I just voted.
Or, since it was electronic with no paper backup, as my new favorite sticker says, I think I voted.

The hubby and I led a midafternoon parade to our polling place. As we pulled into the church parking lot -- yes, here as in Florida, we do our civic duty at a local church auditorium; I always get a kick out of that, given the church/state battle that rages on the political front -- four more cars were right behind us.

OK, it was a very mini parade, but in the three previous times we've voted since being back in Texas, it was nice to see someone besides the retirees who check our voter cards.

A good thing about the Texas system: The straight party option. With just one click, every candidate in the party you choose (we had Democrat, Libertarian and Republican options) gets your vote. If Florida had this alternative back in the infamous butterfly ballot contest (yes, we were there and yes, I still have my sample ballot), things might have been much different.

A bad thing about the Texas system, or at least the Travis Country operation: No sample ballots mailed to voters before the election. I know the information is out there, sometimes duplicated on several Web sites, but it's nice to have an official example of the document that we'll cast. It's sort of like doing pre-election homework.

The best thing about today: No more political television ads.

The bad thing about today: The wait.