Retiree activities and Governor Nitwit bites the dust.

Good morning, and welcome to winter in Texas. Even though we didn’t wind up with any snow yesterday it’s still 31° and way too cold, which means I have zero plans to leave the house in the foreseeable future although I might decide to get a haircut. Staying home is fine, however, because I accomplished a lot on Monday even though I never got around to baking that loaf of barley bread. For example, I did four loads of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, wrote a post for the Howdygram, ate a bagel and three chocolate-covered marshmallows, folded socks and watched The Seven Little Foys with Bob Hope. If you think this sounds lame, please keep in mind that I’m a retired person with no huge motivation to do anything else

Goodbye, Blago. Don’t forget to write. This is it, Howdygramsters ... the hoo-hah of the decade! Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich gets sentenced today in Federal court in Chicago, an unscripted reality show that’s destined make “Top Chef” look like a cooking competition. (Wait. “Top Chef” is a cooking competition.) Blagojevich was convicted last summer on 17 counts of corruption for attempted shakedowns, conspiracy, racketeering, extortion, lying to the FBI and trying to sell Barack Obama’s former seat in the U.S. Senate to the highest bidder (in particular, to Jesse Jackson, Jr., for $1.5 million). The worst part? Governor Nitwit is still defiant, insisting that because he didn’t actually make any money from his schemes, and since his attempts to extort millions of dollars in campaign contributions from Children’s Memorial Hospital, the Chicago Tribune and a horse-racing executive were rejected, none of his activities should be considered criminal.

He’s dead wrong, of course. It was ALL criminal, especially the fact that he was the ringleader. But the main reason they’ll throw the book at this snotty toad is because he still hasn’t taken responsibility or shown a shred of remorse. His cohorts have all been tried and convicted with substantial prison terms, yet today in court Blago’s attorneys plan to ask the judge for — no kidding — PROBATION. (He should get 15 years to life for that stupid hair alone.)

Sentencing is expected to take two days with the final announcement tomorrow. This is so exciting I probably won’t be able to shop, eat or sleep.

And now for something competely scary. A pair of photos ... Ellie May Clampett, then and now. Oy.

Thank you for reading this.