What perfect weather! The morning sun shined on the ever-more green plant blooming around Lincoln, as I casually wound my way through the city.

When I arrived at the market today to turn in my volunteer form, I noticed a sign that said it was time to vote for the board of directors. As an equity-holding member eager to exercise my newfound privileges/responsibilities, I headed to the customer service desk to see about it.

I wasn't sure if I would actually vote today, because honestly, I didn't know anything about any of the people who were running. On the bulletin board, they had little papers with a few paragraphs about each person who was running, with a photograph portrait next to most of them.

All of them were incumbants; several had served for 10 years or more (term length is 2 years, and elections are held yearly for half the seats), and from the descriptions, they all sounded like worthy people. One was a local businessman who owns a record store (Recycled Sounds, which I've actually never been in, but I might have to check it out now), a university professor, a freelance architect who endeavors to use environmentally sound principles in his designs, a women's studies graduate who's traveled around the world, and I forget the rest.

I read through all of them, took one of the ballots, wrote my member number on it, and voted affirmatively for all six. The rubber stamp of approval. I based this decision on the fact that from what I've seen, I like the way the store is run, therefore they seem to be doing a good job, and my vote is an expression to "keep doing what you're doing."

(I've heard the phrase, "Don't Vote, It Only Encourages Them" used by some people who dislike the 2-party system, or even the very essence of governmantal authority. In this case, I was using the truth in that statement for the effect, since I want to encourage those who build organizations that have desirable effects.)

I wandered around and examined some of the various canned goods, but ultimately just bought a loaf of french bread and a few cashews to nibble on, and turned in my volunteer application at the front.

I love having a store where I can pick up just about anything without having to worry about what kind of shit gets put in it. I can read the ingredients and easily recognize the origin of each, its effects on the body, and preparation process it would go through. There's nothing with partially hydrogenated transfats. (Except the margerine, which they still make availaible for those who are unenlightened and/or poor enough to want it. It sits on the shelf next to the expeller-pressed vegetable oil spread, which does cost about twice as much. But as the article in the newsletter put it in explaining why the price of their fresh baked goods recently went up, "We aren't happy about this, but we figure that in the long run it's still cheaper than heart surgery.")

The rest of my journey consisted of a mini-excursion by Holmes Lake, and... well, that's really about it.

Just as I was writing this rambling, I got a call! My volunteering starts on Wednesday. I'll be doing a 3-hour shift, which I plan to just incorporate into my mid-afternoon wanderings. In addition to the karma and positive vibe factor, this will give me a 15% discount on everything in the store. Yay, the wheels are in motion.

Now it's nearly time for me to report to my regular job. You know, the one I get paid for. The one where I take part in dispensing horridly unhealthy and non-ecofriendly crap to the teeming masses.

Despite an occassional bad day with idiot customers, I still like the gig I have there. The manager is super-cool, my coworkers are nice, the location in relation to my quarters is unbeatable, and the regular-but-different-hours-each-day schedule keeps it from getting too monotonous.

Before I go, I have time to listen to a few bits of good music. This day is shaping up well.