Well, I've only got four more days of my night desk purgatory. After next Thursday, one week from today, I'll turn this task back over to my more-qualified colleagues, who will have, by then, returned from their vacations. And not a moment too soon.

The elections is just around the corner, and I think the first story I'll write upon my return to the city beat is on the true effect of the candidates' various TV ads. I'm thinking principally of the Treadwell/Gillibrand ads, in which the pair incessantly attack each other. If the average voter is anything like me, Gillibrand and Treadwell are more likely to end up with a pile of shattered TVs on their lawns than votes cast in their favor.

But I digress from the day's real story, and that, of course, is the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. The day of attonment concludes the week-long process during which the Torah is rolled back to the beginning, and, if you've behaved yourself, you start a new page in the big guy's book.

I'm not a practicing Jew, and therefore, I don't really believe that anyone upstairs is taking down names in a big book. But, I do believe in the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Let's all meditate on that this weekend, as we come screaming into the last few weeks of this elections season.

See you Sunday.