THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THAR HILLS

However, trying to see the gold, and the reds, is almost impossible in this weather. That shot is as good as it gets today. In fact, it's supposed to rain all week long. ugh.

Click to view all the October pictures.

I want to thank everyone for the get-well wishes. I actually feel a leee-tle bit better this morning. Of course, yesterday I felt the worst I have felt in years. Taking the picture and posting it was about all that that I did on Friday. That and venturing out to buy my medicine. The couch is beginning to look like a flop house, and I'm beginning to look right at home in one. Yesterday I didn't give a damn how badly I looked; today I cared enough to avoid the bathroom mirror. I'm still coughing, a tight cough, unfortunately.

Elsewhere ...
8 SOUP ON 42ND - BUT NOT FOR YOU!: His new "Original SoupMan" flagship restaurant is slated to open at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue on Nov. 2. Yeganeh's ladle has been idle since he closed his West 55th Street store in summer last year. And, although the caustic chef claims to abhor his nickname and the publicity it attracts, he's certainly not crying in his soup. Yeganeh has turned his unwanted reputation into a multimillion-dollar franchise, with plans to have 150 branches open around the country in the near future and 1,000 restaurants worldwide in the next five to seven years.
He charges exorbitant prices for his soups: Prices average $10 for a small, $17 for a medium and $30 for a large. High prices apparently do not deter loyal customers who keep coming back for the gourmet soups, which some say are worth the price.
Here are the rules!

8 For anyone who's received one of those Nigerian e-mail scams: To the cyber scammers in Nigeria who trawl for victims on the Internet, Americans are easy targets.
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"When you get a reply, it's 70% sure that you'll get the money."
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[V]ictims can't believe that a scammer would spend months of internet chat just to net $700 or $1,000, not realizing that is big money in Nigeria and fraudsters will have many scams running at the same time.
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Samuel said Shepherd employs seven Nigerians in America, including one in the San Francisco Bay Area, to spy on maghas and threaten any who get cold feet. If a big deal is going off track, he calls in all seven.
"They're all graduates and very smart," Samuel said. "Four of them are graduates in psychology here in Nigeria. If the white guy is getting suspicious, he'll call them all in and say, 'Can you finish this off for me?'
"They'll try to scare you that you're not going to get out of it. Or you're going to be arrested and you will face trial in Nigeria. They'll say: 'We know you were at Wal-Mart yesterday. We know the D.A. He's our friend.' "
"They'll tell you that you are in too deep — you either complete it or you'll be killed."

8 Page Six reports: THAT Meryl Streep was driven to the Carriage House last night to present former Vice President Al Gore with the Harvard Medical School 2005 Global Environmental Citizen award by OZOcar, New York's first eco-luxury car service featuring only hybrid vehicles, founded by ex-Virgin music honcho Jordan Harris and British activist Roo Rogers.

Which reminded me of born-again progressive politico Arianna Huffington being chauffeured away from recent Sierra Club enviro-conference at Moscone Center -- in this very un-enviro Chevy Suburban.
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