A long, long journey home for Thanksgiving

It wasn't until the day before Thanksgiving that I realized how much our world has changed. It took hours and hours and plenty of documentation to be able to leave the city and drive home for the holiday.

A Visitor roadblock (pictured) on Highway 56 keeps people from leaving the city for long. I had to prove that I was a tax-paying citizen of Kansas City. Then I had to sign a document saying I would return to the city on Sunday evening. Left unsaid - what would happen if I didn't. I assume I'd be arrested. Crazy!

Why is it so important for the Visitors to know the whereabouts of every person in this city? I enjoyed being home for the holidays but it was a gloomy weekend. Everyone in the family is starting to crack under the pressure of curfews, food rations and all of the other changes that have taken place since the Visitors arrived. Mom and Dad are upset because it's become impossible to place long-distance calls to our relatives on the East Coast. Dad said the phone bills went through the roof, and now you can't even reach folks who are out of town by phone.

When we sat down for Thanksgiving dinner we said our usual prayers. We also added a new part to it expressing our hope that the Visitors will leave soon and life will return to normal. Perhaps by Christmas they'll have the chemicals they need ...

City newspaper hands control over to Visitors

I figured it was just a matter of time. Just days after all national TV stations were shut down by the Visitors, today our only city newspaper, The Kansas City Star, was commandeered by the alien Visitors.

"We want to thank the editors of The Star, who have agreed to turn all editorial decisions over to us during these difficult times," said John, the Visitor's Supreme Commander, during a visit to the paper's downtown printing press. "The editors turned to us for help in making sure people will be safe as the scientific conspiracy continues to unfold. My fellow Visitors and I will do our utmost to keep the peace and maintain control."

Signing off!Local news shows replaced with V TV

I've never been a fan of local news, but even I was a bit sad to see the final broadcast of all local news shows today. I've watched Channel 5 for as long as I can remember. The anchors bid an emotional farewell (inset) in their final broadcast today.

Meanwhile, we got our first look at the new Visitor-run channel (pictured), which everyone is calling V TV. As far as I can tell, the channel is nothing more than boring shots of Mother Ships that go on forever, interrupted only by bulletins from the Visitors' chief spokesperson, Christine Walsh.
So long MTV! So long "Beastmaster" on TNT. So long Seinfeld. Now it's V TV all the time. I think I'll stick to watching DVDs from now on, thank you very much.