I thought I'd put some comments down as to what the past year meant to me. Some items are purely personal, others are varying degrees of global.

• I am still at the brokerage/investment firm in Boston. Needless to say, being a computer guy, any advice I might be construed to give about investments should be completely ignored, as it certainly wouldn't be that of the more knowledgeable people I work for/with. I'm working the night shift (7-7:30), and so far I like it (although it can be a bit boring at times).
• Karen did some relief work, which involves a lot more hassle arranging the work, and has no benefits, but pays better. She is working at places like Dr Dan's Vet Clinic (now renamed Wholepet Clinic) in Everett and Boston Road Animal Hospital in Sutton. She is considering moving to a full time position in Everett, starting the new year.
• Karen was passed the mantle as president of the Massachussets Association of Ferret Friends (MAFF), a job that she took gladly, and is just as glad to pass on.
• Curry, one of our cats, died in an accident in February. He was an important part of the household, playing with just about all the other animals as well as cuddling (and knocking stuff off flat surfaces).
• We adopted Tilly, a large female ferret (we now have 4). Unfortunately, she died early on in the year. She was a wonderful companion to Paco, and we miss her terribly.
• We also adopted Calypso, at the time an 8-week old baby ferret. She is definitely a water ferret, loving snorkling in the water bowl and joining me (attacking my feet) in the shower when allowed. She also enjoys dancing on the pool cover (when supervised, of course).
• The roof replacement, which was interesting (to us) for many reasons, including my lack of sleep (since I sleep during day hours, working nights, and roofers seem to insist on working during these same daylight hours). A longer story than it should have been, at last we have a working roof, which we presume (this time around) is properly built.
• Went to the BoSox game 6/28. Weird game, interesting for several reasons, including the Sox using pitchers as pinch hitter *twice* (first time the Sox used to pitchers to hit in a game since the DH; Pete Schourek even picked up a hit!)
• Among the few concerts I go to these days, I made it to a great show at the "FleetBoston Pavillion", a vaguely tentlike venue out in South Boston - The B-52's with The Go-Go's and the Psychedelic Furs. Each group played for about an hour, and each group was better than the last.
• SM Stirling, a science-fiction writer whose work I greatly enjoyed (in particular, the Nantucket series of time-traveling/alternate history) passed away in December. I had the opportunity to meet him and attend a number of his panels at WorldCon in Chicago this summer. This was a major loss to the field, as well as the loss of a wonderful and interesting person. Charles Schultz, artist/author of Peanuts, died of cancer in February. Its a Charlie Brown Christmas is one of the two specials I hold dear around the holidays (with The Grinch...), and I loved the strip over the years (I named two dogs "Snoopy"). Tom Landry, former Dallas head coach during the years that I was a big Cowboys fan; hockey great Maurice "Rocket" Richard; Science Fiction author L. Sprague de Camp (one of the classics, very important in the development of the genre, one of the first writers of alternate histories); NFL Hall of Famer Lou Groza ("The Toe"); Sir John Geilgud; Larry Linville, of MASH fame; Walter Matthau (one of the original Odd Couple); Werner Klemperer (Colonel Klink of Hogan's Heroes); Joe Gilliam (the first black man to be a starting NFL quarterback); Cardinal O'Connor; Former Houston Astro Andujar Cedeno; Bill Musselman, NBA coach (and former coach of the Albany Patroons); Former Detroit Tiger Aurelio Rodriguez; musician Kirsty MacColl; musician Tino Fuente; NBA star Malik Sealey; Comedian Steve Allen (remember his literary reading of the lyrics for Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff"?); Nancy Marchand (from Lou Grant); Edward Craven-Walker (invented the Lava Lamp);
• The election - what a nightmare, both of the way the media coverage worked, and the recount fiasco in Florida. What should have happened was a complete recount of the entire state of Florida, something that would have let Bush's win have the legitimacy it unfortunately probably deserves.
• The stock market - a bizarre ride, which I was much more aware of due to my work at Fidelity (not to mention the punishment my retirement account took).