I’ve spent lot of money on color copying at FedEx plus about 10 hours including standing in the rain waiting for the bus to take me to another bus stop with a sheltered chair to wait, to end up so far with 5 home made Christmas cards–16 pages of photos and sneaked cartoons–mailed them today and just remembered I forgot to staple them together and when the envelope is opened from this–shall I say the word–octogenarian–the loose pages will mysteriously flutter to the floor.  I give up, the balance of the loose sheets are headed for the trash cemetery, aka recycling.

I’m caught this crucial week before Christmas without my credit card. I got in a tiff with McAfee who wanted me to renew my security without giving me an option of one or two years–just “renew,” and I may not be alive in 2 years.  They proceeded and the bank thought California California might have been a mistake and I couldn’t remember and they ordered me a new charge card Dec. 4, which hasn’t arrived yet.  Grump grump. I know, I should be thankful to be alive (and you’d better believe I am), but my spreading joy is impaired.  So I turn to you, my beleaguered few, who have holiday emergencies of their own.

We could be in Yemen this minute.