I'mm off to Sunday River for the weekend. don't ski what the heck. I always find things to do. Have a great weekend everyone!

Yes, live chat would be great. No one is ever in the chat set up on classmates anymore.

Pat, I think that people have had enough and thats why M got the book thrown at her. Yes, I've been in that corporate mess and grew up with my elders telling me it was alright and acceptable business practice. I NEVER thought is was and consequently am not the multimillionaire that my peers are but I can sleep at night. It takes people awhile to get really fed up and that Enron thing was totally political and the people hadn't spoken loud enough yet. This time the little people got to speak and they are trying to send a message. You know, its like grade school where you can't punish every little thing but try to send an example by pinning at least one donkey to the wall and hope that it will scare others. There is a higher power that will take care of those Enron and others and their day in court will come. We probably won't see it but trust me it will come. The only thing we little people can do is to do our best to live by the golden rule and we won't have to worry about a court date or judgement day.

No Lori Dad hasn't moved yet. They haven't sold their Florida home so no changes yet. March and April are the big time for sales of property, or so they've been told. So we'll see.

Have any of you been here in Blogger and had someone else come on so you could talk in real time? Wouldn't that be fun? Let's set something up!

Sorry Richard, point well taken. Here's my gripe though. While if the facts as presented are true than she deserves to be punished. However, speaking of little fish, why haven't the heads of major corporations such as Enron paid for their crimes? It's seems much is being made of M.S and not so much of others who did even more damage to many more people. Neither is right but all should pay up. Restitution to the investment funds would be a good place to start. But only a start. Now I'll come down from my high horse. Mea Culpa.

It's a beautiful day in Vermont with So. Cal. temps and sun. It must mean that Lori is here!

Hello from Vermont. We arrived last night. Patti, did your father move up here yet? We've got to get together on one of these visits. I think I was in Washington DC once when I was about 13, so I don't remember much and have no suggestions for you. But you're getting plenty of tips from Richard, Karen, and Roland!

Snow is mostly gone here. I went running this morning, oooooooph!

Poor Martha??? I can only imagine the canape that I would be made into if I ever crossed her. Where some see caviar, I see little fish like me whose retirement investments are destroyed by people like her. I don't share Robin William's view that now she can go to jail and be someone's bitch, but . . . .

I mentioned to Dave my interest in going to Arlington Cemetary Karen. He was surprised as in all his trips to DC he has never gone there. He prefers the Smithsonian and with the limited time he has to tour that's where he usually heads. though he go to the Holocaust Museum at my request on his last trip. We do an enormous unit on the Holocaust at school. I'm certainly going to go there.

The Inner Harbor Ferry accident was such a tragedy. Dave has taken that several times. Makes me think twice about where the obligatory life vest instead of just having it around.

Snow is melting like crazy up here, terrible for the industries of winter but great for me. I look forward to warm weather.

We had an awful melt and freeze on Sunday and the school parking lot was like a rink. One of our teachers fell right by her car and has broken her ankle. She has a tiny baby and home and now cannot carry him or take care of him properly. Such a horrible feeling. Thank God her husband is very much a hands on father and can step right in without missing a beat. I remember having proplems when our oldest was born and I had to have him brought to me. I hated it.

Poor Martha.

After purchasing a fairly expensive digital camera and the programs that go with it I found a 10.00 device that works great (@Best Buy). MUCH easier to use and downloads are lightening speed. I can then just use Outlook express and mail out. What fun. Maybe someday I'll master this thing just about when its upgrade time, ha ha. So..... got some 200 or so pics to fool around with and try mailing out. DC will be great fun Pat but quite a culture shock from where you have been. Enjoy!!

Pat, I guess the ferry in Baltimore's Inner Harbor will have new safety measures by the time you get there. In the words of Martha ......... "Its a good thing". Have taken the kids to DC a couple of times and as sheltered children the most amazing thing that they still remember was the homeless sleeping in doorways and on steam grates and using the public bathrooms. Rich and I got caught in the biggest snowstorm ever there in the late 70's, that was interesting. Had dinner at the Watergate, but never got to Arlington Cemetary which I really wanted to do.

There are so many great museums and wonderful things to see in DC. I love the Hirschorn, the National Gallery, the African and Islamic Art Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and all the others too!!!

In Baltimore, I remember eating Bertha's mussels- a seafood place there, and going to the Peabody Bookstore. The Peabody Bookstore was a speak-easy during prohibition and was frequented by Baltimore's most famous citizen, H. L. Mencken. Needless to say they don't sell books. The entrance to the speakeasy was through a bookcase in the back. I had a watercolor portrait done of me by Johnny somebody for 50 cents, when I went drinking there. I wish I still had it to be able to see if I've aged. I felt that it was worth at least 75 cents, at the time.

I can't believe that Park City was only $7.50 a day (It's $69/day now). We went through the ski museum in town when we were there and learned that mining cars and elevators were used as the early ski lifts. It reminded me of riding funiculars in the alps where you enter the side of a mountain packed like sardines into a car at a 45 degree angle with Germans that reek of cigarettes. You know they are nervous because they are jonesing for their next smoke and just when the sweat would break on their foreheads, you emerge onto the top of a snow covered wonderland. in this light, high speed quads and high speed six-packs seem like a major step for mankind.

I remember landing at Dulles Airport when I was 17 or 18, with a 3 hour lay over so I got in a cab and went into DC. Wandered all over the place and even did the White House tour. I was watching a special on the history channel last night that reminded me of it. I don't remember much of the tour except the red velvet ropes that kept us from seeing much and I had been hoping to see upstairs for some reason. Now of course when I could appreiciate the art work and such in the White House I won't be able to do it. I'm planning to arrange some time with our representative down there and maybe see something behind the scenes that way. Dave has done that before.