California special elections: please vote

We have special elections coming up in two days and the talk is not many people are expected to turn out. What a shame. Up for grabs are eight important measures covering medical, educational, social and financial areas that deserve our attention - so please get out there and exercise your right to vote.

So, I am getting ready to do my civic duty and decided a little research was in order. Always better to go in prepared, right? I pull out the booklet sent from the Secretary of State's office and stare at it in disbelief. Only eight measures and yet there are 77 pages to read. Eek, guess I know how I am spending my Sunday morning.

And even though I see it has been printed on recycled paper, I start wondering about all the money spent to hold this special election, the commericals, the the signage all over town, the salaries for the people putting this booklet together, etc. That leads me into thinking about the bigger picture of spending for political campaigns as a whole and then I realize I can't get all caught up in that right now - it is not even 8am. I need to focus on what is in front of me and deal with the rest - say on Monday.

So waiting for the coffee pot to finish brewing, I start reading page one.