Folks, I'm still here. I have had less to say or share because the news has been generally overwhelming, and I have been recentering my focus (slowly but surely) on the good that remains. Kinda like looking up into the heavens at night, I realized I could suddenly see many tiny points of light amid the darkness. To that end, here's my update, my Three Good Things. 1) I've volunteered to work with the ACLU, both as a poll monitor in a different city for midterm elections, and also "as needed" for other future concerns. Training is planned. 2) My local branches of Indivisible are also gearing up for midtems, and are actively recruiting poll monitors for training to address the many possibilities, good and bad. I am considering attending this training as well, as it's closer to home, and poll monitors are needed badly here too. 3) My full-time job continues at a popular national thrift store chain that makes every effort to reduce carbon emissions, employee the health-challenged and those with recent prior prison records, and keep used clothing / furniture / household goods out of the landfills while giving back to the local community with inexpensive or free job training available to everyone. And an extra today: 4) Community college classes start again for fall semester in mid-October. I'm registered for two in-person classes, plus one that is entirely online. #threegoodthings #3goodthings #CommunityCollege #midterms2026 #pollmonitoring #aclu #indivisible #northcarolina #perseverance #survivingintheshadows #survivingtheabyss