Introduction

Yikes! We have no children at home this year! There is no one to bug me about cutting a Christmas tree. No one to help put up the outside Christmas lights. What am I to do?

I have a new assignment this year at Boeing. I have been assigned to lead a cross-functional team to try to improve on-time completion of Interior Certifications for the 737 Next Generation airplane program. The team is a real challenge to lead, because we are required to analyze all of the reasons why certification doesn't happen on time. We used a tool called "Apollo Root Cause Analysis" to determine the root causes for the failures, and then used the same methodology to develop the best solutions to solve the problems. On-time certification has improved, but on-time pre-certification (which is supposed to happen in the factory prior to roll out of the airplane), has not significantly improved. There is still a lot of work to be done.

Here are some of the high-points from the rest of the year:

On January 13, the headstone for dad's grave was finally finished and put in place. Mom and I put flowers on his grave in memory of his passing a year ago on January 16.

Anne moved to Seattle on February 3, moving to the same house where Paul was living in Lake City. It makes her commute to work at the Herbfarm restaurant much easier. It's also easier on her car. It sure is quiet at home...

Paul, Tara, Anne and Thomas hosted an Easter brunch at their house in Lake City.

On April 9th, we celebrated Thomas' 27th birthday with a dinner at the Sea Garden chinese restaurant.

Valorie celebrated her 49th birthday on May 3. We met for dinner at Eva's Restaurant and Wine Bar in Seattle.

We also celebrated the announcement of the engagement of Paul and Tara. Deane, Tara's mom, hosted a family engagement brunch in early May.

We also attended the Taste of Woodinville at the Herbfarm.

In June we again attended the Microbrewery festival at St. Edwards Park in Seattle. We brought along "Beercan Bob", and Anne posed for a picture that became very popular on the "Beercan Bob" website.

Paul celebrated his 25th birthday with a celebration at the Rock Bottom Brewery in Bellevue.

Nickki and her children visited us in July. We all gathered together for a family picnic. Paul provided some of the excitement for Kaylie.

Later in the month, Valorie and I attended the Scottish Highland Games in Enumclaw.

Towards the end of August, Steve and Melissa hosted a gathering of the Students for Responsible Expression. It was great to see all of the old gang.

In September, we went to Ocean Shores to enjoy the beach and to attend Valorie's Issaquah High School class reunion. Angel was visiting, so she came with us.

Valorie and Kim went to visit Sarah in Wyoming when her first son, Kayden, was born.

In November, we celebrated mom's 83rd birthday.

We also got to meet Anne's boyfriend, Jason.

Later in the month, Paul and Tara hosted the family get-together for Thanksgiving.

Saturday, December 7, 2002

I arose this morning just after 3 AM. Rhys was cuddled close to my left side, while Mollie was curled next to my right hip. They are wonderful bed warmers! Rhys followed me into the bathroom and curled up in my blue jeans as I took my morning shower.

I spent most of the morning working on my web page. I had to create the picture page for December, select pictures, and upload them to Rootsweb. I also created a special "Christmas Memories" page that included pictures from 1954. Thanks to mom, I was able to scan a picture taken of Ron and I with Santa, and included it as the lead-in page.

Debra had spent the night last night. She and Valorie had gone to see the movie Solaris. Valorie gave it a grade of 80 (out of 100). Debra voted it a grade of 47. Obviously Debra doesn't like "science fiction" movies.

At 10 AM, Debra and I hopped in the truck and headed to Ted's Issaquah house. We stopped at McDonalds in Four Corners and had an Egg-Sausage McMuffin. Debra also got a triple-shot espresso at Starbucks.

In Issaquah, Ted and his friend "John" were already working to load up John's truck with lumber. They had neatly stacked some lumber alongside the garage, and had straightened up the garage. It is looking better and better.

Ted filled his pickup truck with items to take to the dump, while Debra and I got busy burning yard-waste wood. I used my chain saw to cut up his old planting storage shelves, and managed to dull my blade cutting up a cedar log that Ted wanted to take to the cabin to split into shakes.

The ground was still frosty, and Debra slipped and fell while walking down the slope to the burn barrel. Fortunately, only her pride was wounded.

We potted up some "hens and chicks" from the back porch, and then cleaned it off. We also cleaned out some of the tangle of weeds from the creek so that the stream would flow more quickly.

Debra took time out to climb the nearby cedar tree, and managed to get cedar branches down her shirt and tangled in her hair.

Valorie stopped by in the mid-afternoon and took more pictures of the house.

After cleaning up at home, Valorie and I went to a Christmas party at Paul Herrick's house in Shoreline. We had a good evening of conversation, with Monica Patten reading a Southern version of "The Night Before Christmas". Randy's wife played Christmas music on the cello. We left at 12:30 and were in bed by 1:30 AM.

Sunday, December 8, 2002

I arose at 7:15 this morning. There is a light fog drifting in the air, and the grass has a silvery dew making the morning glisten in the growing light. Anne's cat, Shadow, is pestering me already to fix their breakfast as I drink my Starbucks coffee and read my email. I got a note from mom saying that some of the items that she has ordered for Christmas might show up here, so I'd better check out some of the Amazon boxes to make sure that it's my stuff and not hers!

I did some on-line shopping, browsing Amazon.com for digital camera's. Last year, Paul mentioned that he would like to have a camera, and Anne mentioned that she, too, would find one really useful. I checked out the prices on the Canon G2 Powershot camera, and found out that there was a special sale going on where I could save 40% off the regular price. I bought two of them.

I also spent a few minutes making a "thank you" card to send to Paul and Joan for hosting the Christmas party. I used an old 1972 photo of the group holding up a "Get US Out of the United Nations" banner, and put a thank you message on the other side. As a bit of background, Ron discovered a wonderful internet company called "AmazingMail.com". The company allows you to upload graphics to their site that can be combined into a postcard. They then print it professionally on heavy card stock and mail it via the US mail. It is very impressive, and relatively inexpensive. My card will be mailed out tomorrow.

This is the first day that I didn't go over to Ted's old Issaquah house. There wasn't much left there, and I had plenty to do here. Ted and Debra showed up here at 2 PM, and we took the opportunity to go to lunch at the Black Diamond Bakery. I had a meat loaf sandwich, one of their specialties. I also noticed that Debra still had a twig from the Cedar tree in her hair! Silly girl.

While eating, Anne called and said that she wanted to go shopping. She arrived about an hour later. After talking with Madison in Arizona for an hour, Debra, Anne and I visited Pier 1 Imports and Fred Meyer in Covington. Anne picked up several gifts. We stopped at Baskin and Robbins for ice cream.

Ted and Valorie went to Snoqualmie to visit Carol Lauer. She was at risk at being evicted from her house since she has been unable to work due to her health. Valorie wrote her a check to cover her past-due rent. To me, this is the true spirit of Christmas.

Monday, December 9, 2002

Valorie was still up when I arose at 5:30 this morning. The thermometer says that it is just at freezing, but I don't see any frost on the grass.

I spent a little while updating the new page I made to capture pictures from past Christmas'. Anne pointed out to me that I had a picture in the 1997 category that was really 1991. I changed it, and also added a few more photos that I had missed when I first posted the page.

Anne arrived at 11:30. She wanted to do some house cleaning for us and then pick up Debra to go to a Pearl Jam concert. Anne vacuumed the floors, sweeped the kitchen and bathroom, and polished some silver. In the picture, Anne had just bonked her knee with the vacuum, resulting the the pained facial expressions. Debra and Ted arrived at 2:30, which allowed Anne and Debra to leave by 2:45.

Ted has not heard any more regarding closing his house deal. He planned to stop by his realtor to find out what was happening.

I spent a few moments making a list of items that we had already purchased for Christmas gifts. I also made a chart showing the average number of days before Christmas that we get our tree and put up our outside Christmas lights. From this, it appears that I should be looking for a tree approximately 12 days before Christmas, which would make it Friday the 13th!

Mollie, Rhys and I took a trip to McDonald's, where we enjoyed a dinner of cheese burgers. Mollie just loves them! She goes crazy as she smells them, and Rhys tried to stick his long nose into the bag to get something for himself!

Tuesday, December 10, 2002

Since I had gone to bed early last night, I arose at 4:30 AM. Valorie is sending some of Lola's shoes to a friend she met on the Internet. She photographed the shoes and let her friend review them on-line so that she could choose the ones she liked. The box is now ready for shipment.

I spent the morning preparing framed pictures for Christmas. I printed several from our picnic in July. I also made a new collage that I am going to give to Nickki and Anne. It has several of the best pictures, and turned out quite nice.

Around 2:30, Thomas called and suggested that we go shopping. He was going to stop at Half-price books, and then head to Kent. We finally got in touch with Anne and Debra, and they wanted to stop to eat, so we decided to meet at the Red Robin in Kent. Anne and Debra had a good time at the Pearl Jam concert, and were out until the wee hours of the morning partying with friends. That explains why they were just getting going by mid-afternoon.

During our dinner conversation, Anne kept trying to start a new conversation, but Valorie was going on-and-on about various topics, and as Anne put it, "she couldn't get a wedge in word-wise." That caught everyone's attention, and it even became funnier when she turned it around and wondered if it was right to say, "...couldn't get a word in edge-wise." What does "edge-wise" mean?

Anyway, Thomas and I went to Bookworld. I found two good novels that mom would like; Thomas also found a couple books. We then drove separately to the Auburn Supermall. I made the mistake of getting on the wrong side of the railroad tracks, so ended up driving south five miles and returning north again. We all arrived at about the same time, meeting at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I got Thomas a 6" chef's knife, and also picked up two knives and a toaster-oven for Paul and Tara, items that were included on their Wedding Registry.

From there we stopped at the Nordstrom Rack where I bought Thomas a white dress shirt and a sweater. Anne found some bracelets for herself at Black Gold Minerals. We stopped for refreshments at Orange Julius and then called it quits for the evening.

Valorie called her dad and found out that he is signing his house papers tomorrow. Woohoo! The deal is finally closing! Everyone came back to our house, and I arranged with Thomas to try to meet him at his work (Office Depot) tomorrow to look at printers.

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

I arose at 5:30 this morning. Valorie and Anne had taken Debra home to Buckley, so they didn't get back until about midnight. Anne got up just before 7 and got ready to leave for her doctor's appointment. We met for breakfast at Carousos Restaurant in Maple Valley. She got more medicine and had to stop at Baretell's to get a prescription before going to work at The Herbfarm Restaurant. I stopped at Bank of America to get some cash, and then headed to Bellevue to meet with Thomas at Office Depot. The traffic on I-405 was terrible. Several times I simply was stopped in the road, looking longingly at the 60 MPH speed limit sign! It took over an hour to get from Maple Valley to Bellevue.

At the store I couldn't find Thomas at either the customer service desk or around the store. I finally checked in the back of the store and found him on break in the employee break room. He was taking some Office Depot on-line courses. He started to show me the printers that they had, but was constantly being interrupted by other customers. He finally ended up in the customer service area, and sent another employee to help me select a printer for him. He wanted an HP 5550 inkjet. I noticed that Thomas really does a good job working with customers and would do well as a manager. Upon leaving, I gave him some money as an "early" Christmas present.

Since I was close to Bellevue Square, I stopped there and visited Illuminations. I got a nice center-piece candle with floating candles for Valorie. The drive home was much more pleasurable.

At home, the dogs were overjoyed to see me. Valorie had left with Debra to take the vanity from Ted's Issaquah house to Carol in Snoqualmie. I spent an hour on the Internet, and noticed that Amazon.com had shipped my last two Christmas-gift orders. I also ordered some new slippers for Valorie from Landsend.com. I ran across a really funny article about SPAM. Not the email kind, but the SPAM luncheon meat. They are sponsoring a series of "crazy tasty" advertisements to promote their product, and the sample commercials were hilarious! If you have Windows Media Player, click on the graphic for a sample of the commercial.

Valorie and Debra arrived home at 4, and took our recycling accumulations to the dump. I spent the time burning the trash and feeding the animals.

We went for dinner at God Fathers pizza. The food was not all that good, but everyone else seemed to be satisfied. We talked for a while about the help that Ted still needs at his house in Buckley. Since Debra is leaving for Arizona this Saturday, Valorie suggested that we should try to unpack as much as possible. I was not in a good mood, so was not very enthusiastic about spending more time fussing with dusty and dirty "stuff". Maybe sleep will change my perspective!

Thursday, December 12, 2002

I started my day at 4:30 this morning. It takes me a little over an hour to capture the activities of each day in this journal. I hope it's a worthy investment in time!

I spent much of the morning working on a photo collage for Sarah and Jason. It turned out quite well. My only problem was to get it to print without the computer locking up during the printing. For some reason, the hard drive light will come on (as if it is trying to read the drive), but it never turns off. I must have a software glitch somewhere, but I haven't been able to find it.

Debra and I watched the 1994 movie, "With Honors", starring Joe Pesci, Brendon Fraser and Moira Kelly. It was really well done and drove home a good message regarding priorities in our life.

I got both of my Amazon.com shipments today, and spent a little time charging the batteries on the two digital cameras.

At 2:30, Debra and I went to Ted's Buckley house and started to organize. Valorie showed up several hours later and we worked until after 6. We now have the garage organized so that the "door-to-door" shipping containers can be unloaded. We stopped for dinner at "Wallys". This is a small drive-in in Buckley that has a variety of fast food. I gave the waitress a 30% tip and she couldn't believe it. She held up the money and said, "Sir, this is what you gave me. Did you really want to?" Yes, I did.

At home, Jack Kinney had left a message that he had received a bill for snow plowing at the cabin. I called him back and let him know that I would be writing a check to cover it.

Friday, December 13, 2002

Hey, it's Friday the 13th!

Kim and Rick decided to close the Salome Bakery, and today was the last day of business. Salome is just too small and isolated to make a business like this profitable. I will always have fond memories of the times spent there.

I arose at 4:30. I spent the morning creating a new collage for Paul and Tara. I didn't have time to finish it before needing to leave to pick up mom. We went shopping at Factoria Mall and Bellevue Square. Mom has been busy making beautiful children's hats, which will be given to local area children in need.

At the Factoria Mall, mom was searching for a nice silk scarf for Carrie. We looked in Mervins, but they had very few to choose from, and most were too small. We decided to check out the Nordstrom Rack, which was on the far end of the mall. On the way, I noticed a Radio Shack, and suggested that we stop there to find a cell phone car charger for Valorie. The salesman was very helpful, and we picked one up for Valorie.

At the Nordstrom Rack, it was very busy, but the scarves there were not what we wanted. I suggested that we go to Bellevue Square and visit Nordstroms. We drove to Bellevue and I dropped mom off at the door and found a nearby parking place. We quickly found the scarves at Nordstroms. They have several very nice ones, some that cost over $150. Mom picked out two that I am sure Carrie will enjoy. One is white on black, and the other has pinkish shades.

On the way home, we stopped at McDonalds and got some Big Mac's for lunch. We ate in her room, putting them on her fancy plates. Somehow it made everything taste better!

After lunch, I helped mom check out her printer. It would print, but it was almost illegible. After doing the self-check and nozzle cleaning, we found out that it was out of color ink. I replaced the cartridge, but the black still wouldn't print. After doing several more head cleanings, the printer finally indicated that it was out of black ink as well! Since mom didn't have the right replacement cartridge, I suggested that she buy them from Amazon. I left at 1:30 and headed for home.

At home, I changed into my working clothes, and drove Debra to Buckley. We spent several hours washing pans and dishes, generally trying to set up the kitchen for Ted. It was really difficult to remove the grease film from most of the pans and plastic ware. In addition, we had to sort through everything and decide what to keep and what to recycle. Debra put labels on many of the cabinets and drawers, so Ted will know where everything is kept.

Valorie arrived at 5:30 and helped sort out the recycling items.

Since today was Debra's last day, Anne met us for dinner at the Mexican-food restaurant, Los Cabos, in Black Diamond. We had a good meal, and then returned home. Of course the doggies went wild at the return of the "pack". Even the cats seemed to be in a friendly mood. Anne displayed her dyslexia when she noticed Rhys trying to smell the rear-end of Figaro. She said, "Rhys, stop trying to sniff a cop!" We translated this as meaning, "stop trying to cop a sniff..." Everyone had a good laugh.

Anne, Debra and Valorie talked into the night, while I headed to bed at 9, cuddled up amongst warm doggie bodies.

Saturday, December 14, 2002

I woke up at just after 5 AM. Anne was still here, preparing to leave to go to work. I fixed a fresh pot of coffee and helped her pack her car.

I worked on and finished the collage for Paul and Tara. When I showed it to Valorie, she examined each picture of Paul very carefully, and finally remarked, "this is really nice, and you didn't even play with any of Paul's eyes!" The reason she said that is because when we had Paul and Tara's engagement party, there was one really good picture of Paul and Tara, except that Paul had his eyes closed. So, I figured that it would be easy enough to find another picture where Paul had his eyes open, and then simply switch closed eyes for open ones. When I did that, I thought the picture looked OK, but everyone else remarked that it made Paul look really weird. That's when I went back and replaced each eye with an animated gif, thereby making him blink! That freaked everyone out!

Debra arose by 9:30 and Valorie and I took her to breakfast at Sharis in Covington. I had pancake blintzes, while Debra had french toast and Valorie had a seafood omelet with whole wheat pancakes. We dropped Debra off at Seatac airport, as she was taking a Southwest airlines flight to Phoenix.

On the way home, I stopped at the Federal Way Costco. A storm front was blowing in, and we had several hours of gusty winds and driving rain. Of course the store was packed, and to top it all off, they didn't have any of the eight-by-ten picture frames that I have been using. On the way out, I filled up the Subaru with gas.

At home again, we unloaded the car. Valorie went on-line to join a chat that she has been hosting. I decided to head on over to Ted's Federal Way house to do some more unloading and unpacking. I washed a few more kitchen utensils and then focused on unloading the moving boxes. The work is difficult because it is so easy to get sidetracked. While in the bathroom, I noticed the leaky faucet, so I wanted to see if I could replace some faucet washers. Unfortunately, when I looked under the sink, there is no shutoff for the water there. I didn't want to take the time to trace the waterlines to find the shutoff. When I was in the office, I noticed that the scanner was not hooked up, so I fooled around and connected it to the USB port and plugged it in. I also spent an hour in the garage rearranging the food pantry, since I found several more boxes and barrels of food.

Valorie arrived at 5 and she spent a lot of time sorting, washing and rearranging the kitchen. She moaned several times when I would "discover" another huge box of kitchen items, and brought them into the kitchen for sorting and review. We moved Ted's grey metal cabinet into the living room, since it fits nicely right behind the door to the garage. We also brought in another file cabinet to the office.

We finally ran out of energy at 9 PM, having unloaded three of the four moving boxes. We went to eat at Wally's Drive-In.

I managed to get to bed by 10:30. Ted called Valorie, thinking that Debra was leaving tomorrow. Valorie corrected him, noting that Debra was already gone. Of course he was interested in what was going on at his house, but Valorie wouldn't tell him. Hopefully he will be pleased.

Sunday, December 15, 2002

I arose at 6:30 this morning. Mollie was so warm that she was laying upside down next to my pillow. I had to touch her and call her name to make sure that she hadn't died during the night!

The morning dawned partly cloudy, but the sun was peeking through, and it filled the rooms with a pleasing glow. With more rain in the forecast, I took the opportunity to get out the Christmas lights and put them up. While stringing the lights across the front of the house, a little bird landed on the feeder just inches from me. I said a cheery "hello birdie", and the little creature simply stared at me in disbelief for a few moments before making a little chirp and flittering away.

Mark Elsemore wandered over to ask if I'd decided not to pursue getting a dish TV system. I told him that I was still going to get one, but just have been pre-occupied lately with helping Ted get moved.

While putting the lights across the roof-top, I noticed that there were a lot of tree needles on the roof. After getting the last strings of lights in place, I got out the leaf-blower and cleaned off the roof and the gutters.

I had beef stew for lunch, and then drove to Buckley to continue unpacking and sorting. I finished unloading the last storage box, and then proceeded to re-arrange the boxes in the far end of the garage. I also sorted through the boxes of paint, plant food, and other containers, as well as sorting through his tools.

Valorie arrived at 3:30 and spent hours washing, sorting and cleaning in the kitchen. We took a break at 5 and had dinner at D'Johns. I had the sauted shrimp along with a chilled glass of white wine.

We returned to Ted's house and I did more sorting while Valorie continued organizing the kitchen. I left at 8:30. Valorie continued working until Ted arrived home at 11. He was amazed at the work that had been done!

Monday, December 16, 2002

I arose shortly after 6. Valorie was still up, playing solitaire on her computer. She explained how pleased Ted was about the work that had been done at his house.

I spent most of the day paying bills, running errands and shopping. Best of all, the doggies got to go in the car twice! I pre-paid my cabin dues so that I could write a check to the Forest Service for our leasehold. They currently charge us $2,480 per year. On our first outing, I went to Reber ranch and got more "chewies", "woof-bones", dog food and some secret Santa gifts. I then deposited by cabin dues to the cabin checking account at Bank of America. I stopped at Bartell drug store and found some good gifts. I got a "bubble kit" for Kaylie, some candy for Anne and Valorie, and a puzzle for Tara.

We then stopped at Fred Meyer where I found a "Hot Potato Head" game for Austin and a "Catch phrase" game for Emily. By this time we were hungry for lunch, so we stopped at McDonalds and got cheeseburgers. Mollie just loves them, and won't stop "beg-barking" until they are all gone. Even when they are, both Rhys and Mollie try to go "garbage groping" in the empty bag.

At home, I put batteries into the games. Catch phrase looks interesting, and I hope Emily likes it. When I put the batteries into the "Hot Potato Head" game, it worked for 30 seconds and then quit. Try as I might, I could not get it working again. So, I headed back to Fred Meyer (along with the doggies), to exchange it. While there, I also got some replacement light bulbs, a couple of plant bulbs for Valorie, and an Amaryllis.

Ted stopped by the house and explained that he would like some help on Wednesday moving the last of the items from his Issaquah house. He also still exclaimed about how pleased he was with all the help while he was away at class. Anne called and talked Valorie into going shopping with her at Southcenter. While she was away, I decided to pack the boxes to be shipped to the Betts in Salome and to Sarah and Jason in Wright. Of course I had to make the traditional Christmas package name-tags by putting Santa hats on everyone's pictures. It is time consuming but adds a homemade touch to the gifts. It took me several hours to wrap all of the gifts, especially since I used a different pattern of paper on each gift.

I watched a bit of TV, tuning into an episode of "Third Watch", the one where they are trying to deliver a human heart for transpant. It was very well done.

Tuesday, December 17, 2002

I arose at 6 this morning. Of course Valorie was still up, so she showed me the gifts that she had purchased while shopping with Anne. We then taped up the boxes to be shipped to Salome and Wright.

I decided to try to mail the packages early, so I loaded them into the car and let the doggies go for a ride. Our first stop was the UPS store in Maple Valley. Luckily my timing was just right, and they were just opening. The package for Sarah and Jason had to be shipped via the US Mail, so after having a sausage McMuffin (and sharing some with Rhys and Mollie), I stopped at the Black Diamond post office and sent the package on its way. It's a relief to have that done.

Anne arrived just after 10, and we quickly got to work moving the furniture out of the dining room so that we could clean the floor. Anne swept up literally two pounds of dirt and pine needles. We then got down on our hands and knees and scrubbed the floor with hot water and ammonia. It took us two hours.

We took a break and headed for lunch at the Black Diamond Bakery. From there we drove to Maple Valley and bought more floor polish and cleaning supplies.

While Anne waxed the floor, Valorie and I went to the bank and then stopped to get more Shakley. We then got our Christmas tree at a lot in Maple Valley. It is a noble fir about 5 feet tall.

At home again, Anne was polishing the piano. The floor was almost dry from the first coat. Anne applied a second coat and we then waited and waited for it to dry. Anne kept testing the floor by walking out onto it, leaving little foot-prints in the process!

We finally moved most of the furniture back and Anne left at 5.

I vacuumed the living room and then brought in the tree. I had to prune some of the branches since it was a bit too fluffy in the middle. I mixed together some of the water-concoct ion mentioned in last years Christmas diary and gave the tree a good drink.

We decided to go to the Keg for dinner, leaving at about 8. We had a bottle of their Merlot wine and a spicy steak and seafood plate. We got home at 11.

Wednesday, December 18, 2002

I arose at 5:30 this morning to the smell of our new tree. My mind, however, was still in a fog from our outing to the Keg last night.

After several cups of Starbucks coffee, I decided to get busy and put the lights on the Christmas tree. We did a really good job last year in putting the lights away, so it was easy to lay out the strings and put them on the tree. I marked the branches where the strings ended with a small piece of wire-tie, hoping that it will make it easier to remove them when it comes time.

It took me several hours to get the lights just right. I then brought in the ornaments and filled the branches. It looks very nice.

I fed Porkie at mid-morining. On the way back into the house, I noticed a dead squirrel laying under the fir tree. It was very wet and stiff. I dug a hole in the garden and burried it. When I told Valorie later in the day, she said, "why didn't you put it in a plastic bag and bury it in the ant pile? The ants will pick it clean and then we'd have a squirrel skeleton!" Um, for what do we need a squirrel skeleton? She even asked where I buried it, but I wouldn't tell, fearing that she would go out and dig it up!

After taking a break and snoozing with the doggies for an hour, I decided to clean the fish tank. The filters were really dirty, so I removed the entire unit and did a thorough cleaning. I also changed out ten gallons of water. The fishies now have smiles on their lips!

I took the doggies and we went to the Pet Store in Maple Valley to pick up more fish food. On the way back, we stopped at our favorite hamburger stand and enjoyed cheese burgers.

Ted called and stated that the door-to-door company had removed the boxes from his garage. He would like to move in his Studebaker tomorrow.

Thursday, December 19, 2002

My morning began at 6:15. Rhys is still limping, with some problem with his left front paw. Poor little guy, he just hops from one warm spot to another!

I took a few pictures of the Christmas tree, and a few of Rhys and Mollie. Rhys had followed me to the living room, and, of course, had jumped up on the hearth by the fire. He was very intent on watching the fire.

After transferring the pictures to my computer, the power at the house blinked, blinked again and then went off. The universal power supplies kept the computer running long enough to safely power down, but both dogs were shivering in fright. I found a battery-powered fan to blow air into the gas fireplace, thereby keeping the flame burning. Rhys kept slinking about, and finally ran outside. It was very windy, and several large branches broke away from the large fir tree next to Lucky's cage.

I finally decided to take the dogs and drive to Ted's place in Buckley. The dogs were overjoyed to go. Ted didn't have his front door locked, so I walked in and finally found him in the kitchen.

We tried to push his Studebaker into the garage, but it wouldn't budge. It's like one of the brake pads is rubbing, keeping the car from moving. Ted got his truck going and we towed the car with a rope, and finally pushed it with the truck into the garage.

I then helped Ted put up a "sorting table" across the back of the garage, and helped him find a pair of skis that Colleen wants for her museum.

I returned home to find that the power was back on. UPS had been by the house, but no one answered the door, so they could not deliver the Film-to-video package. While watching the small birds eat from the feeders outside the living room window, a yellow-and-brown hawk swooped in, grabbed a bird, and landed on our driveway. After a few moments, the hawk flew off with the bird locked tightly in its talons! I haven't seen a bird at the feeder since!

Since it was nearly lunch time, I took the dogs and we headed to the Maple Valley Safeway store where I got some Christmas candies. We also drove through at McDonalds and enjoyed our favorite treat.

By mid-evening I talked Valorie into going shopping with me in Issaquah. On our way, we stopped at Ted's Issaquah house. All was dark with little sign that anyone was getting ready to move in. Further down the road, the traffic was stopped, held up by the power company trying to remove a large tree that had taken down the powerline. Traffic was backed up all the way into downtown Issaquah, and it affected all of the streets and roads nearby. Needless to say, driving around was a very slow prospect. We stopped at Gillman Village. There were very few shoppers. I picked up a stocking-stuffer music box for Anne that plays "take me out to the ball game". Valorie got a latte at the local candy store before we headed across the freeway to Costco. The drive only took thirty minutes to travel two miles. I searched the store looking for eight-by-ten picture frames. Of course, they were by the entrance, but did I see them when I walked in? No, of course not. So I wandered the store and only found them when I was about to leave. I bought four of them.

We were going to eat at the Issaquah Brewery, but traffic was so bad through Issaquah that we decided to head back home via I-90 and highway 18. It was difficult getting to I-90, but was a relief to finally be away from the traffic mess. However, I noticed that the Subaru was losing power, so I don't know if it is a serious problem, or simply the result of gunk in the carburator. We made it home safely, left off the dogs, and had mexican food at Los Cabos.

Friday, December 20, 2002

I got up at 5:30 and microwaved a cup of coffee left over from yesterday. Anne's cat snicker is in the habit now of asking me for her breakfast. At about 6 AM each morning, she comes into the computer room and pesters me by meowing and wandering about. This gets the dogs all upset, and to avoid a dog and cat fight, I give in and feed them their super supper breakfast.

Noticing that the wind had died down and the sun was out, I went outside and raked up the branches and pine cones from the front yard. I found another limb from the neighbor's tree had fallen, so I dragged it into the back yard. I also took the opportunity to mow the grass in the back yard, since it has been warm enough to keep it growing.

I got my Film-to-Video package today and played the VCR tape. It was quite well done, with music throughout. I loved the pictures of a snowball fight that Ron and I had with dad. Ron hid behind the car and had a huge snowball, which he threw and hit dad directly in the back. Of course, dad ran after him but couldn't catch him. Hopefully both mom and Ron will find the tapes enjoyable.

I printed an eight-by-ten picture of Paul running with Kaylie on his back. It is probably the best picture that I have ever taken.

Ted dropped by several times today. He was getting a list of people and addresses so he can send out money for Christmas presents. His house sale is finally complete today, with the money being transferred to his account. Valorie and I went on a Christmas-light viewing trip to the Lake Wilderness Country Club houses. A majority of the homes there have extensive Christmas light decorations. I managed to take a few pictures of the more impressively decorated houses.

Saturday, December 21, 2002

I didn't get up until 7 this morning. What's wrong with me?

I spent an hour reviewing the home movie video, making notes about the content so that I can write a short summary to go with the video tape. My short summary turned into a project to make a collage and title for the cover and a table of contents with short summary. I printed out six copies, and used rubber cement to paste them to the tape inserts. It looks quite nice.

I spent an hour and updated my web page with the pictures of Christmas lights that I took yesterday. I also updated my timeline page and my favorite quotes page.

At 1:30 I took the dogs and we drove to Enumclaw. At the liquor store I picked up a bottle of rum and a bottle of Kahlua, along with a bottle of port. We then stopped at McDonalds and had cheese burgers. Paul called from Northgate, wondering what to get Valorie, Thomas, Ted and Lola. I gave him some ideas for Lola, but came up blank for the rest. I suggested that he talk directly to Valorie for ideas.

I stopped at the RiteAid and got a few stocking-stuffers.

At home, I spent an hour wrapping a few gifts to slip under our tree. I also decided to set out the Nativity set and to hang the snowflakes above the fireplace. Valorie finally got busy and set out some candles.

Meanwhile, Anne called from work. Her Cadillac car radiator fans will not turn off, and had subsequently run down her battery. She came out to the house to swap cars so that she could get to work tomorrow. I finally crawled under the car and unplugged the fans, since they were not controlled by a fuse. I think that there is a bad temperature sensor, so she will have to make an appointment to have it fixed.

We went to dinner at Presti's. Anne took the Subaru, although it is not running at it's best.

Sunday, December 22, 2002

It's the shortest day of the year, and winter officially begins! Yikes, I thought we were already experiencing winter, now we officially get three more months of it. Fooey!

I arose at 5:30. Valorie had been busy last night decorating the living room. She re-arranged the snowflakes hanging above the fireplace, and hung the Christmas cards.

I managed to fritter away the day, doing absolutely nothing! While meditating on the couch -- e.g., sleeping with the dogs, I glanced up and saw the hawk again swoop under the eves, chasing a black and white chickadee. The poor little bird panicked so much that it flew into the window and then away to the fir tree. I grabbed my camera and headed outside to try to get a picture of the hawk, but it was long gone.

I did manage to sleep, with Rhys between my legs and Mollie curled up by my chest. She got so warm that she started panting, flipping herself upside down!

Realizing that it was the 22nd, and that Anne was likely to be out to the house tomorrow, I decided it was time to begin wrapping our Christmas gifts. I started around 3 PM and finished at midnight! I suppose it only amounted to 40 gifts, but it seemed like 400! We took a break at 7 and headed out for a dinner of Chinese food. The garlic chicken and Mongolian beef were really good.

Valorie spent most of the rest of the night polishing candlesticks, cleaning and decorating the living room, dining room and kitchen. It really looks nice!

Monday, December 23, 2002

Having gone to bed at midnight, I arose at 7. Valorie was still up, busy cleaning a candle holder. It is cold outside. The thermometer reads 25 degrees! Brrrr!

At 9:30, I took the dogs and we went to Radio Shack where I picked up a TeleZapper for Valorie and a wireless doorbell for Ted. We then stopped at Bartell Drugstore where I got some aftershave lotion, a few candles, a "Seattle Blues" CD, a Baseball tape, and some vacuum cleaner bags. I dropped into Starbucks and got another pound of Gold Coast coffee, and a small stocking stuffer sample of their Christmas blend coffee for Valorie.

On the way home we stopped for lunch at McDonalds. Mollie barked and barked, ensuring that she got her "fair share".

I called Anne at 1, wondering what she was going to do today. She had forgotten about her Cadillac, so she called Motorplex and arranged to have them look at it. She also mentioned that Jason will be attending tomorrow night! I dropped her car off and Valorie picked me up. We stopped at Starbucks and bought a coffee card for Jason. At home, I decided to make a collage made up of pictures of Anne during 2002. It turned out OK.

We went for dinner at Ivars, and ordered their "boatload" fish and chips. It came with clam chower and cole slaw. Yummy.

We stopped at QFC and bought supplies for tomorrow night.

Tuesday, December 24, 2002

I arose at 5:30. Valorie was busy trying to get the sewing machine to run, but it hadn't been used for so long that it wouldn't work correctly. She even worked on the old Singer machine, and got it working. However, it did not work well enough to finish her project, and after tinkering with her other machine, it began working again.

I cleaned the house somewhat. Anne arrived at 9:30 and baked several batches of cookies. Valorie and I went to the Black Diamond bakery for lunch. It was packed with people. We got a barbecued beef sandwich "to go" for Anne. Valorie mailed some packages, one to Sarah, and one to a friend in France.

At home, I took Anne to pick up her Cadillac at Motorplex. They were able to fix the radiator fans by replacing an electrical relay.

Valorie and I got ready for the Christmas gathering. Ted arrived here shortly after 3. He brought two bottles of wine. I opened a bottle of Merlot, and the three finished it off.

Valorie made a frozen milk punch, spiked with rum and brandy. It was really tasty, and I had several glasses of it during the evening.

Everyone arrived by 7, and we opened presents. Both Paul and Anne really liked their cameras. Paul installed Windows XP on my computer, removed my TV card, and updated my computer BIOS. We had a short scare when the computer wouldn't boot after updating the BIOS, but later when Paul tried it again, it worked fine. Whew!

We were done opening presents by 10:30, and everyone had a good time. Anne's boyfriend, Jason, couldn't come because he came down sick. She took the presents we had so that he could open them later.

Unfortunately, I had consumed too much tasty punch, so Valorie kept making me drink water, even though I got the hiccups. It seemed to do the trick, and I was in bed by midnight.

Wednesday, December 25, 2002

Merry Christmas!

I arose at 8:30. My brain is in a fog with the memory of too much booze last night!

Ted arrived here just a bit after noon and we left to pick up mom at 12:15. With everything loaded into the car, we drove to see Ron and Carrie's new house in Redmond. It is about a 5 minute drive from the Herbfarm restaurant. I managed to take a wrong turn, and ended up driving about 10 miles out of the way before I got back on the right road. We took a tour of their house, which is in the process of being remodeled with a new kitchen and modified walls in the dining room.

Ron served everyone a glass of Sherry, and we had small baked potato pieces with caviar and sour cream. Paul showed us a mini-video that he had taken this morning at Deane's house. It was great. When Anne arrived, Paul borrowed her video cords and we previewed his pictures on Ron's TV.

We left for the Herbfarm restaurant at 3 and unloaded all of our gifts. We had quite a pile around the tree! Thomas helped open and serve Champagne, and we began opening gifts. It was fun!

Mom was really impressed with my "home movie" video tape. Unfortunately, there wasn't a TV or VCR, so she'll have to wait until tomorrow to see it! Deane and Tara arrived at 5:45. Deane, Tara and Paul opened the last gifts before we retired to the table for dinner. Ron outdid himself again with a wonder dinner.

Both Anne and Paul took a number of good pictures, so I hope to get a few of the better ones to post and/or print. It was raining hard as we packed our gifts and headed for home. When we arrived at the Red Oak in North Bend, the main doors were locked, and mom didn't have a key! We knocked and jiggled the door, but no one was near enough to hear us. Fortunately, mom thought to try the side door, which was unlocked. We carried her gifts up to her apartment. I installed a black ink cartridge in her printer before leaving.

We arrived home at midnight. The windshield wipers on Ted's van were not working, so he sprayed Rainex on the windshield. Hopefully he made it home OK.

Thursday, December 26, 2002

I arose at 7:30 and spent most of the day enjoying my presents from Christmas. I finally got my scanner to work by reloading scanner drivers. I then installed Photoshop 7. It works very well. I also tinkered with Windows XP, making sure that Valorie could still print to my printer from her machine.

I installed the SanDisk card reader that Paul got for me for Christmas. It worked really well and I transferred the few picutures from my camera.

Valorie and I took down the tree today, because the needles were falling from the branches. It took us several hours to remove the decorations, box them up, remove the lights, and then bag up the branches one by one.

I burnt the trash, and tried burning the tree, but it really wasn't that dry. They didn't burn well. Perhaps it was just the type of tree, rather then being excessively dry?

We had dinner with Kerry Lea at Trotter's restaurant in Auburn.

Friday, December 27, 2002

It's Friday, and the weatherman is forecasting high wind today, possibly one of the worst windstorms to hit the area in some time.

I took the dogs and we stopped at Reber Ranch to pick up another bag of potbelly-pig food and one of rabbit food. I then stopped at Safeway to get some eggs and sausage. By then it was after 10:30, so I stopped at the Covington McDonalds where we all enjoyed cheese burgers and a fillet-of-fish. While eating I noticed a guy walking out of the Covington Presbyterian Church parking lot with a packsack. It appeared that he had spent the night there, and was headed to McDonalds to use the restroom.

By now the wind had picked up, so we headed home. Small fir limbs and pinecones were being blown from the branches. Just after we arrived home, the power blinked and then went out. It was 11 AM.

I noticed that the largest "shark" in my fish tank was caught in a hole in the large decorative rock. I lifted the rock and let it free, but it must have been trapped there for some time, because it just floated upside-down in the tank. After several hours, one of the algae-eaters started eating it, so I decided that it was time to gracefully end the fishes life. I removed it from the tank, wrapped it in wet towels, and placed it in the freezer. Goodby kind fishie!

Once it started getting dark, Valorie lit candles, and I got out the battery-powered fan so that we could push more air through the gas fireplace insert. Mark Elsemore stopped by for a visit and we enjoyed a cup of mulled cider from our Christmas eve party. I called the Power Company information line and found out that they estimated restoration of service by 7 PM.

I did some reading of my new Christmas books and took a nap with the dogs.

By 7 the power was still out, so I called the information line again and found out the the new estimate was 11 PM. I took some pictures of the many candles, using different camera settings to see if I could get better pictures without a flash in low light situations.

Saturday, December 28, 2002

I arose for the second time at 7:30. The first time was at 3:30 when the power was restored. We had to blow out all of the candles and re-adjust the fireplace fire and fan.

I spent the morning maintaining my computer. I defragmented by drives and installed Norton Antivirus 2003. While doing so, I was listening to an internet radio station (Country 105 FM) from Calgary Canada. Their weather forecast for today is a high of minus 3 degrees celsius! I'm listening to the Top Country Hits for 2002. The most-popular and most-played country song in 2002 was Kenny Chesney's, "The Good Stuff".

I spent most of the day reading about the features of Photoshop via their on-line training.

Of course, I had to take a break at mid-day to nap with the doggies.

Valorie and I watched the movie, Memento.

Sunday, December 29, 2002

Happy Birthday, Kim!

I arose at 6:45. The forecast for today says that we might see a little snow. I'll believe it when I see it, although it is only 34 degrees outside.

Several hours of my morning were spent writing the introduction to this yearly diary. I tried to hit the high spots of the year without being too boring.

The sun came out a mid-day, so I decided that it was my cue to go outside and take down the Christmas lights. They came down more easily than they went up. While up on the roof, I took the opportunity to clean out the gutters which had a number of pine cones and needles from the last wind storm.

I had a lunch of macaroni and cheese, and then decided to go online and order a satellite TV dish system. I got one that has two devices that will allow us to record TV programs and play them back. It also allows us to skip the commercials!

I took an hour and changed-out ten gallons of water from my fish tank. Ted stopped by to bring us a chair that we can use around our dining room table.

Thomas called and invited us to go to see the Lord of the Rings, Two Towers. It was playing in Bellevue at the Galleria Cinema. We met Thomas there at 2:30, and found out that we couldn't get in until the 4 PM showing. So, we took the opportunity to have lunch at the Rock Bottom Brewery. Thomas moved his car from the parking garage to a spot at Office Depot. I bought some more Epson glossy photo paper, and then returned just in time to get seated for the movie. It was really well done, although a bit long. I can't wait to see the final segment.

While we were gone, Anne stopped by the house to get her cookie dough. She left us a gift certificate to a restaurant in Seattle. She also fed Porkie and kept the doggies company for a while.

Sure enough, no snow today. They are still forecasting the possibility of some. We'll see.

Monday, December 30, 2002

I arose at 6. Ha! No snow! I managed to dink around on my computer, wasting several hours simply looking at all of the options, watching system performance, and generally doing nothing worth noting! I does seems odd that we only have two more days left this year, and that I'm starting on the last week of my vacation. My, how vacation time goes quickly!

I played around with Windows Media Player (WMP) and found out that it allows storage of song lyrics. That got me going on a search for the song lyrics for a number of the songs in my collection. I found a good site for lyrics (http://www.lyricscafe.com/), and spent a few hours copying and pasting the lyrics into the database.

Anne called and let us know that she wouldn't be out to clean today, as she was going to the Herbfarm to do inventory. Paul also called wanting to know Ted's post office box number. Strangely enough, we didn't have it, although I gave him Ted's new phone number so he could call and get it. Paul will be coming up to the cabin tomorrow late in the afternoon with a couple of friends.

At 11, I took the dogs and we went to Maple Valley and transferred some money from our Bank of America account to the BECU checking account so that I would be able to pay for the Christmas VISA bill. I also stopped at Safeway and picked up a few things to take to the cabin for New Years. Of course, before heading home, we had to stop at McDonalds for our traditional lunch. Mollie sure does love those cheese burgers! I had to scold both of the dogs for doing "dumpster diving" in the trash bag in the truck!

Paul posted some of the pictures that he took for Christmas on his web page. He also posted a copy of the Windows Media Player movie that he took a Deane's house. Click on the picture to run the movie.

At home again, I continued working with my music collection. I noticed that I had not yet copied the new songs from the country music CD's that I got for Christmas. However, while copying the second one, I got an error message that the program could not complete the copy, and had to close. Try as I might, I could not copy any more songs. I then discovered that I didn't have the most recent version of WMP, so I downloaded the Beta-version. I looks really different, and has additional features, including synchronizing the lyrics with the music. I played around with that setting for some time, but was unable to make it work successfully. I was successful, however, in copying the rest of my CD!

Valorie fixed a large batch of soup for dinner, and I fixed a batch of corn bread. We watched the evening news, and I then found a station that was playing the movie, "Lord of the Rings -- Fellowship of the Rings". I watched an hour of that, and then Valorie wanted to watch another program. Afterwards, we watched the entire "Fellowship of the Rings" movie on her new CD. It was the expanded version. I was up until after 1 AM, but thought it was worthwhile to see such a good movie.

Tuesday, December 31, 2002

I arose shortly after 7, a bit groggy with only six hours of sleep. It seems that there is a lot to do before leaving to the cabin. Hopefully we can clean the house somewhat so that we will return to a clean house in the new year.

I spent an hour and paid all of our bills, over $3300!

At 10:30, I took the dogs and we went to Costco. I managed to pick up a number of items, including coffee for work. Anne called and wanted me to stop by Bartell Drugs on my way back to see if they had a prescription for her. They didn't.

As soon as I got home, I put the lasagne in to cook, and then began packing for the trip to the cabin. It took several hours to get everything together. Paul called, and we coordinated our menu for tonight. He is going to bring salad-makings and sausages, Ted is bringing spaghetti sauce, I am bringing spaghetti noodles, garlic bread and a cooked lasagne.

I left for the cabin at 3. Valorie was going to return to Bartell's, after having called the doctor to try to get them to authorize filling Anne's perscription. They had it done and Valorie picked it up.

I arrived just as the sun was setting. The driveway was not plowed of snow, and there was about 3 inches. As I walked into the cabin, Ted was in the warm kitchen with his radio blaring. It was so loud that he didn't even hear me come in, and he jumped when he saw me. He definately needs better hearing aids, or at least needs to change their batteries more often!

Paul, Tara and their friends Jeremy and Sarah, arrived about fifteen minutes after I did. I took the snow shovel and started clearing off the driveway to the road so that everyone would be able to get out in the morning. Paul and Jeremy carried the rest of my food down and then returned to help clear the snow. It took us about an hour, but well worth it.

As it became time to start fixing dinner, Tara noticed that there was very little water pressure. I went down to the well and found that it was completely dry! Ted was flabbergasted, since it was almost full when he had turned on the pump several hours before. After a little investigation, we determined that he had failed to turn off the water in Jack Kinney's bathroom, so for the several hours that he was there, the pump simply pumped the well dry. Bummer. We decided to carry water so that we could flush the toilets, and found several containers of drinking water, plenty for the couple of days that we would be staying.

Paul Herrick arrived just after dinner was served. He could not stay the night, since Joan was at another party and wanted him to return in time to welcome in the new year. He brought a bottle of Merlot, which he began to open, using a cork puller. Come to find out, the bottle had a screw-cap, so the cork puller drilled a neat hole through the cap. Paul took this as a sign that perhaps this is how the wine should be served, so he poured from the bottle without opening the top! Glug, glug, glug...silly Paul!

Anne called at 7:30, saying that she was on her way. We advised her to pick up some water at the store, so that we would have enough to drink.

Lennard arrived at 9, bringing his newest girl friend. They also brought a puppie named "Bear". Of course Rhys and Mollie had a fit, with Rhys trying to chase and bit him. It was hilarious.

Valorie had decided to share some of the money that Ted had given her for Christmas, so she gave $2000 each to Paul, Anne and Thomas, suggesting that they invest it. Hopefully it will be put to good use.

I had brought the camera tripod, and managed to take a few nice pictures without the flash. Both Paul and Anne also took some good pictures. We had a good evening, and welcomed in the new year with fireworks and Champagne.

The doggies and I were fast asleep by 1 AM.

Wednesday, January 1, 2003

I arose at 7:30, made a pot of coffee, and washed the few dishes from last night.

Paul and Thomas were up shortly afterwards, since they were going skiing at Crystal Mountain. Paul fixed eggs, sausage and toast for breakfast.

It began raining quite hard and steady at 10 AM, but appeared to be snowing at the higher elevations. I took the snow shovel up to the parking lot and dug out our Ford Ranger pickup. I had asked Valorie to park it in front of the Subaru, but when she arrived, she mistook Paul's Subaru for ours, and parked in the deeper snow. The truck has very poor traction in the snow, so I wanted to move it to where it would be able to get out. After a little digging, I was able to move it, although even with all of the snow removal it still had a difficult time getting out of the driveway!

I walked down the road to the river and looked at a giant tree that had fallen across the road. The wood appears to be dry rot, but it's hard to tell without cutting a round or two out. It was a huge tree, and must have been hundreds of years old.

When Jeremy got up at 9, he made German pancakes. They are made with lots of eggs and baked in the oven. When done, they are sprinkled with powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup. They were delicious!

Ted packed and left the cabin just before noon. He had no trouble getting out.

I decided to head home at 2:30. As I was carrying the dogs to the truck, Paul and Thomas were just returning from skiing. They had a good time. The rain continued to fall with vigor, and the short walk up to the truck managed to soak the poor doggies. They both shivered and cuddled together on the drive home.

At home, I unloaded the truck and fed the animals. I noticed that the house was rather cool (65 degrees), so I turned up the fireplace. The fireplace fan has not been working well, and seemed to take a long time before it came on. All of a sudden, there was a "whump" sound and the flame went out, even the pilot light. Try as I might, I could not get the fireplace to light again. So, I turned on the forced-air furnace. We'll have to get someone to come out and repair our insert.

I watched the end of the Rose Bowl. Washington State was soundly beaten by the Oklahoma Sooners, 34 to 14. I watched the evening news, and a movie before heading to bed at 10.

I have two more days of vacation, plus the weekend before heading back to work. It's nice to be able to relax for a few more days!

Dealing with a Peculiar Family Tradition - "Christmas Eve Gift"
by Susan Buce
Previously published in RootsWeb Review: Vol. 5, No. 51, 18 December 2002

100 YEARS AGO

As you read the statistics, recall someone you knew who lived then, parent, grandparent, and the numbers take on added significance.

The year is 1902, one hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes. Here are the U.S. statistics for 1902.

The average life expectancy in the US was forty-seven (47).

Only 14 Percent of the homes in the US had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.

There were only 8,000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average wage in the US was 22 cents an hour.

The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births in the US took place at home.

Ninety percent of all US physicians had no college education.

Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee cost fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason.

The five leading causes of death in the US were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30.

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.

There were no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

One in ten US adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."

Eighteen percent of households in the US had at least one full-time servant or domestic.

There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire US.

What will the next century bring??

TOP STORIES OF 2002

Here are the top 10 stories of 2002, as ranked by AP members:

     1: ULTIMATUMS TO IRAQ: In January, President Bush denounced Iraq as part of an “axis of evil,” and pressure on Saddam mounted steadily thereafter. U.S. forces expanded their presence around Iraq; Congress authorized the use of force, if necessary, to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction; and the Security Council demanded that Saddam comply fully with arms inspections or face dire consequences.

     2: SNIPER KILLINGS: Residents of the nation’s capital and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs were terrorized for three weeks in October by sniper attacks that struck victims randomly at malls, gas stations, even a schoolyard. After an exhaustive manhunt, two suspects were arrested and accused of killing 13 people.

     3: CATHOLIC SEX ABUSE SCANDAL: The scandal surfaced early in the year in Boston, with revelations that Roman Catholic leaders had sheltered priests who were known to have abused children. By year’s end, Cardinal Bernard Law had resigned as Boston’s archbishop, and at least 325 priests nationwide either quit or were dismissed from their duties because of the scandal.

     4: CORPORATE SCANDALS: Numerous companies were battered by financial scandals during the year, including WorldCom, Tyco, ImClone and Adelphia. Martha Stewart, homemaker-in-chief for many Americans, became entangled in the ImClone insider-trading case.

     5: U.S. ECONOMY: Markets seesawed wildly, the jobless rate climbed to its highest level since 1994, and state governments across the country confronted huge deficits that prompted talk of cutbacks and tax hikes.

     6: U.S. ELECTION: Defying predictions, Republicans rode Bush’s popularity to a strong election performance, recapturing the Senate and gaining seats in the House.

     7: WAR ON TERROR: With arrests in several U.S. cities and military strikes abroad, America and its allies pursued a vast, often frustrating campaign against global terrorism.

     8: MIDEAST CONFLICT: Palestinian militants escalated their campaign of suicide bombings of Israeli targets, with often devastating results, while Israel responded with tough crackdowns on Palestinian areas. Prospects for peace seemed remote.

     9: MINE RESCUE: After a 77-hour ordeal that transfixed the nation, nine Pennsylvania coal miners were rescued from an underground shaft.

     10: SEPT. 11 ANNIVERSARY: With bell-ringings, recitations of names, and moments of silence, America commemorated the first anniversary of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

     In the poll of AP’s international subscribers, the Middle East conflict placed second, followed by the deadly hostage-taking at a Moscow theater and the terrorist bombing of a nightclub in Bali. The U.S. corporate scandals placed fifth and the expansion of the European Union sixth.