The development of the transient collisional excitation x-ray laser scheme using tabletop laser systems with multiple pulse capability has progressed rapidly in the last three years. The high small-signal gain and strong x-ray output have been demonstrated for laser drive energies of typically less than 10 J. We report recent x-ray laser experiments on the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Compact Multipulse Terawatt (COMET) tabletop facility using this technique. In particular, the saturated output from the Ni-like Pd ion 4d - 4p x-ray laser at 146.8 {angstrom} has been well characterized and has potential towards a useable x-ray source in a number of applications. One important application of a short wavelength x-ray laser beam with picosecond pulse duration is the study of a high density laser-produced plasma. We report the implementation of a Mach-Zehnder type interferometer using diffraction grating optics as beam splitters designed for the Ni-like Pd laser and show results from probing a 600 ps heated plasma. In addition, gas puff targets are investigated as an x-ray laser gain medium and we report results of strong lasing on the n = 3 - 3 transitions of Ne-like Ar.