Eric Scott Matthews

Political Anecdote: The Cell Phone and Polls

I don’t want to fall into the pundit trap—and everyone seems to be a pundit this year— but I really do think the polls are wrong because of primary cell phone use. And they are getting worse.

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It has been reported before how the lack of cell phone polling doesn’t catch many young voters because polls rely almost entirely on land line phones.  But I don’t think the very scale of this is realized by many of the pundits in Washington-land. It isn’t just the college kids who don’t have landline phones anymore but a lot of us, mostly city dwellers, but a growing number of people.

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I have been voting for 16 years, and I have a hard time thinking of myself as a kid.  I have also never been called for a political poll. It's because I don’t have a land line phone.

Most of the people I know don’t actually seem to have a land line either. If they do, it is for emergency outgoing calls only. Or it’s for their security system. Or so they can connect to the internet. I have watched my 37 year old best friend pick up a ringing phone and slam it right back down simply because no one ever calls his land line (I don’t even have the number). This isn’t just a few college kids we are talking about her.  

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Oh and most of us are voting the same way.

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Sure this might not effect the Electoral College, which is actually skewed very heavily towards rural areas and battleground states (a farmer in Ohio’s vote is worth a lot more than mine since my state always votes in one direction), but it probably will. And what happens McCain wins the Electoral College but Obama wins the popular vote not by a little bit, but by a wide majority?

 

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Samapalooza

 

Why I am voting McCain

Because he's a fraking Cylon.

Word of the Day: Abusement

Abusement:

Deriving amusement from the abuse of others; amusement at the expense of others. "Mighty Mouse suffered my abusement all weekend, and yet still bought me a drink."

Random WTF

I have finally discovered something to bitch about with the iPhone. My sister will be thrilled.  Getting pics by txt is next to impossible.  AT&T has this cryptic workaround that involves websurfing random usernames and passwords for each pic sent.  Sure there are some apps in the works, but they all suck and half of them charge nominal fees.  WTF. Luckily most phones can simply email pics theses days, so that's really the best solution.

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In other lameness I got trapped at Hampton beach this weekend due to the awful weekend schedule for commuter trains and a motorcycle fest.  Seriously, people wonder why some people once settled into a city never leave.  The world is scary out there!
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I'm well aware how lame an update this is, but its hard to return to habits once abandoned.  I have a boyfriend now, and  abook to finish, not to mention the hundred other things I have going on at work and at home.  But there is more to come.  A lot is going on.
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Sabattus

Doug's Big G weekend at Lake Sabattus.  We laughed, we drank.  Some of us got shot down.  Some of us got wet.  It was a great weekend, thanks to everyone.

If you want even more photos, I started the album finally.  For those nasty, naughty boys who were there and have any photos to add please contact me.

Overdue, or This is the Part Where the Wall Spits on Me

Ok so this weekend at a party I was yelled at.  Something about bloging once a quarter and an RSS feed.  I was trying to find the quarter he was talking about.  Everyone knows I am a sucker for the shiny.  So rather than bore with all of my words about Chicago far too late there's some pics after the jump.

Shouldn’t it be called the Strokies?

So yes. The Chicago trip. I figure if I didn’t write about it sooner, it would never happen. And then I’d go another three months without an entry.

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Mighty Mouse and I showed up in the Windy City last Friday night. Our flight was delayed. There was a chance of rain. And quite frankly I deplaned with that feeling like my ears were bleeding. There is a very good reason I never became a pilot, or a flight attendant. Chicago Nick and I texted a couple of times, not that I expected to run into him or anything, but I figure the one guy I kinda know in town could tell us where to go.

CN: Are you here for IML? Or just the Grabbies.

WTF? I never did get an explanation from him about what IML is or the Grabbies for that matter. One would think I of all people would know gay slang, but it turns out, I am not quite that gay.  

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IML stands for International Male Leather. And the Grabbies, for those of you who didn’t already roll your eyes, is the cute name for the male porn awards. So not only did we get the thrill of visiting Boystown for the first time, one of the last fully-intact gay ghettos left in the US, but we found ourselves surrounded by a preponderance of bears and other publicly affectionate mo’s even at what should normally be the super straight tourist places.  

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So that being said, I don’t think we got the fairest view of the city. The weather was phenomenal. The boy’s were all friendly, even too friendly in some cases, and with Memorial Day weekend in full swing, the town was packed.

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The full review (and all of the drama) later this week… I promise.

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Hurray for CA

Soon there will be another state we can get a divorce in. 

Congrats CALI!

on a personal update: I am still alive-- Thanks Tina for pestering me!  I have just been on hiatus.  I can tell you one thing, it is hard to pick up blogging again once the habit drops off. 

More to come.  Trust me.

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About Frakin Time

Battlestar Galactica season 4 is on tonight.  Let's hope they move on from the lagging episodes at the end of season 3 and really end this series right.

Don't miss the hysterical recap (ala Lost's 8:15 seconds) if you need a refresher: