Apartment 314: December, 2001
...2001 Time, Inc. Man of the Year is NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose 8-year term as mayor ended on 12/31/2001...
...visitors to small theme parks has increased since the September attacks due to their lower admission fees and lesser distances to travel...
...600,000 foreigners are here on visas, considered as American 'guests'; now, more in-depth background checks will be performed, with complex rules & regulations that have to be followed to the letter...the paperwork may take a year to complete, especially true for Middle East citizens...car sales have begin to increase in December...some people think the worse is over, that people are more confident in the economy; analysts disagree...12/17/01: coup attempted at Port-au-Prince, Haiti...12/19/01: state of siege declared in Argentina due to their poor economy...12/20/01: the president of Argentina resigns, this will have a global effect...
12/23/01: 100,000 new government & social jobs are created, more will become available on a weekly basis...it has suspended its debt and is creating new currency...12/28/01: riots started again...12/31/01: Argentina is now broke & powerless; it has chosen its fifth president in 2 weeks (not bad!)...the Argentina peso has been devalued, and will no longer use US currency standards to determine its worth ...1.5 million people in NYC will suffer from post traumatic stress and seek treatment...people are still suffering due to the dust storms that took place on September 11...the air contains nine times the acceptable limit of asbestos...30 firefighters are beginning retirement procedures due to asthma or constant coughing or the inhilation of soot, ash or other potentially toxic substances......Captain has found a new place to play & roll in the sand plus a kitty litter box, all located in Brad's sand & rock garden in the front porch...by the end of 2001, Captain was carefully exploring a world beyond the front door...he has also become the Cat Commander of the Commode...
...people donated for both patriotic & religious reasons...a 50-foot piece of the NYC Trade Center north tower will be torn down & preserved, the last standing part of the entire complex...a monument in NYC to remember the September 11 attacks may cost $250 million...people are making pilgramages to the WTC to be blessed or bless its presence...
...a flight was delayed at San Diego when a fake grenade was found on board a plane; this was a test of their security system...the wrong person picked up the bag...a terminal was evacuated at LAX when a phony grenade rolled down the aisle of a jet; the X-ray baggage scanners failed to detect the item...the employees saw the object but could not find the correct piece of luggage...just like San Diego, a woman picked the bag up in error, due to similar style, and opened it in the jet...airport explosive detection devices should have been completed by 1993; not so...FAA closed 26 airports in Nov./Dec. for security problems...National Airport will allow 43 additional flights, starting 1/2/02...airlines could lose $2-3 million in 2002...the airlines with the best on-time arrivals are Delta, TWA (now merged with America) and US Airways; the least on-time are Alaska & United...the best on-time airports are National & Tampa; the worst, JFK...
....American, America West & Southwest are reporting flights approaching 98% capacity...however, America West is the worst-off airlines, losing $5 million per day...it is expected to lose money until 2003, in spite of a government bailout...Florida man was arrested in Tampa with a loaded pistol in his carry-on luggage had boarded flights in Memphis & Atlanta before the gun was found...a similar incident occured on a flight from LAX to Chicago...and the FAA will hire people without a high school diploma, since it will be the on-the-job training that will determine their abilities...
...most airport security cannot detect plastic TNT...Delta lost $7 million; the combined loss for air carriers is about $500 million...in general, a test of the new airport security regulations proved to be a flop...
...1/8/02: a man was caught at Midway Airport in Chicago with flares, lighter fluid, a box cutter & knives in his carry-on...a Southwest flight was disrupted by a passenger, David Boone, who hit a stewardess with his shoe, then tried to open the back door of the plane as it was landing at LAX...other passengers sat on him to keep him from doing any more harm...he kept yelling The plane and everyone on it was going to hell!...alcohol &/or mental problems are being blamed as the casue of his actions...Arab-American Secret Service agent was removed from a flight at BWI...at the same airport, a woman had to take a scarf off her head for security reasons; this piece of clothing is used for religious reasons...cases of racial profiling?...1/16/02: a person attempted to crash into the tallest building in Portland, OR, stopped by military jets...
...12/26/01: the passing away of Marietta Smith, 62, due to carbon monoxide poison from a
furnace...there are wildfires burning out of control near Sydney, Australia since Christmas Eve...it has been proven to be the work of bored teenagers who think arson is fun...they have been arrested...as of 12/30/01, thick smoke prevented the view of skyscrapers...the pollution level is 240; the normal value is 30...by the end of the year, 1,000,000 acres have burned, 150 homes have been destroyed, and the thick haze is setting off fire alarms...within 13 days, 1,200,000 acres have burned and the fire is threatening the lives of koala bears...daytime temperatures remain over 100 degrees...1/7/02: the first rain in days; planes are going to seed the clouds so the precipitation will continue...1/14/02: the fires should be contained due to the arrival of cooler & wetter weather...1/17/02: now severe thunderstorms severly damage areas south of Sydney...heavy rains are causing deadly floods near Rio de Janiero, Brazil...in a somewhat related story, a Rio de Janiero weatherman may be jailed for 6 months; he predicted bad weather during a high tourist season...he was very wrong, and the government feels that he cost them tourism dollars (I did not make that up! It was on CNN!)...Disneyland's fireworks are causing soot & sulfur odor to drift into nearby cities...200 people were stranded on the Sandia Peak Chairlift #3 for two hours when it just stopped moving; they were given free passes for the inconvenience...the ski area has staff prepared to handle emergencies, using a safety sling...there were no injuries...youth crime in ABQ is down 85% in 2001......1/4/02: the flag was returned to waive over the Big I after winds began ripping it to shreds...additional flags have been ordered as replacements when necessary...
...holiday shopping is down during the last weekend before Christmas in spite of sales & markdowns...there is a 5-10% decrease from the same time last year...reasons: warm weather, recession & terrorism fears...12/24/01: saw Lord of the Rings...same day, placed luminaria around the tower staircases at the Beach...they are bags filled with candles and are displayed in the Old Town Albuquerque area, where we live...12/31/01: saw Lord of the Rings again, just as good the second time!...Japanese coast guard boat attacked by North Korean ship; returned fire in "self defense"...no survivors were rescued for fear of additional
violence, but Japan will raise the spy ship, which fired Soviet-made rockets...checks totaling $60 million are in the mail for families of the September eleventh victims...$390 million had been raised; $112 million from telethons...who has received it, why have they, how much has been distributed, how much is left, and what are the plans for the remaining money contributed by people across the country?...unfortunately, those are purely rhetorical questions...
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