08:46 – With only two days until the election, a lot of people are on-edge. I clearly remember every presidential election for the last 56 years, and with the possible exception of 1968, this one has the most potential for violent civil unrest. No matter which candidate “wins”, there are going to be tens of millions of people who won’t accept the result. If I had to guess, I think there’ll be scattered outbreaks of violence if Trump is declared the winner, but those scattered outbreaks could easily coalesce into nationwide looting and burning in the cities. Kind of like 1968, but much more extreme and wider-spread. If Clinton is declared winner, the likelihood of immediate violence is much lower, but the built-up resentment of us Normals isn’t going away. It’s like bringing a pot to a boil with no means of pressure release. When it blows, it’s going to be epic, and it is going to blow. Maybe not next week, next month, or even next year, but it’s impossible to avoid in the longer term. Normals, who are mostly WASPs, are very slow to anger and slower still to take extreme measures, but that patience has its limits. And those limits are very close to being exceeded, if they haven’t already.
Barbara and I are just going to settle in, watch the news, and see what happens Tuesday evening and the rest of the week. It’s extremely unlikely that there’ll be any real problems up here in the mountains, at least short-term, but events in the cities will tell the tale.
11:41 – For future reference: We had a #10 can of Augason Farms Potato Shreds that was down to only 125 grams (~ 4 servings) left, so I transferred the remaining food to a ziplock bag, tapped the can to clean it, and refilled it with Walmart Great Value macaroni from a 5-pound bag. The can holds 3 pounds, 14 ounces when filled very near the rim. I wanted to see what would happen if I added an oxygen absorber to the can and replaced the original snap-on plastic cap. My guess is that as the oxygen absorber works and creates a partial vacuum in the can the plastic lid will pop and lose its seal, but we’ll see. There’s no indication on the lid what plastic it’s made of, so it may be quite permeable to air.