WELL THAT WAS SHORT

 I'm talking about my hiatus of blog posting.

I have a damaged, somehow, desktop PC sitting next to me, useless for now.

But I revived a laptop from a closet and got it running.

It's fairly old; I think the battery is dead; so I can only run it plugged in.

Did I ever tell you how much I hate laptops?

But I have managed to plug my keyboard into it and after some finagling around I got my wireless mouse to work with it so it's just about like having a PC again.

The only problem is all that stuff I had on the PC is just sitting there, inaccessible for the time being and maybe forever.

So we struggle along, trying to pretend nothing is wrong.

But there is one, or actually three, other problems with this day.

Special thanks to Comical Carol for sending me that just this morning as I was gnashing my teeth and fouling the air with various epithets.

I'll try to be a better boy.

TROUBLE IN RIVER CITY

I have serious computer problems which force me to put Oddball Observations on hiatus until I get them fixed, one way or another.

With apologies, see ya later.

MONDAY MARIGOLD

 

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!

Court is now in session!

Wait a minute.

That was a dream.

It's what comes from dozing off into a nap in the middle of the day.

So with that, I bring a respite for you from this week's gaiety.

And just in time for you to adventure forth in pursuit of good fun and a GREAT weekend!

And never forget to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . wanna go outside . . . ? )

PASTRY 1.0

That number in the title of this post does not mean I scored a 10 with my latest kitchen adventure.

It's more like a Beginner's Course Number.

So, brace yourselves.

That is supposed to be a Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart.

As I told Judy when she was viewing it, it's "Rustic".

I don't know if there is such a thing as a rustic tart but this version certainly would fit the description.

The good thing is I know and have had explained to me by the Master Chef of the household some of the mistakes I made.

I'll not bore you with the details.

And we haven't tasted "The Thing" yet and it could be delicious.

The cream cheese underlying the strawberries is flavored with sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla and a pinch of salt.

So we'll see.

Meantime, I guess I should leave the fancier stuff to SWMBO, who can make even a salad plate of cucumbers and Kalamata olives look great.

6-6

 Today, June 6th, is a day marking many events.

To many, it is D-Day, the day in 1944 when British, Canadian and American troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France in World War Two.

But there are other events that happened on this day.

In 1523, Gustav Vasa was elected King of Sweden and the day today is celebrated as the National Day of Sweden, though historians quibble about the actual date.

In 1859, Queensland separated from New South Wales in Australia, becoming a separate colony.

The day is still celebrated as Queensland Day down under.

Much more recently, on this day in 1987 my wife Judy and I crossed the border from Nogales, Arizona to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico and a happy life as expatriates that lasted over 4 years.

You might say it was D Day for us with the D standing for departure.

And then, as I've written here before, June 6th in 1904 was the day my mother, Hattie Loretta Hylland, was born.

She would be 119 today.

Here's an early picture of she and my dad during their courting days.

Though she left us way too soon, I always think of her on this day.

WHO ELSE?

 This is the week that Pence, Christie, Burgum and who knows who else will announce they are seeking the Republican nomination for President.

That's former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and (I forgive you if you didn't know this one) North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

They will join former South Carolina Governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, California conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, entrepeneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy, and . . oh yeah, some guy named Donald Trump.

That's ten and counting.

A few people who thought about running and gave it up are New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and former Kansas U.S. Representative, Secretary of State and C.I.A. Director Mike Pompeo.

They must have seen the handwriting on the wall.

Or in the back of a taxicab.