Another Baby's First... Voting! Well, accompanying us to the polls, anyway.

It's not certain in my mind that Democrats will take control of the House and Senate after today's elections, but if they don't then I hope Republicans and those who vote for them get what they deserve.

Californians get to vote for quite a few propositions again this year. One of them would raise taxes on smoking by 13 cents per cigarette! I believe that one will pass and I'm looking forward to helping it on its way.

We also have a plethora of bonds to review, including one for a billion dollars for the city of LA's housing situation. Add that to the state ones for a total of over forty billion bucks. Seems like a lot of money until you recall that Bill Gates is worth a tenth of that all by himself. Ok, it's still a lot of money.

The most interesting one to watch will be related to alternative energy funding. I suspect it will pass and I'm happy to help it as well. It will be nice come the day when we can spray solar-cell paint on our house roof and walls and have the collected power go into local storage.

Like usual in the weeks leading up to an election, our mailbox practically bowed under the weight of flyers and glossy ads both for and against various politicians and measures. What would really and truly impress me - and I'd even stick it on the fridge until the next election - would be to receive some of that in, say, about six months thanking me for my support.

Obviously they wouldn't know whether I gave them support, but if politicians sent me mail saying "If you voted for me last November, thank you. If you didn't, please know that I'm working hard for all Californians." Something like that. Just a simple thank-you note. That would be cool.