Newsletter Number 4

November 3, 2026

He’s just come down the slide. Look at that hair and grotty face! My photo

Are you tired of me talking about my grandchildren? They are the centre of my life and quite entertaining. I have to keep a straight face when Tiernan says “bumhole”. It’s the one word he says clearly, and he comes out with it whenever we are out in public.

For those people who love stats, The Challenged had 346 stories from 82 writers in October, up slightly from September, when we had 329 stories from 80 writers.

I’ve been trying to write this for a few days, and when I finally get some breathing space, Medium decides to have a hissy-fit. After last night, I’m as happy as a clam even though the midterms don’t affect me directly; I’m happy I’ll see less of Trump’s mug on the news, and I’ll have happier writers in the Challenged.

Trump’s comments were completely expected, at least by me. “It wasn’t my fault,” claims Trump.

“It was the war with Iran.” (Who started the war?- ed.)

“I wasn’t on the ballot, and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” (Yeah, right! -ed.)

Democrats are “in control, but they’re really not in control because they can send over, you know, 50 different great bills that they’re all excited about, and I send them back with a nice stamp veto.” (He inadvertently called them great bills -ed.)