WOMEN

 The big news in the past 24 hours was that President Joe Biden of the United States of America had opted out of his re-election campaign and endorsed his Vice-President.

That person is Kamala Harris of California.

Nearly all of the contenders for that position have now also endorsed her, which means her nomination at the Democratic Convention next month is almost certain.

If elected in November she would become the first female President in the country's history.

Women have been gradually rising to positions of prominence throughout the world in recent years.

Now as I was thinking of that this morning a big truck and trailer from a U-Haul firm turned up in my street.

Two huge boxes had been delivered and loaded with the household goods of my neighbor over the weekend.

Maria is moving out to be closer to her grandchildren in Texas.

The truck driver unloaded a little yellow vehicle from the rear of the truck and swiftly used it to expertly pick up those big boxes and put them on the trailer.

The employee then maneuvered to the rear of the truck, steered the projecting rails into slots, locked the vehicle into place and raised it up.

Job done in only a few minutes.

Now why am I telling you this?

Take a good look at the sole worker on this job.

Slim and trim, a young smiling female did all of this by herself.

Responding to my question she said she'd been doing this work for about a year.

Then she got into the cab of the big truck and drove away.

Times have changed and I, for one, think it's a good thing.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Well, about the only good thing I can say about this week is the heat lessened.

Slightly.

Which means we're no longer threatening to hit or break 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Funny, it sounds a lot cooler when you state it in Celsius.

38 degrees.

Right now I could live with that.

Well, no, then I'd be complaining about how cold it is.

It's kind of like life in general.

Just one thing after another.

Oh, well, let's get to the comics pages and see what they've got.

Okay, spring chickens, just remember this: you're all younger than the ol' Catalyst.

Well, most of you, anyway.

Now forget about your age, dance like no one is watching and enjoy a mah-vel-lus weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . oops, I guess I should have said *kitties* . . . )

MOVIE TIME

We dipped into the past yesterday to watch an old favorite movie.

"Tempest" is a Paul Mazursky film with an all-star cast.

John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Mollie Ringwald, Susan Sarandon, Vittorio Gassman, and Raul Julia, among others.

Ringwald made her movie debut at the age of 14 and won a Golden Globe nomination for it.

Sarandon never looked more luscious, especially in a wet shirt.

Raul Julia is wonderful as a crazy Greek shepherd dancing with his goats while yearning for tourists.

We loved the film back when we first saw it in 1982 and still this time around 42 years later!

Here's a taste:

It may be a version of Shakespeae's Tempest but it translates into modern times with good humor.

We found and rented it on Fandango but it's available from other services also.

For me, it lived up to its long remembered line from Cassavetes' character: "Show me the magic"!

MONDAY, MONDAY

 I caught a photograph this morning of an anonymous art lover visiting the gallery in our side yard.

I have been wondering for some time if that painting on our fence might seem too realistic for our bird population and one might fly smack into it.

But they seem to be able to tell the difference between it and the real sky and none of the population of house finches, goldfinches, robins or sparrows have so far had an accident.

So a new week has gotten underway.

Have a good one.

BLACK CATS

I suppose this post should have appeared yesterday, on the 13th, long associated with superstition as are black cats.

So, just pretend it's the 13th today and see what happens when a 10 pound cat comes across a 5 pound box.

Why she snuggles right down into it, of course.

I don't know of any cat that can resist a box.

That's Opal, one of the BAD's feline tribe.

And actually I suspect she may weigh more than ten pounds but don't say anything.

We wouldn't want her to be embarrassed.

Meanwhile, over at our abode, the contest to get a decent picture of our much smaller Sweetie-Pie continues.

I think I surprised her with my camera-phone this time.

But, as SWMBO pointed out, our little kitty seems to be frowning.

So I tried again, calling her by name and holding up my free hand to get her to look up.

And THAT was the result.

Maybe I'll learn my lesson some day: never ASK a cat to pose for a photograph.

They will tell you "I ain't havin' any!"

JUST ASKING

 The summer weather just seems to bring out the nastiness in some folks.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Aaaahhhhh, there's good news today!

Our high temperature is only forecast to hit 99!

And for the next ten days it will only be in the low to mid 90's.

Fire up the fireplace, put the flannel sheets on the bed, dig out your earmuffs!

Well, okay, it might be a teensy bit early for that.

But if that blasted monsoon season, which we thought had started early in June and now appears to be delayed beyond the normal July 4th onset, would just get going and bring us some rain we'd feel a lot better.

'Course then we'd have to worry about flooded washes and mudslides.

There's just no escapin' the weather, I guess.

So, now that you've had the weather report . . . what am I here for?

Oh, yes, to remind you with reckless abandon what day it is.

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!

Strike up the band!

I know some of you non-Trekkies are wondering how long this can go on.

These guys winding things up each and every week.

Well . . . they say space is timeless and they've been cruising around out there for a lot of years, communicating only once a week back to earth.

Earth being the environs known as the home of Oddball Observations and its minion, Catalyst.

So I can do no other than to present their weekly wisdom.

In the meantime, I'd like you all (or y'all, if you like) to have a positively theatrical weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . this week reminding you that you can lie on your resume but still get the job . . . )