"For the past four years, we've lived our lives in this hurry-up-and-wait, pins-and-needles way, " Perry said, recalling the crush of court deadlines and the seemingly endless wait for rulings from a federal district judge, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, also based there, and the California Supreme Court.

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Rather than wait for tobacco makers to send in checks over 25 years, 19 states and the District of Columbia are prespending settlements.

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Even so, they face a three-year wait for a place in the Jingyuan Road housing project in Beijing's outer Shijingshan district, far away from any public transportation.

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You go to the table for your election district, sign in, and then wait while an election worker laboriously writes onto a paper form your voter identification information.

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