Half the journey is getting there: on the road to SpikeCon

Ty and I have hit the road for SpikeCon in Layton, Utah, driving from the Kansas City area. Our route took us north through Iowa, to connect with Interstate 80. I'm writing this post from a Tru by Hilton (small, cute, very new hotel) in North Platte, NE.

Minimal but well-designed and comfortable: Tru by Hilton in North Platte, NE.

I fully intend to tweet and post to Facebook from the convention, as I have from previous cons in recent years. I also have plans to write posts about it afterwards, as I have for other conventions.

But, as someone (unclear who) once said, "half the journey is getting there." And it's been an interesting journey so far. Mostly it was because we traveled through a beautiful, verdant countryside that's been in the news for historic flooding recently. The floodwaters have receded since last March, but they're not gone yet.

Recent historic floodwaters outside Council Bluffs, IA, haven't yet receded completely. The algae-entangled fence gives mute testimony to how high the waters got here, and the still-flooded (since March!) fields explain why all too many local farmers are facing a dire financial future.

Before we utterly crashed and burned in our room, we did fire up the Google and the Siri to discover a local institution of sorts, where we could go for dinner. Penny's Diner is not only cute and vintage-looking (actually, it has been there 14 years as of 2019), but the food is absolutely delicious.

Who knew North Platte, Nebraska held so many cool gems? Penny's Diner mixes 50s nostalgia with really good food!

IMAGE CREDITS: All of the photos were taken by me, Jan S. Gephardt, on July 2, 2019, on the first leg of my journey, with son and cohort Tyrell Gephardt, to SpikeCon, the NASFiC, Westercon 72, and several other conventions, all rolled into one. If you wish to use any of these photos, please feel free-as long as you include an attribution to the source, and a link back to this page. Thanks!

Of PRIMARY importance!

In both Kansas and Missouri today (also Michigan and Washington state), we're holding primary elections. Several more states are holding them later in August.

In Kansas, we just received wonderful news, thanks to a wise judge who actually cares about the Constitution: Approximately 18,000 voters, whose local and state votes would have been excluded by an unjustifiable law, now will have their votes counted.

Where do people get the idea that primary elections don't matter?

But I'm haunted by the question: how many of them will actually bother to vote? Many people seem to think primaries aren't all that important. Especially on the local level, they couldn't be more wrong.

I'm frustrated by the fact that only ultra-conservative right-wing voters seem to have grasped this simple fact. They turn out in force, even for low-voter-turnout primary elections. Perhaps especially for those, because they know how important they are. In much of straight-party-ticket Kansas, the winner of the election is decided in the Republican primary.

Kansans certainly have no excuse for ignorance on this matter. Primary-election victories by hard-right-wing candidates have led us down the path of fiscal destruction in recent elections. The coffers are empty in "Brownbackistan," and we've had our credit rating downgraded twice--but only a hardy handful in Topeka seem to care. We need to make them ALL care. 

Don't sit this--or any election--out, and assume "it doesn't matter." It does.

Do not be deceived. Elections--all elections, including primaries--matter. And your vote may be only one vote, but elections have turned on only a few votes. Don't leave it to chance, or figure (God help us!) "it doesn't matter who's in office."

If you don't vote, you can't legitimately complain, although few people let that stop them. But if you do vote--maybe you won't have so much to complain about later. Why don't you give it a try? Educate yourself, and vote! Please!

IMAGES: Many thanks to Michigan's WILX Channel 10 for the "Primary Elections" graphic, and to Texas GOP Vote (See? They get it!) for the "Your Vote Counts" image.