It's been a bit since I posted here, though I've put up a couple of items on CBGXtra.com. Life is more complicated electronically, when a full computer is not at hand. I'm babysitting at the moment, Grandkids Jonah and Grace just having paraded through the room, announcing, "We're grounded, because we don't like anybody."

Could it be a reference to the 2008 primaries?

In any case, comics are still a part of life. SpongeBob has been a part of Christmas festivities in the homes of both my kids, and Jonah's bedtime reading night before last was the Christmas story of Donald, Uncle Scrooge, and the kids and the giant gold nugget. Hoo hah!

Whether it's for behind-the-scenes information on the Writers Guild strike, for views of classic cartoons with more background than I'd ever find on a DVD disc, or for such factual matters as the posting of the correct (as opposed to Wikipedia) date of birth for John Severin, I try to check out Mark Evanier's blog every day.

Oh, and he's also got his own links to comics news -- such as this one regarding a worker being fired for posting a Dilbert cartoon. Geez.

I've linked here -- but there's an ongoing link to Mark in the "More Links" to the left, for your convenience.

It becomes a perfect time to blog. Because, when you're sitting in a Social Security Administration office, there's little else to do, if you were foolish enough to forget to bring a book.

For starters, I'd finally settled down with the stacks of insurance come-ons that had been piling up for months -- and had picked out the outfit I wanted -- but wups! I had to fill out info from my Medicare card. What card?

I asked some friends, and they said I'd probably received it weeks ago but it wouldn't have been in a distinctive envelope. I check online and it says I can get a replacement in a Social Security office, and the nearest is an hour's drive away. So I drove. Took a number, and had to wait less than 10 minutes to be called. Cool.

But I'm not in the records. What's the problem? Oh, she finally determines, I'm not getting SS payments. Correct. Just want that missing Medicare card; I'm not retired. Oh. Sit down, and they'll call me. They wouldn't have sent me a card, because I'm not getting SS payments. OK. So it's now about 3/4 of an hour since I got here and they've called FOUR names (as opposed to those numbers handed out first).

I guess my point is that I can read and write (well, blog anyway), and this is confusing and annoying for me. So what's it like for others without my advantages, slim though they may be? But they HAVE called out one more name. So there's hope.