Vacation Break

Dear Readers,

Agnes and I are getting ready for the arrival of her cousin Bernadette and her husband (Bernadette's, not Agnes's), and for our departure later this week on the cruise we're going to take together. Bernadette and Richard are arriving tomorrow, which means that today marks the start of the traditional oh-my-gawd-the-house-is-a-mess frenzied cleaning period, followed by the traditional oh-my-gawd-it's-the-last-minute-gotta-pack period followed by the traditional we're-at-the-airport-and-I-just-remembered-what-we-forgot period.

With that in mind, and realizing full well that it's bad juju to take an unusually long break from blog posting, I'm going to take an unusually long break from blog posting. You'll be glad to know, though, that I have already written the usual Friday (Right-Cheek Ass Clown and Great Moments in Editing and Signage), Cartoon Saturday, and Poetry/Musical Sunday posts that will run while we're gone, and they are programmed to publish on the correct dates, so you'll still get at least some of your fixes. The only exception is that the Left-Cheek Ass Clown Award that would normally be presented on January 26th will be replaced by an extra Great Moments in Editing and Signage - since we'll be on the road without guaranteed Internet connectivity, I won't be able to properly evaluate and select the winner ... thus, there will only be one Ass Clown award this month, coming this Friday. Don't worry - the award will be back on February 2nd.

I apologize in advance for the disruption in your reading, and hope you'll keep checking back from time to time. When it's possible, I'll post from wherever we are, so occasional posts are possible. Regular posts will resume on or about February 1st.

Have a good day, and stay warm. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Hello from Germany!

Hello, Dear Readers, and greetings from the beautiful city of Reutlingen, Germany! Just a quick note to say:

1. We arrived safely and are being well cared-for by Agnes's cousin Anni and her husband Volker.

2. Up 'til yesterday evening it was beastly hot and humid. Yesterday while we were out visiting the Roemisches Freilichtmuseum (Roman Open-Air Museum, see #3 below), it was 37 degrees celsius. When I got up this morning it was 11 degrees celsius and pouring rain. It is now (about 2:15 PM as I write) only up to 14 degrees. Tomorrow should be hot again. Sigh.

3. Yesterday we visited the Roemisches Freilichtmuseum in the town of Stein. It's a reconstruction of a first-century Roman town that once stood on the site, and is utterly fascinating. I have lots of pictures and will post some later, when I can use my own computer (long story).

4. We'll be here in Reutlingen until Monday, when we leave by train for Singen to visit Agnes's parents. I'll probably be able to post more regularly once we get there and are in a hotel with Wi-Fi service.

Hope everyone is well. All our friends on the East Coast, good luck with Hurricane Irene. Keep your heads down and your guard up.

Have a good day. More thoughts later.

Bilbo