Life goes on...

...Debbie Mills and Saliah Ain & Wisteria Harris & Don Duzant ...the silence that fell over the audience in Washington, DC during Independence Day when the White House was destroyed, and the applause when the aliens were defeated...54...I am addicted to pain killers...Just being clumsy!...Mother Nature is calling me!...getting sick by eating a piece of cheescake that had been in a very warm car; Mike spent the entire night in the bathroom! (Ow!)...the war in Trident Int'l over the service mark...seeing Tootsie by walking to the National Airport METRO, going to DC and eating at Trio's with Neil, then returning home, using a hotel shuttle van for the last part of the journey...Stan was visiting us; he slept while we went to the movies, since he had tricked the night before, and probably the night before that!...having Martha Simpson change her son's diaper at our home during a snowy December; we called to find what hotels had vacancies, since they were not going to stay at our place...our friend Erik was out that night with Jim Patterson...and convincing Erik to be polite when introducing him to a black member of Trident Int'l. DC...housing construction rose 8.2% in November, 2001, the largest since January of the same year...one of the reasons is the late autumn warm weather in the East...Sears convicted of fraudulent advertising for their DieHard battery, saying it was the nation's best...the top three most successful concert tour groups for 2001 were U-2 (who won the most nominations for the American Music Awards), N'Sync & the Backstreet Boys...for individual performer, it was Madonna...a truly united country of Afghanistan is still a long way in the future...the number of people who rented movies in 2001 exceeded those that went to a theater...GM is offering early retirement packages to thousands of white collar workers...while they made a profit in 2001, they will be cutting their staff by 10% in 2002...Ford will by laying off at least 35,000 workers, and closing 5 auto plants, plus they are discontinuing the Escort & the Lincoln Continental...Ford lost $5 billion in the last quarter of 2001, sales dropped 3% for the entire year...Chrysler will spend less money on new vehicles, which will allow them to break even in 2002...

...12/21/01: called Columbia Video House, had not received recent purchase...while waiting for a customer service person, a message said that no one can answer this call, so call back later...did so, told the hours of operation...12/22/01: told they were closed due to the Thanksgiving holiday and would reopen on Saturday...12/22/01 is a Saturday!...called on 12/23/01; same Thanksgiving message...12/24/01: new message explaining that they are closed from 12/22/01 until 12/25/01...12/26/01: called again; when there are no available Customer Service assistants, you are told to call back later, or fax, access their web page or write a letter...then their system disconnects your call...

...a man in Albuquerque prevented muggers from taking his money by hitting them with a full gallon container of milk...1/6/02: in Birmingham, AL an accident between a fuel tanker & a truck caused an explosion which buckled an overpass on I-65...1/7/02: a similar incident occurred in Chicago, but no damage to any lives or property; the driver lost control of his vehicle...

...the CA governor and Tom Ridge, head of the Homeland Security Agency are trying to develop an anti-terror preparedness & training plan, a terror alert system, having 4 levels of emergencies...this threat assessment will be similar to DEFCON procedures...if the source cannot be validated as credible, there is no need to broadcast a potential risk situation...the TX governor received a threat on public schools, it provded not credible...but everyone is caught between cry wolf or ignore until verified options, both of which have good & bad points...also to be considered is that the deadline is soon upon for the states to tell the nation how prepared they are for terrorists attacks; their plans should be completed by early 2002...there is a virus which can kill in minutes, by going through the skin and into the blood system...the country went on a high state of alert for potential terrorists attacks until 12/31/01, and then extended to 01/02/02...on 01/03/02, it was extended again to 3/11/02, due to the Winter Olympics being held at Salt Lake City...Tom Ridge will review the security at all locations in Olympic Park...$250,000 will be spent on technology to ensure safety for this event, which will last from February 9-24...it will be fan friendly...200 weapons were found in the home of a CA nuclear power plant worker...a cynaide letter was received at the US embassy in New Zealand where Tiger Woods was playing at a golf tournament...1/12/02: a white supremacy rally was held in York, PA; this was the site of race riots in 1969, in which a policeman & a black woman was killed...it was discovered in 2001 that the current mayor of York participated in the killing of that woman...

...the parrots in Silver Spring, FL...we have lived in SW DC & SW Albuquerque, near Old Town Alexandria & Old Town Albuquerque...when in SW DC, we could look at SE DC; in SW Albuquerque, we can look at NW ABQ!...Dr. Mustafa & Dr. Bruni...walks & drives through the National Arboretum in NE DC...sitting in the waiting room of the Washington Hospital Center, then walking to the recovery area after Brad's hernia operations & seeing this very tired, very weak person, then watching nurses help him from a wheelchair into the car; but he recovered!...Fatima Blush in Never Say Never Again...Mike's 1976 Chevy Monza, that died due to radiator problems and no money; Mike had to walk back to work in a snow storm after getting rid of it...shopping at Georgetown Park, Mazza Gallerie (DC) & Harbor Place (MD)...the wonderful sight of Brad and Captain sleeping together in the morning...the cosmic vampire at Dr. Bruni's office who jabbed you with a needle to draw blood...the art store on King ST where many pictures were framed...Sam, the man with the big cigar (?!) who was very vocal and festive at red hanky socials...the feeling's right & the music's tight on the disco night...El Nino may be returning...Muhammad Ali gets a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame...Rudy, our barber, who can cheer you up when you need a friend...

...Governor Johnson of NM wants to legalize marijuana for medical use, as well as allow people to purchase small amounts of the weed; this will be part of his 2002 Drug Reform Program (see more)...it will probably not be passed..he has also proposed to cut tax on groceries or the income tax...other issues are education reform & Medicaid benefits cut to $10 million in the budget..the state will have to tighten its belt!...in a related story, Prince Harry of England went to a detox center to treat his drug & alcohol abuse...

"If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain!" Dolly Pardon

Mailroom At Office Of Personnel Management Had Trace Amount

January 9, 2002; WASHINGTON -- The latest trace of anthrax has turned up at the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, D.C.

The office said a swab taken of a countertop in its mailroom last month has come back positive for a scant amount of anthrax.

The amount is below what federal health officials said will cause medical problems.

No employees have shown any signs of anthrax-related illnesses.

OPM's director said the mailroom will be completely recleaned.

...John Walker, currently known as the American Taliban, knew about the terrorist attacks to kill Americans, since he met with bin Laden in June...he chose to fight against his own country...he could face a life sentence in prison...of course, his family would like to see him when he is returned...Mr. Walker is on the USS Bataan, and will return to the US by the last week in January, 2002...

...file under??? California will put numbers on their freeway exit signs to prevent confusion; 5800 signs, at a cost of $30 million...Denny's Restaurant has contributed $1 million to the Martin Luther King National Civil Rights Museum...since the September 11 attacks, murder in DC has increased 47%...money contributed to the 9/11 fund: $163 million has been distributed, with $270 million still available for ???...1/16/02: at the WA/Canada border, 34 hockey bags with 1400 lbs. of marajuana with a street value of $12 million was confiscated by the border patrol...a 13 & 15 year old are accused of raping & murdering an ABQ female on 1/7/02...the younger has a 21 count rap sheet in AZ...the victim was Melissa Albert, 34, who worked as a med tech at UNM...1/19/02: 4-dimensional roller coaster debuts at Magic Mountain in CA...the domestic violence rate in ABQ is 3 times the national average...a male Bernalillo fitness center trainer hid a camera in the women's locker room...billions of dollars being spent to revive downtown LA, a city with 20 million people...film crew in Grant County, NM remaking a 1950's film Salt of the Earth which involved a mine strike in Hanover, NM...40 lbs. of marijuana stolen from a college dorm room...the student called the police, who located and arrested the thief and the student for possession...the Queen of England will have to sell her royal train in order to trim the budget...it has 8 cars, 2 engines and costs $1 million per year to operate...since she is over 65, the Queen could travel free using a senior's pass...she has also flown to Australia on a British airline (first class, no less!)...a large chunk of ice caused $5000 damage to a SC car showroom...it probably fell from an airplane or weather balloon...

...but, so I have been told, one does not have the job yet...if the manager does not like what she hears from the references, she could select someone else...

...1/17/02: lava flow erupting from volcano in the Congo has killed 40 people...the lava was 3 feet deep, destroying Goma, a city of 100,000 citizens...the flow is heading to Rwande, but has come to a halt on 1/20/02...this incident has displaced 500,000 individuals...