide G Line along Madison Street.
Its promise is to have the most frequent transit service in the region for riders in Seattle’s Capitol Hill, First Hill, Central District and Madison Valley neighborhoods.
The bus comes every 6 minutes for most of the day, except on Sunday.
Here are my pictures of a ride today on the new northbound extension of the Sound Transit light rail system to downtown Lynnwood.
