The people of Wake also voted to build new schools for the more than seven thousand extra students moving into our county every year. It was a good day for the students of Wake. The bond for which the public voted was just shy of a billion dollars. That'’s quite a chunk of change and quite a commitment to education.
The weekend after the election, I met Rusty in Washington DC for sight seeing with dear friends.
Our mood was jubilant as we imagined moving vans in front of the capital building. The trees were all changing colors, the autumn wind blew a feeling of renewal and hope into a down-trodden city just waking from a fitful dream and the sky managed to pull off a Carolina blue. Who could ask for more?
While there, we managed to catch brunch at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The top floor of the center pulls off a panoramic view of the Potomac and of the banks of Virginia. Brunch was an open kitchen buffet featuring raw oysters, fine assortments of cheese, eggs benedict, berries, salads, sea-foods, prime-rib, and every gout inducing rich food normally appreciated by only the most conservative middle aged white legislators on expense accounts. Delicious.
The trip was much too short to fully experience the joys of our nations capital. The next weekend, I flew to San Francisco for a job interview with Oakland Unified School District. The interview was a five-hour process on a Saturday. This whirlwind trip proved fruitful only in that my name is now "out there" but I was not offered the job. Somewhat disappointing, but I'm certainly wiser for it.
And mere days after that, I flew back to San Francisco (Thanksgiving Thursday) for a trip scheduled before the job interview reared its potential. Rusty and I spent time in the wine country (Sonoma) revisiting old haunts. The wineries are still where we left them, but the atmosphere has changed.
The tasting rooms have become crowded tourist areas with finished bars and rigid price structures for tasting. Gone are the carefree days of grabbing a bottle of wine, some cheese and a boutard. The sommeliers were still friendly but the pressure to join a wine club was a bit obnoxious. Walking into a winery before was as if one had discovered a long lost secret, but now I felt as if in a race to find the newest vintage or bargain. 
One can hardly be friendly with fellow wine drinkers when vying for space at a bar and tasting with the measured precision of a Chrysler factory. Perhaps I expect too much of my 300 million fellow Americans, owing to a decade of southern manners and graciousness.
The highlight of my trip was Thanksgiving dinner (the Sunday following Thanksgiving) with the Kegelmeyer clan. Paul Kegelmeyer is always a breath of fresh ocean air. He is the type of friend I always forget how much I really like until in his presence. Unassuming, humble and funny, he is truly a renaissance man unafraid to argue or discuss any topic. He is only made better by his equally neurotic and wholly vivacious, sexy wife, Liz. Despite Paul's continuous consternations, Liz is managing to raise two bay area liberal twin boys. Both are distinct in every way. Neither favors the other, neither have the same temperament and both are inheriting dissimilar neuroses from their sleep-deprived parents. I have only known them as a family for a short time but miss their warmth and generous natures.
November felt like the final laps of a Nascar race, minus the natural light and smell of petrol. I've decided not to try and kill myself finding a job just yet. Of course I miss Rusty, but I know administrative jobs really only open up in the spring for the new school year. So, the new plan is to get an apartment here for six months, then make an eventual move in June. Stay tuned for new NC adventures and cross-continental commuting. Wish me luck.
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