The Energizer Bunny has nothing on the Al Franken-Norm Coleman election saga. After a will-it-ever-end campaign and recount, the legal phase has been another exceedingly long slog. Think about it: Way back on Election Day, many of us were wearing short sleeves. Will this election ever end? Have we landed in a continuous loop like "Groundhog Day," an interminable process like "Waiting for Godot" or a truly endless ring of purgatory? Hard to say, but we should be used to suffering things that seem interminable. Consider:

Movies

• The commercials and trailers before every feature film.

• The wait for the next "Harry Potter" movie.

• Any Steven Spielberg film.

Songs

• "American Pie."

• "Artistic" interpretations of the national anthem (such as Roseanne Barr's infamous 1990 version).

• "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall."

Late night

• A ringing telephone during an intimate encounter.

• A dog barking at 3 a.m.

• Waiting for your kid to come home after midnight.

Sports

• The last two minutes of a basketball game.

• The Vikings' stadium quest.

• The Vikings' Super Bowl quest.

Tours

• Fleetwood Mac "reunions."

• "Fiddler on the Roof" road shows.

• Cher's "farewell" tour.

Obligations

• Certain ministers' sermons.

• A misbegotten blind date.

• Most any work meeting.

Celebrity sagas

• Divorce aftermath (Brad and Jen).

• Rehab stints (Amy Winehouse).

• Surgeries (Joan Rivers).

Minnesota-centric

• Four cars arriving simultaneously at a four-way stop.

• Saying goodbye at a Lutheran hot-dish potluck.

• This winter.

Bill Ward • 612-673-7643