... We also need to plan for the future. It's not too early to have some new phone messages - "Hi, you've reached the United States government. We can't come to the phone right now, but you can leave a message after the beep" ... I understand the next meeting of John Boehner fan club will be held in the back seat of a VW beetle ... The congressional leadership has signed up for a "Get Out of Debt " seminar at a local hotel. .. Saw a TV ad this week that features former Senator Fred Thompson. You have to feel sorry for him. Here's a guy who at one point hoped to be president and deciding the fate of the free world and now is telling people bout reverse mortgages.. ... A sure sign of age? I looked at the pictures and names on the Yahoo Entertainment site and didn't recognize any of them. Oh , I did notice Liv Tyler's picture. I just thought her dad had an operation to become younger and prettier. But rescue was at hand. I clicked on through to the news section and there were pictures of some of the old folks - Demi Moore, Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani, and Charlize Theron. Whew! ... You know what they say - No news about Miley Cyrus is good news. ... Had a meeting in my hometown with some classmates. I looked at the table they were sitting at and thought 'I wonder who all those old people are" ... Microsoft has introduced Windows 8.1. It's very revolutionary. It is supposed to do many of the things Windows 8.0 was expected to do, like work with other software packages.