TRENDING

> "Help at last:  House Relief Bill will provide free 'Going Out of Business' signs to small business owners."  Babylon Bee

> "Movie studio accidentally releases uplifting, inspirational move."  Ditto

> "Man brilliantly defuses argument by telling wife to calm down."  Ditto

WHAT I'M READING

* I finished reading "The Patriots:  Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, & the Making of America," by Winston Groom

* Now I'm reading--in fact I'm almost done with--"The Bridges at Toko-Ri:  A Novel," by James Michener.

SUCCESS

After our thwarted attempt to get Chinese food on FRI night, we stopped at Hy-Vee after church on SAT evening. There was a line at the deli, but eventually I was able to get an Asian Rice Bowl with sesame chicken for Lois. None of the main entrees appealed to me, so I got a couple of egg rolls & crab rangoon. [I'm really into health foods.]

EGG SALAD

I mentioned the other day that I've really been into egg salad. [Not literally.] Lois made homemade egg salad on SUN. [I've already finished it.] I must say that it was the equal of Hy-Vee's egg salad. Way to go, Lois!

CRIMINAL MINDS

"Man's apartment is trashed after girlfriend learns of his cheating. Early FRI, a man returned to his north-central Omaha apartment to find that it had been ransacked. The Christmas tree by the front door had even been overturned. The man, who is 20, reported the damage to Omaha police He told officers who came to the apartment . . . that he thought that his girlfriend, also 20, had caused the damage. Why did he think that? Well, the man said, a few hours before, she had found out that he had been cheating on her with a mutual friend."  Omaha World Herald, 12/5

CHARLIE BROWN

"Silly as it may sound, 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' offers a helpful lesson during this holiday season. Despite so much that has gone wrong--despite COVID-19's never-ending unpleasantness & restrictions--we can still choose to be cheerful. We can bring gifts to elderly neighbors who've been stuck inside, send donations or food to those in need, & just be thankful for what we have & not dwell so much on what we've lost. We're all Charlie Brown this Christmas. So, let's find the good in our grief this year!"  Tom Purcell, OWH, 12/5

COVID

"NYC bar owner who defied COVID-19 restrictions arrested. An owner of a New York City bar that was providing indoor service in defiance of coronavirus restrictions was arrested after a sting in which plain-clothes officers went inside & ordered food & beverages, the city sheriff's office said. . . The tavern is in an area designated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as an orange zone because of spiking COVID-19 rates & was not supposed to be serving customers indoors. But the owners had declared the bar an 'autonomous zone,' a nod to protesters who claimed control over a Seattle neighborhood in June. The bar has been fined thousands of dollars as it continued to serve patrons inside & to operate past the 10 p.m. curfew for restaurant service . . . "  Norfolk Daily News, 12/3

"Americans couldn't resist the urge to gather for Thanksgiving, driving only slightly less than a year ago & largely ignoring the pleas of public health experts, who begged them to forgo holiday travel to help contain the coronavirus pandemic, data from roadways & airports shows."  NDN, 12/4