Hey y’all. I’m a longtime Harris County election judge and poll worker. I’ve spent the last several days working early voting in a busy west side Houston voting center.

We have had NUMEROUS voters question the letters stamped on our ballots. These voters have been told that if there is anything written on their ballot that it will be invalidated and thrown out. This is absolutely false. State law requires that the ballots be stamped or signed by the administrator of the election (during early voting) or by the presiding judge for that voting location )for Election Day). In the case of Harris County, all early voting ballots are stamped “TEH” for Teneshia E. Hudspeth, Harris County Clerk.

I tracked down one of the misinformation texts that has been circulating in Texas. It was received by one of the ladies working at my polling location, and she said it is a rampant message being received by people of color. I took a screenshot of what she received and am providing it here.

I’m also providing the page from the Harris County training manual that talks about ballots, as well as a Harris County FB post about the viral misinformation. In Googling this misinformation, I see it is a Texas-wide problem and not just confined to Harris County.

Please correct anyone posting or texting about this.

I randomly turn it on at work or while driving when i remember. Off top, they’ve played these in the past few weeks. Niko Rubio, Suicidal Tendencies, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, Dropz (Kelli Ali’s solo album with Japanese producers), Hank Williams III, Nickodemus, Thievery Corporation, Peter Tosh, Pixies, Los Lobos, Mercyful Fate. Talk about a nice mix of stuff. Tune in sometime, there’s a good chance you’ll discover something new that makes you open up Shazam instantly

If you're bored and in the area of Cypress, Tx this Saturday, the Northwest Library is having its semi-annual book fair. 100% of the proceeds benefit the library to pay for their programs and building improvements.

The Northwest Branch of the Harris County Public Libraries is having its semi-annual book fair this Saturday from 10am-4pm. Almost everything will be priced at $1-2/each, outside individually priced collectibles located in the vestibule.

The big highlights for this sale are:

• Vintage Sci-fi
• Vintage car magazines and books
• Movies and TV Shows

In addition, you will find a tremendous range of fiction and non-fiction, children's fiction, as well as a good amount of vinyl records, audiobooks, and CDs. Cash or card are both accepted.

Finally, it's also a great opportunity to pick up a library card if you don't already have one! Harris County Public Library has both a physical and digital catalog on Libby with books, comics/manga, DVD/Blu-Ray, and magazines. It's free to get a library card and it never expires so there's no reason not to have one!

Cleaning house? We take donations! And not just books! We will happily take books, CDs and vinyls, DVDs/Blu-ray, comics/manga, video games of any generation, unused craft supplies, collectibles, and more! Donations are accepted all year round, any time we are open except on the week of the book sale.

Found this old yearbook from Milby High School from class of ‘47 to class of ‘50. Pretty interesting stuff in here from Houston’s history. If you guys know if you had a family member who went here let me know and I will try to find them.

I can't leave the freaking parking lot. I'm stuck behind a bunch of buses and no one knows why the place has police surrounding it and a helicopter flying around. I've been stuck for 40min so far and I am so very tempted to drive over the parking block and out into the street because it's hot as hell and other people get to leave except my ass who stupidly parked near the entrance. The one bus driver behind me refuses to back up to make room for me to leave so fuck him in particular. You can still come in and vote for now but I would go somewhere else. Some of the police moved but they're still blocking some areas.

Update: Yall how much damage would a 2022rav4 take if the left half goes over a parking block. I'm suffering.

It talked to one bus driver who moved for me but the main one blocking me is an asshole.

Alief clodine and Cook Rd are blocked by police. You're still able to vote if you can get past all the police blockades.

Update: so apparently a bomb threat and a gun threat...I knew I should have left the voting line earlier the moment I heard someone scream "vote for charlie kirk!" While driving around.🤦🏽‍♀️

Whoever drives bus 120 I wish you the worst because I could have left with everyone else by now if you would MOVE BACK A LITTLE.

Update: almost 3 hrs later. I finally got out! The person parked next to me was able to get out around the bus thankfully and I was able to squeeze out.😭😭 Thank you everybody who listened to me bitch.

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Just because the state portal says you’re registered doesn’t necessarily mean you’re 100% set at the local level.

​I just went to cast my ballot for the first time as a new citizen. I mailed in my registration well before the deadline, and the state site confirmed I was active.

Still, I had a gut feeling I should vote early rather than waiting until Election Day (always trust your gut!).

​It turns out that while my registration showed up in the state database, it hadn't fully cleared into the county system yet. Fortunately, the poll worker was super helpful and called county elections directly to get it sorted out. They said it would take a bit to process, so I’m heading back tomorrow to finish casting my ballot.

​If you’re a first-time voter or recently registered, take advantage of early voting! Going early gives you a safety net if there’s a glitch in the system.

​Quick tip: If you don’t have your physical voter card yet, look up your Voter Unique Identifier (VUID) online beforehand and write it down. Having that ready makes it so much faster for poll workers to look up your file and help you out.

Does anyone know if the montrose HEB has the pokemon vending machines? would like to know before i make my way over there. thank you!! :)

It's at Moody Gardens Convention Center. I've never been but it sounds like a pretty big event and if it's gonna be super packed and sweaty/scalpy then I'll pass.

The Houston Chronicle editorial board has a piece pointing out that the race between Gina Hinajosa and Greg Abbott for governor has real ramifications for HISD and all public school systems across Texas. Here is a key quote:

Do you want to end the state takeover? Check Gina for yes, Greg for no. 

Public education has been central to Democrat Gina Hinojosa’s campaign for governor since she launched it — and even when her own team suggested she talk about public schools less. A former Austin ISD school board member and state representative, Hinojosa has repeatedly quipped that her first steps after winning in November would be, first, to kiss her husband and, second, fire Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath.

Morath, for those who don’t know, is the guy who brought Miles to Houston. Morath was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to run the state’s education agency in 2015 and took office in 2016. No, he didn’t create modern state takeovers. For that you can thank Democratic state Rep. Harold Dutton and the bipartisan group of lawmakers who supported the bill that did set the criteria for a takeover. But Morath is the one overseeing them. 

It was Morath who appointed Miles, his former Dallas ISD ally, to run Houston ISD when the state took over. It was Morath who said Miles had produced an “earth-shattering shift” with the introduction of “team centers” to warehouse troublemaking kids as they tune in to class via computer screen. Morath is the one who blamed the media for public outrage  that these team centers often took the place of functioning libraries in troubled schools. He’s the one who has promoted the state’s notoriously flawed and expensive Bluebonnet curriculum that even some Republicans on the State Board of Education voted against. He’s the one who has overseen a TEA that’s grown top-heavy with bureaucratic bloat, per the state’s own audit. And he’s the one who can decide to end the HISD takeover. 

Haiiii I’m from Austin visiting my bf here I’ve been wanting to check out numbers night club. I love 80s music to the bone but do they ALWAYS play 80s ? Also specifically for Halloween night too. I’ve heard a lot of people online complain complaining about the music.. what’s the vibe usually ?

I know Thirstys smoothies probably weren't winning any health awards lol, but back in the 80s/90s/2000s, going to most malls in Houston wasn't complete without stopping at Thirstys for a smoothie. My faves were the strawberry-banana or peach-banana smoothie. It was the highlight of the mall trip.

I’ve been craving their strawberry-banana and peach-banana smoothies lately and have never been able to get that same taste/texture at home. Does ANYONE know how to recreate those infamous Thirstys smoothies? They are very distinctive in taste and texture from most smoothie and juice shops I've tried.

I finally tried something I saw suggested online for another person asking about Thirstys, and I think I may have stumbled onto a key ingredient: frozen Cool Whip.

I made a blueberry-peach-banana smoothie with almond milk, frozen Cool Whip, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, frozen peaches, Reàl peach puree infused syrup (in the white bottle), agave nectar. and a little vanilla extract. Y’all, it actually looked and tasted A LOT like the Thirstys smoothies I remember! It had that thick, creamy, almost ice-cream but sort of milkshake consistency, but not so thick that you couldn’t slurp it through a straw. That was the part that really got me because it was SO similar to how I remember Thirstys.

But I would really like to know the actual recipe.

If you ever worked at Thirstys, knew someone who did, or somehow know what they actually used in those smoothies, PLEASE share! I especially want to crack the strawberry-banana one.

What were your favorite smoothies from Thirstys? Do you still find yourself going to a mall only for a smoothie from Thirstys?

The 2nd day of early voting was just shy of the 1st day, with another record turnout of 99,911. Total over the first two days, 204,570 in person and 27,549 mail ballots received for an overall turnout of 232,119.

Way to go Harris County!!!

I’ve never volunteered for anything political, but I’d like to help some people vote who are deterred by transportation. Are there any organizations I can volunteer through to provide free transportation for people to vote on Harris county?

For those who are better at statistics than I am, could you ELI5 whether this is good or bad for Democrats?

I have seen some markets but’s ton of them are also themed and with how slow ceramics is I cannot keep up with the themes I also don’t do to well on them because I sell handmade sculpted ceramic pieces so they are more expensive and I was hoping markets were that could do well! I know about the macabre but I am unsure I will fit their vibe! And I also know about first Saturday market but their applications are closed 🥺 I would appreciate any help!

Just saw online that people are being rewarded for early voting but I haven’t seen any businesses in Houston yet. Does anyone know if there’s any businesses giving out freebies for early voting?