I just had a GREAT birthday. Drove to LA for a huge Chinese dinner with nephews and grandchildren and affection all over.

So now I am officially and chronologically a Septuagenarian. How about THEM apples, huh? Never thought I'd see the day!

Thanks to all who made it possible--by being kind, by not stealing my lunch, by not T-boning my car at 75 mph while drunk, by refraining from setting off suitcase nukes in my vicinity, by not running planes into my house, and failing to poison my water supply.

Thanks, too, tot hose who did not vaporize my part of the planet with high-intensity quasar rays from a fleet of hovering saucer-shaped vessels, and to the bowels of the earth for unleashing NO tsunamis in my general direction. Thanks to all the maintenance workers who did their jobs well enough that my planes could fly, my car keep its wheels on, my power stay on, and my gas-lines stay non-volatile. I am grateful for millions of small favors, every day.