Folks,

Dux:

It is pushing midnight on a windy and cold Friday night. After a long and difficult day of dozing in the sun beside my yard rake and basket, I dropped by the HWH bar for a bit of light refreshment before retiring for the night. I expected to find you Dux, passed ou....uncon....er...taking a nap in one of the corner booths as is usual for a Friday night however tonight I was deeply disappointed. Right, that was because we were completely out of cold cuts. I missed seeing you too of course.

To my complete amazement, when I checked the view counters tonight I found we have well surpassed the 30,000 mark. In the first 23 days of this month we have averaged nearly 400 hits per day. That is more hits than Olga's sparring partner used to get when she was training for the East Moscow Tractor Fan belt and Lug wrench Manufacturing Collective Societie's Women's Heavyweight Boxing Championship. Impressive. OK, I guess it is? I really have no way of comparing it to anything else, do you? For some reason this month we have leaped from an average of about 100 section eight worthy readers per day to 4 times that many. And it may be continuing to rise exponentially. I don't have a clue as to why that is, but God bless 'em. It almost makes this all worthwhile, eh? Thank you readers for dropping by SNAFU's HWH.

And thank you Dux for making those readers enjoy the visit. You are a good mate Dux. We do seem to be able to play off each other's ideas. Perhaps a very large part of the attraction is your great photos? It must be. Everything else is pretty much the same here as it has been for the past 6 years. Just me typing my inane mess daily and C51 able to pop in with wry comments only occasionally. Frankly it is encouraging to have so many interested readers. It is also a bit daunting. One almost feels the responsibility to do the best one can to raise the quality of one's writing... Almost.

Of course that would pre-suppose that we could improve it. Perhaps you can, I haven't a prayer. Not that my prose is perfect, far from it. It is so bad and my talent so limited that about the only way I know of to improve my writing would be to do less of it. Did I just hear 400 souls applauding madly? I do believe that I did. Thankless swine... I have a mind to pick up all those pearls of prose I've Strewn before you and...and, just stagger home.....

Instead, I may be typing less and you'll be enjoying it more. By a process of elimination it seems to be up to you then Dux. Do your thing Pal. Let's hear it for Olga's creator and our new Lord Poet Laurette.... Hip, hip....hooray! Hip, hip..... silence....Come on folks, I know it is late but do try to show at least a little enthusiasm.

How about this? All those who applaud and cheer, belly up to the HWH bar...the drinks are on Dux.....

CRASH! CHEERS! APPLAUSE! WHISTLES! CAT CALLS! That sure did it, we have truly sincere enthusiasm now. Don't crowd. Stop pushing. Ralph, you put down that cue stick before you poke out someone's eye. Patience mates. We have not hired a new beermaid yet and I'm unaccustomed to beer tending. Let me see, 400 beers plus mine comes to... hmmmm... pity there is so very little room left on Dux's tab.

A light bulb flashes (metaphorically) right above JRT's head.

Great idea! I'll just start a new one.