Early again tonight but I've gotten so much done that I want to stay on a roll.

Saturday's housecleaning, laundry, med distribution went well. Took mom to see aunt in convalescence home. Then helped her with some paperwork. Got some apple pie to take home.

Delivered candy to J. Toffee from Enstrom's in Colorado. (www.Enstrom.com) This is incredible stuff. J loves it too. And mom. And K.

Tonight should pass quickly. My favorite magazine arrived: Discover. Cover story alone ensures a great read: Hunt for the First Stars.

Nothing on TV (NetFlix night, I guess), and when I dropped onto the Net to check out the news, I got as far as a story about a 4-year-old being lured into an alley and being murdered because his father is in a gang. He won't cooperate with police. He is so lucky that I am not the Emperor. The uncooperative father would spend time in jail until he recognized his culpability. For everyone present at the execution of that little boy, bullet in the back of the head. A cancer that has to be excised quickly and completely. But I'm not the Emperor so I guess we have to wait and see what happens.

At this point I decided I just didn't want to be bombarded by depressing news. More of man's many ways of being shitty to one another.

Oh, there is one really bright spot in this pretty stellar day. Involves a charity. Got a mailing from an organization soliciting a response to a survey on veterans. They send you a small check for filling out the survey but they hope you will not only send an endorsed check back to them but add a contribution of $5, 10, 25, 50, 100 as well. Jump on the Net. (Do these outfits not realize how easy it is to learn about them?) This particular "charity" gets some pretty awful ratings from groups that monitor charities. To quote an editorial in the New York Times of Feb. 8, 2008:

"It’s all legal. There is very little regulation in the charity game, and if someone like Roger Chapin, the “nonprofit entrepreneur” who founded the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes and Help Hospitalized Veterans, wants to mismanage your money, he has great leeway in doing so. His veterans’ charities raised more than $168 million from 2004 to 2006, but spent only a pittance — about 25 percent — to help veterans. The rest, nearly $125 million, went to fund-raising, administrative expenses, fat salaries and perks. Mr. Chapin gave himself and his wife $1.5 million in salary, bonuses and pension contributions over those three years, including more than $560,000 in 2006. The charities also reimbursed the Chapins more than $340,000 for meals, hotels, entertainment and other expenses, and paid for a $440,000 condominium and a $17,000 golf-club membership."

That outfit will not be getting  money from me; I'm gonna cash their check and buy a coffee. That way I know at least one vet got something from them.