Happy Chevy Truck Month to you and yours.

It’s sunny and 75° here at Howdygram headquarters, and I’m pleased to report that Texas is possibly one of the few states that’s not getting any stupid weather from Hurricane Sandy. If you’re anywhere on the east coast of the United States today, WEAR NOSE PLUGS!

I enjoyed a restful day of slugdom yesterday with Sam that included sleeping until 10:45 a.m., homemade tacos featuring Shelf Reliance TVP imitation taco meat, a nap, watching game four of the World Series and a number of entertaining movies, including: 1) Advise and Consent (1962) starring Henry Fonda, Franchot Tone, Charles Laughton and Walter Pidgeon; 2) All the President’s Men (1976) starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford; 3) Seven Days in May (1964) starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and Fredric March; and 4) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) starring a bunch of bad actors playing Italians with crappy accents. There was, however, a decent monster created by legendary special effects guru Ray Harryhausen. Ray and the aforementioned decent monster appear above right; a spellbinding action sequence from 20 Million Miles to Earth appears below, depicting U.S. soldiers in Rome (don’t ask) trying to subdue a 40-foot creature from outer space with cap pistols and walkie talkies.

The other three films mentioned above are all outstanding political thrillers based on bestselling books. Advise and Consent concerns a fictitious and terminally ill president played by Franchot Tone attempting to get the Senate to approve his pick for Secretary of State, who’s a really nice ex-Commie played by Henry Fonda. All the President’s Men is the true story of two Washington Post reporters who uncovered a trail of corruption that led to the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon. Saving the best (in my view) for last, Seven Days in May tells the story of a plot by scary U.S. military leaders, led by Burt Lancaster, to overthrow the U.S. government. Kirk Douglas is the good guy who blows the whistle. Apparently the original bestseller from 1962 was based on the actual right-wing political activities of General Edwin A. Walker after he resigned from the military in 1959. Holy crap.

An apology. I realized last night during the World Series that October was Chevy Truck Month. I neglected to mail appropriate holiday cards this year but promise to remember in 2013. Thank you.

One last thought before I shlep into the family room for lemonade and an afternoon nap. I ordered the following plastic organizers last night from Amazon to help me keep track of my crapola. Two are for the pantry; two are for the fridge. All four were cheap. And as everybody knows, cheap is good.

If you feel like coming over later I could use a gallon of milk. Thank you.