In my old age I've gotten terribly afraid of big bridges. I have always hated the Bay Bridge between Oakland and San Francisco. The eastbound bridge is better because it is "downstairs" but the westbound bridge is terrifying. But there are worse bridges. The High Bridge between Duluth and Superior is not only scary as hell but dangerous. I think a couple of cars flip off that bridge every year. But here is my scariest bridge. The Mackinaw Bridge. Long Long Long. High High High. Makes me want to start smoking again. Back in the days when I smoked and Ken Copper drank, we used to often talk about the sit-com CHEERS. I liked it but I remember Ken thought it was the perfect example of what a perfect sit-com should be like. We didn't talk about other sit-coms of that era....like MASH. I don't care much for MASH. Just when you thought that CHEERS couldn't be topped, along came SEINFELD. I want to add a couple of other shows that deserve to be included in that company. First....NEWHART. This is the show where he was Dick Loudan and ran the inn in Vermont. This is a great show. Funny Funny Funny. It got better as it ran and some of the shows from the last couple of seasons are sit-com classics deserving to be compared to the "shrinkage" or "masturbation" episodes of SEINFELD. They stand side by side with the greatest CHEERS episodes. Can't think of a funny one at the moment. I have a couple of obscure additions. When NEWHART ended with Dick (Bob) in bed with Suzanne Pleshette, another Bob Newhart sit-com had about a six episode run before it was canceled. I don't remember the name but it had one episode that would rank as one of the BEST sit-com single episodes ever written or broadcast. Same with another short-lived sit-com. Bette Midler. I still don't understand the REAL reason it was canceled, but it was the only sit-com that made me laugh so hard I farted. (It was only the second time I ever farted and I have not done so since)

Just some thoughts after being away for so long and worrying about dangerous bridges.