Popular greenting: How are your nerves? The difference between erratic polling and what you perceive to be the reality is nerve wracking. Melissa is working a shift at the election and we are both counters at the closing. That will keep us away from TV in the silly early hours. I tell myself that it's better than Germany 1933 because we know about Germany 1933 and we can turn away from that. I remind others that he is not the president this time and doesn't command the resources to stage a coup again. I note that women everywhere are turning out in big numbers for this vote. I need to get back to deep reads instead of obsessively checking social media. Final analysis: I'm buying champagne for the day after.

Our solar array is being built. Its 25kw capacity will cascade first to the library building, then to our house, then to Kari's account. It's an innovative arrangement and will get us a bunch of federal tax credits to use against the sale of 93. Between the income from the AirBnBs, owning its own power source, and a growing endowment, the library will be sustainable forever. Unity has a solar ordinance, but it doesn't seem to apply to installations as small as ours. It's clear on medium and large size arrays, but says nothing about small size arrays. The ordinance will probably have to be amended to be clearer.

Speaking of amending laws, I would suggest that we amend the Laws of Dreamtime to allow the use of cellphones.

On our birthday expedition I bought a corduroy vest at Heavenly Threads and that necessitated a trip to Helen's button wall in Belfast, because replacing dull buttons with fun buttons is what I call sewing. I selected these which I will maybe get around to putting on. Breakfast at Tracy's because I was feeling nostalgic for the time when wait staff came around and refilled your coffee cup and that only happens in diners.

Interesting that a ten year old book, Why Nations Fail is now back ordered on both Amazon and ThriftBooks. I'll read it on Kindle. Here's a quote from the description:

...it is man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or lack of it). Korea, to take just one of their fascinating examples, is a remarkably homogeneous nation, yet the people of North Korea are among the poorest on earth while their brothers and sisters in South Korea are among the richest. The south forged a society that created incentives, rewarded innovation, and allowed everyone to participate in economic opportunities. The economic success thus spurred was sustained because the government became accountable and responsive to citizens and the great mass of people. Sadly, the people of the north have endured decades of famine, political repression, and very different economic institutions--with no end in sight.

I was pleased to see that my old friend, the rusting hulk, is still at the edge of the fields in Skowhegan.

Small town library story of the day: patron goes by boat to Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, finds four books he likes, they call us and ask if we'll mail them back; we say sure.

Simultaneous library events on Thursday evening: Drawing Group in main room; Amy N. hiking presentation in meeting room; candidates forum at community center. Question I submitted at candidates forum: Star Wars or Star Trek? It's a matter of your world view. "Star Wars is often described as a medieval tale with a focus on good versus evil, war, and action-adventure. Star Trek is more concerned with ethical dilemmas, moral questions, and human issues." My answer would be Star Trek. I love the idea of the known universe as a peaceful and orderly federation from which the unknown parts can be explored without interference or colonization. But sometimes I do see my people as a rebel alliance fighting empire.

Reading group idea: bots and tots. Three books and two movies about robots. It has to start with Asimov's I, Robot. Then one of the Martha Wells Murderbot Diaries books, then one from the Steel Guardian series; for movies, it's The Iron Giant and Wild Robot. All show robots evolving beyond their programming and interacting with humans and other bots and beings. No sex, no gender... except that it's almost impossible for us to develop a character without assigning it gender. The construct is strong with that one.