Err, free is not to be had unless you want to go outside. There are some little crags in Glen Park, IIRC, and I think they're okay for bouldering.

Otherwise you have your choice of Mission Cliffs at 18th and Harrison ($15/day pass), Ironworks in Berkeley (Ashby at I-80), and Great Western Power Company, the new gym in Oakland at 20th & Broadway (which isn't open to the public yet).

Some of the bigger health clubs might have climbing walls, but I don't know which they might be. The Touchstone gyms have kids programs; some years back I used to work Saturdays at the gym in Berkeley, doing "kid's belay", which was pretty fun.

This week's NUMB3RS was one of the weirdest so far--but I did appreciate some of the meta although, sloppily the Taxi meta didn't occur to me until right when they made the reference.

As for the main plot--what's the rationale behind a halfway sensible forger drawing each forgery separately? I guess, in the end, the whole Skylar reveal, but why wasn't the FBI surprised by it? It's not like each copy of a normal comic is drawn separately.

Should I be concerned if a bank I don't bank with sent me an envelope with a W9 to be filled out, a SASE, and nothing else?

I vote yes -- it could be an old-fashioned scam. At least it's worth a call to the damn bank, could have been an envelope-stuffing mistake.

It's only 2 PM on Saturday, and I'm damn close to running out of Internet to amuse myself with. Feh.

It would be a clever scam. Can't be a mistake, because the W9 has my name & address typed on it. But I have no idea who to call about this. Customer service, I guess?

We've got the heat on for the first time this fall

Pfft. It was 21 F outside when I went to bed last night. (It's 36 at present.)

My hardier maple dropped the remaining 60% of its leaves overnight!

Guess I should unearth the rake. Hardly seems worth it.

They should film this and show it every Christmas. Or something.

Mayor Resigns, Claims Abduction By Satan Worshippers

CENTERTON, Ark. -- The mayor of an Arkansas town resigned on Wednesday, claiming he was abducted and brainwashed by Satan worshippers nearly three decades ago.

Centerton Mayor Ken Williams said he has been living under an assumed name for nearly 30 years. He had been mayor since 2001.

Williams told authorities he was born Don LaRose and that in the mid-1970s, he was a preacher in Indiana. He said he was abducted and brainwashed into forgetting all about his life as Don LaRose.

It was a double-life he had never acknowledged, Williams said, because he didn't even realize it existed until he had recently taken a truth-serum injection.

As Williams regained his memory, he said, he realized that he had a wife and two kids but that he had decided to leave and take on a new identity to protect them.

"I had no choice. The choice was to watch my family killed before my eyes or go with these people, and I chose instead to run," Williams said.

He wouldn't explain from who he was running, saying only that he had been brainwashed.

"I had multiple shock treatments," Williams said. "It took five years to get my memory back."

Williams said he took his current identity in 1980 when he moved to Centerton. His full name -- Bruce Kent Williams -- was taken from a man who died in a car crash back in 1958, he said.

"What happened in 1980 -- whether it was right or wrong -- I did it under the threat of my family and for my own survival," he said.

The information went public, Williams said, because he runs a Web site about Don LaRose and his disappearance. LaRose's former family found the Web site and started inquiring about its author. They found the site registered to a Ken Williams and went from there.

Williams said his current wife is standing by him and the two of them want to continue living in Centerton. He said he plans to continue living as Ken Williams.

Also, his resignation was signed with two names, he said.

According to police, Williams is under no investigation for any wrongdoing.

Conversation on the way home last night...

Me: I'm a little worried that Bush might try to invade Iran.
JZ: Yeah, because the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are going so well.
Emmett: Doesn't he have to get the approval of Congress before he goes to war?
Me: [blah blah Constitution]
Emmett: Yeah, I know. I've read the Constitution.
Me: [?]
Emmett: I got a little one as a stocking stuffer last year.
Me: Well, there is some leeway for the President to take military action without Congressional approval if there's an emergency. It's just that Bush has abused that liberty quite a bit.
Emmett: Pfft. Bush's idea of an emergency is, "I can't open the pickle jar!"

Maybe he'll go into politics someday, Hec. Let's hope there'll be a country around for him to take part in.