Frankly, I'm worried.

This election is expected to be extremely close, almost a carbon copy of four years ago. Thanks to independent groups such as MoveOn.org and America Coming Together (ACT), thousands of people who have never voted or have allowed themselves to be taken off the rolls by not voting in recent elections are now added. There seems to be a galvanized youth movement, and the amount of help that the campaigns are receiving --- at least in Polk County, where I live --- is beyond what has been seen in recent history.

But frankly, I'm worried.

While these organizations have worked so hard to register new voters, I'm worried that it's going to be difficult at best actually getting them into the voting booth. Many people, especially youth, may do something as harmless as filling out a registration form when approached by someone. But will that translate into that person actually remembering to find his/her precinct or to the early voting site and filling in the oval/pushing the touch screen buttons?

We shall see, but I'm still worried...

--- The return of Cypress Gardens is nearing! There has been a LOT of work to bring Florida's first theme park back from the abyss, thanks to the vision of new owner Kent Buescher. He has had to put several million dollars more than originally planned into what will be Cypress Gardens Adventure Park, thanks to damage from all the hurricanes.

This will NOT be the Cypress Gardens your mom and dad enjoyed! And this will NOT be the Cypress Gardens that many seniors walked through before it's closure last year. Buescher, who owns Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia, will keep many of the traditional features that made Cypress Gardens famous --- the water ski shows and Southern Belles among them --- but is also adding several rides including four roller coasters.

Cypress Gardens is holding a job fair this week, with an official opening scheduled for December. In a day when high ticket attractions such as found at Disney and Universal Studios are so popular, it will be hard for Buescher to compete. But he seems to have a good plan for a low-budget alternative for families who are not willing/able to pay the prices the big boys charge, and he has made Wild Adventures quite successful. And the concert schedule isn't that bad, either.