Charley, did I mention that a better name for that mouse would be NotEven as in "...all through the house not a creature was stirring, NotEven a mouse..."?

Happy new year to all and to those on the other side of the International Date Line, hello from 2004.

Sins, actually there was a sign of snakes last night. I went over to Gordon's house to celebrate the evening. Gordon makes jewelry from various polished semiprecious stones. One of the styles he makes uses vertebra from snakes. He explained how he finds the snakes dead on the road and cuts off the head and tail and runs a wire up the spinal column. Then he sets it in water until the flesh dissolves away and he has a whole wire of jewelry accessories.

It was a nice gathering. I met members and friends of the family. Just before midnight we climbed ladders to the neighbor's roof to watch the fireworks disply at Rizol Beach. All around us was noise. A party at the end of the street had a sound system that broadcast all over the neighborhood. We were a block away and could barely hear each other. Guns and fireworks were blasting the night around us before, during, and after the official display. At one point I heard a fully automatic weapon going off somewhere close by. At midnight we toasted in the new year with sparkling cider and applauded the display.

And now, it's New Year's Day in Guam. The sun is shining and I am going to find some breakfast. I have to throw out most of the food in my kitchen as I plan to start the Atkins diet today and most of it is not compatable with that diet. Sigh. Throwing out food goes very deeply against the grain.