A strange habit has grabbed hold of me.

I am finding myself counting down the days to Election Day. All that’s left is for me to put a short-timer’s calendar on the cabinet next to the desk in my home office.

We’ve got 86 days to go.

The last time I watched the calendar with such intensity, I believe, was when I was in the U.S. Army. The first calendar went up when I arrived in Vietnam in March 1969. Then I got home and I put another one up in Fort Lewis, Wash.

I haven’t been so anxious for the end of something as I was then.

This time, I am awaiting the end of this presidential election.

I am particularly tired of listening to Republican nominee Donald J. Trump say things that have nothing to do with public policy. His latest riff now is that the “only way I’ll lose” the election is if it’s “rigged.”

The culprit? Why, it’s “Crooked Hillary” Rodham Clinton, of course!

As for Clinton, I am weary of listening her try to avoid explaining why so many voters dislike her, why they distrust her.

My dear late mother used to warn me about “wishing your life away.” I would tell her, “Gee, Mom, I can’t wait for the weekend. I wish it would hurry up and get here.” That’s when she would issue the wise admonition.

Well, Mom? I’m at it again.

I cannot wait for this campaign to end.

Moreover, I just might put up that short-timer’s calendar.