As some of you may have noticed I am out of town for a 9-day trip to Austin, TX where I am visiting family and attending South by Southwest Interactive. I am still checking in here periodically, but don't have time for new posts.  That means it's a great time to write that blog entry you've been thinking about, you don't have to compete with many other posts to get on the front page!

Soon after I get back, we should start seeing some of the work of the five students in a UNC class on Public Affairs Reporting for New Media, who will be focusing on the upcoming Primary election in Orange County.

Meanwhile, we haven't had an open thread in a while, so... how the hell are y'all?

The Carrboro Citizen warns us ice is coming, and you can follow the very amusing, weather-induced mass hysteria at Twitter via the snOMG hashtag (dynamically displayed below).

Have you stocked up on bread and toilet paper yet?

So I am embarrassed to admit that before the festivities at home begin, here I am on OP writing a little something on Thanksgiving. We have a thread about things we should tax. Today I propose a thread about things we like, things we think are just fine the way they are, things not deserving of a special tax, and people do something nice. So I'll start the ball rolling....

I'm thankful for OP and Ruby, for this site doesn't run itself.

I'm thankful for the many misguided souls who don't agree with me on this site. You're fun.

I'm thankful for Fred Black because he challenged people with grace. I miss Fred. I wish he would post again.

I'm thankful that I live in Chapel Hill and it's next door to Carrboro.

I'm thankful for town officials and employees.

I'm thankful for the deer that graze with abandon in my yard.

Happy Thanksgiving, you guys. 

UPDATE: Now with results!

Okay, gang, here's your space for discussing elections results as they roll in.

You can check on the County's unofficial returns here:

http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NC/Orange/11018/18025/en/summary.html

Official results are usually certified a few days after the election.

I'm not sure whether I'll be awake to kick this off when the polls open at 6:30 am (although it's all too likely with an infant in the house) so I'm starting it early.  What's going on out there, how are you feeling, what are you doing today?

And aren't you glad it's almost over!

So now what can we expect these 38 days until early voting begins and the 57 days until Election Day? There will be the assortment of candidate forums, media stories, letters of support from the faithful, a plethora of campaign events and fund raisers, and probably very little to inspire a significant number of us to bother to vote in these important decision opportunities.