This has been an interesting year. Valorie and I flew to Arizona with Anne for Mariner Spring Training. We visited with Kim and Rick and I had fun watching how a bakery does business.

Nickki had a baby girl named Kaylie Nichole. This summer she married Justin and they moved back to live in Enumclaw.

Anne’s arthritis has been getting worse, so she moved to Arizona to stay with Kim and Rick and help them at the bakery.

Thomas and Paul have continued to work at the Herbfarm. However, the Herbfarm has been going through tough times and had to get a second mortgage on mom and dad’s house and land to keep the business operating. Valorie and I had to sign the papers since the house was under the Parsley Patch Partners.

I had a unique opportunity at work to follow the 757-300 into the factory and to work directly with the factory mechanics as the new interior was installed in the airplane.

Cookie, my Cocker Spaniel, was both blind and deaf. Then she started losing weight and refusing to eat. I think she had cancer. Anyway, she got to where she would go outside and walk around and around the yard for hours. She became so weak that she would lie motionless, unable to move. After several days, we finally decided to have her put to sleep. It was so sad to stand in the Veterinary room, to say those last "good-byes" and to let her go. She died quietly and I held her as we brought her body home. I buried her in the back yard behind the rhubarb and placed some flowers on her grave. Valorie later planted a pretty flower there to mark her grave.

Rhys did not understand what was happening, but I could tell that he was very lonely. A few months later we decided to get a new puppy. When we left to look at puppies, I said to myself, "we’re going now to get Molly." I don’t know where the name came from, but something told me that "Molly" was the dog we were looking for. A couple in Enumclaw had three puppies left. One of the shy ones was really cute and of course, that was "Molly". She and Rhys get along well now. They wrestle and chase each other about the house. One of their favorites is to chase each other around and around the couch. And naturally they manage to knock down the lamp or pull its plug from the wall! Paul and Thomas make things confusing for Molly since they call her "Buddha". The name comes from the nickname we gave to Rhys. We call him "Bud". So, being computer minded, they think Molly is "bud A", or "Buddha". Wonderful.

I have updated my computer a bit this year. I now have a set of infra-red headphones that take the sound signal that normally goes to the computer speakers and converts it to an infra-red signal that can be picked up by a special headset. Now I can listen to music or TV without bothering anyone else! I also got a new LaserJet printer. It is an Epson Stylus 850 which is capable to printing very nice color pictures. I have been busy creating collages from my digital pictures. By putting several pictures together it creates an interesting and unique picture which I print out and frame. I’ve also been thinking that this could be a good business to get into if I could capture the costs properly and merchandise it.

Christmas shopping this year has been different. We’ve found a lot of items over the Internet and had them shipped to us. It is fun to compare prices and then have it delivered!

Sunday, December 13, 1998

This morning I fooled around with the last string of Christmas lights since half of the lights would not light. By replacing bulbs with bulbs that I had tested, I eventually got the whole string to light. I put the last string on the tree and then put on the decorations. It looks very pretty.

I next decided to experiment with my CD writer to make a "Country Favorites" CD. I selected several Garth Brooks’ songs and one Patty Loveless song. The copying process is rather involved, especially since I wanted to make a memory copy of the CD first and then write it to disk. A full CD takes about 650 megabytes of memory. With 17 songs selected, I started the copying process.

Meanwhile we prepared to spend the afternoon at the Cabin with Terry and Karen Spencer. We packed up the dogs and headed off to the Copper Kettle in Enumclaw for breakfast. We had to wait for about 10 minutes as the restaurant was packed. Afterwards I gassed up the car and we arrived at the Cabin at 12:30. There was about three inches of snow, but the weather had turned warmer and it was raining. The Spencers arrived about an hour later. Terry brought his Compaq laptop computer and his new digital camera. Thomas showed him how to load the software used to modify the pictures. Karen took Mark and his friend up to the Crystal Mountain Ski Area to try to find a good sled run, but it was raining and they returned after only a few sled runs.

We came home at 5:30 and discovered that our phone was dead! Valorie wrapped presents and I continued the CD copying process. Watched "The Conspiracy Theory" on HBO and finished writing my first CD. Unfortunately the quality was really BAD, so I threw away the CD and deleted the memory copy. What a waste. I need to experiment with more of the options tomorrow.

Monday, December 14, 1998

This morning I arose at 5:30, showered, shaved and had a cup of coffee. The dogs are still trying to learn how to go in and out using our new pet door. The pet door is a panel that fits into the sliding glass door opening. It has a plastic Mylar door at the bottom with magnets on the lower edge to keep the flap vertical. Molly goes in and out without much problem, but Rhys (being a weenie dog), won’t go directly though without some prompting. Of course the cats still have no clue how to get through. Figaro still sits outside the door and cries to be let in, even when I push the flap open to show him that he can come in that way!

I managed to copy some Garth Brooks songs onto a new CD using my CD recorder. The process is time-consuming but it finally worked with good results.

I discovered why our phone is dead. Yesterday our neighbor Mark was trying to find out where water was leaking from their incoming water pipe. He had dug down at the meter by the street and had cut through our phone line! It won’t be until Wednesday until US West can come to fix it.

Valorie had a stack of presents ready to mail to the Betts family. I put in the pictures of the Salome Bakery along with a framed picture of Ted and Lola. Mailed them at the Black Diamond Post Office (cost $31) and then went to the auto store to get an oil filter for the Subaru. They didn’t have any so I had to drive to Four Corners to find one.

Valorie fixed me breakfast and then we left to go to Bellevue Square. I stopped at SeaFirst to get some cash. We wandered about the Square. At The Nature Company we found a frog clock for Sarah and a fragrant broom called a "cinnamon broom".

Went to Nordstrom’s and found a pull-over sweater vest for dad. Stopped for lunch at "Los Tres Amigos" and then wandered down through the Bon Marché kitchen department looking for an Espresso machine. They did not have anything.

Drove to Issaquah and got an Espresso machine at the Kitchen Store. Also got a nice coffee bean grinder. Went to Preston, boxed them and mailed them via UPS, including the frog clock for Sarah. Stopped at mom and dad’s where Valorie called the Salome Bakery and told Andy what was going on with our phone. Anne was in Phoenix so hopefully he will pass along the message.

We stopped at QFC on our way home and bought some fresh Steelhead fillet. When Thomas got home, we had Champagne followed by a yummy salad that Thomas made. The fish was delicious accompanied with vegetables and a glass of Chardonnay.

Valorie went next door and talked to Mark. She downloaded her mail from the internet. I fixed a coffee nudge before calling it a day.

Anne comes home tomorrow!

Tuesday, December 15, 1998

I arose at 5 AM this morning. Fed the dogs and gave them some chopped up steak along with their dry food. They loved it.

Molly didn’t want to go outside to do her business, so I found a gift from her on the floor by the front door and a wet spot! Bad Dog!

I wrapped a few presents using gold foil and double-back tape. The secret to this type of wrapping is using double-back tape. The gifts looked great. I also spent a few moments making some sticky labels. Microsoft Word has a template for mailing labels. I used that along with a "snowcap" font to make unique package labels.

Gus gus’s cage needed changing, so I spent a few moments cleaning it. When Gus gus runs into his cardboard tub, I scoop him up and place him in the bathroom tub while I take care of his cage. Of course Rhys is extremely interested in all of this and wanted to jump in the tub!

I decided to put up the outside Christmas lights. Some of the strings were marked telling me which way they were to run, but most were not. I made good use of my long aluminum ladder on the high spots and made good progress. The lights on the roof-top went on easily and I took advantage of being on the roof to throw off an arm-load of branches that had collected there from the last wind storm. When I plugged them in, none of the strings lit! I was dismayed. So I opened the plug end and found that both starting strings had blown fuses. I rummaged around in our Christmas light boxes and found new fuses, replaced them, and tried again. Most of the lights went on except for a string over the garage.

My next task was to change oil in the Subaru and the VW bug. No surprises here, just work. I started the VW and ran it for a while to charge the battery and re-lubricate the engine.

At 1:30 Valorie and I left to pick up Anne. The airport was surprisingly quiet and we found a good parking spot. We got there about twenty minutes before the flight was to arrive. I got a good picture of her airplane taxing to the gate and it was good to have Anne home. Rick had sent along some fresh donuts and Kim included a note on the donut bag.

At home, the dogs went crazy and greeted the return of the "pack". Brianne came over for a short visit and Nickki came with Kaylie. Valorie called Paul and had Paul call Thomas and the Cowans so we could meet for dinner. Ate a good meal at Presti’s. Everyone came back over to do a bit of socializing.

Wednesday, December 16, 1998

I arose at 5 and did my usual routine. I scanned in the note from Kim on the donut bag and also scanned in the Salome Bakery artwork and did a bit of touch-up to make it digital.

I spent a few moments making a cover and back for the "Panorama and Pictures" CD that I am giving to dad. It looks professional.

Valorie had a doctor’s appointment. I went along and shopped at Fred Meyer in Kent. I bought some seals to seal the doggie door and bought a new string of outdoor lights to replace the non-working string over the garage. I tried to find a Christmas music CD for Valorie, but by the time I found the section where they were likely to be, Valorie had returned. I had not eaten breakfast except for 5 cups of coffee, so we went to the Golden Steer for lunch. I had a large salad and a French Dip sandwich. Valorie had a Veggie Sandwich.

At home, Anne was up and playing with the dogs. They were running around, fighting for chewies, and putting on a great show!

It is sunny today, so I removed the string of lights over the garage that was not working and replaced it with the new set. I also removed a string around Thomas’ room. I also installed the weather-stripping seals around the doggie door.

Anne was going to go shopping after she watched General Hospital, but when she turned the TV on, there was "Breaking News" telling us that the United States had attacked IRAQ again. Anne was not pleased, not because we had attacked IRAQ, but because she couldn’t watch GH!

We left at 3 PM. Stopped at SeaFirst to get some cash. Drove to South Center and walked through the mall. I got a sweater for Anne and we found some pretty star-decorations for the tree. Stopped for dinner at Azteca. Went to the Office Depot where I got some transfer sheets. I am going to try to use the Salome Bakery Logo to put on an apron and on a shirt. We bought an apron and shirt at Michael’s.

On the way home we drove through Fairwood to see the Christmas lights. Many homes this year have a lot of pretty lights. I think it would make a good digital picture. I’ll have to try it!

At home we found that our telephone had been repaired! I took the opportunity to go on the internet and shop for a digital camera for Thomas. I looked at the Olympus 600 but found that there were some bad reviews of it. So I looked at a Nikon 900S. It looked really good. Most of the companies were out of stock, but we found one that had it and I ordered it. Now it is a race against the clock to see if it arrives before Christmas!

Thursday, December 17, 1998

I arose at 6. I added more water to the Christmas tree and made fresh coffee. Anne has a dentist appointment today, so I need to get her up at 8. Afterwards, we plan to do some shopping. We have to get home by 5 PM since Paul wants to borrow the Subaru. He is planning to go skiing and will have a group of friends up to the cabin.

Anne got up shortly after 8 and I took her to Dr. Rude’s office. While she had her appointment, I went to the "Do It" center and bought two new fuses for the Christmas lights. I also stopped at McDonalds and had an Egg McMuffin.

After her appointment, we stopped and got her a Mocha and then shopped at Fred Meyer in Covington. Anne got a Glow Worm for Kaylie. We came home and I replaced the fuse in one string of Christmas lights and tested all of the bulbs. Put up the fixed light string around the eve on Thomas’ side of the house.

Went for lunch at the Black Diamond Café. I had a meat loaf sandwich. Came back home and played with the dogs while Valorie got her Email. Decided to go to the South Hill Mall just above Puyallup. The mall is fairly large and I found an interesting book for Valorie.

At home again, I colored in the Salome Bakery logo in preparation for printing an iron-on patch.

Paul arrived with his friends from the Herbfarm at 6. I put the ski rack on the Subaru and gave him the key for it. The rest of us went for dinner at the Chinese restaurant in Maple Valley.

Friday, December 18, 1998

I arose at 6. It’s supposed to be getting cold with arctic air coming into the area from the north. It’s just above freezing now (32.9).

I finished making a copy of the Marcy Playground CD. I copied the front, inside and back graphic on the scanner and then printed them out. They look good. I wrapped the CD and placed it in the branches of our Christmas tree.

The sunshine is bright this morning, but the roads close by are slick. When I went outside with Molly, she slipped and scuttled on the icy boards of the deck!

I logged on to the internet and got some information from the Abbey of Gethsemani. I ordered some Bourbon Fudge and Fruit Cake from them and wanted to include some information with the gifts. I tried to order some Christmas music from Tower Records, but it wouldn’t accept my credit card!

My next project was to make a T-shirt transfer to put on an apron and a T-shirt. I put two copies of the graphic on one page, flipped it horizontally, and printed it out. Heated up the iron, aligned the graphic and pressed it on. They look good. I boxed them up and wrote a short letter to Kim and Rick letting them know that I could make more if they would only send some T-shirts and/or aprons. We’ll see.

Anne went shopping at the SuperMall with Nickki while Valorie and I went shopping in Bellevue. The traffic was a mess, and it was difficult to get around. We finally parked at Tower Records. I found two Celtic Christmas CD’s for Valorie. We walked next door and bought a pretty dress for the daughter of a friend of Valorie’s.

Our next stop was the University Bookstore. Valorie had a pinched nerve in her back, so we found a quiet corner of the store and I tried to "crack" her back. It helped a little, but Valorie wanted to lay on the floor for a bit longer. The shop clerk came over quite worried asking if she was OK!

We briefly looked for the Costco in Bellevue, but with all the traffic and not knowing our way around, we decided to drive to Issaquah and go to the Costco there. We stopped at the Triple-X for lunch and had deluxe cheese burgers and chocolate shakes. They also gave us all of their old fries and onion rings to give to Porky. She will be happy!

At Costco we got a desk chair and electric razor for Paul. Got a computer game for Thomas (Grim Fandango). Valorie also got some wire shelving so she can organize her clothes.

At home we unloaded our booty. I hid the chair in the garage. Thomas got home from working at the Herbfarm warehouse. He began again to have a migraine headache.

I took Anne to get more straw for Porky and some pig food. We put about a quarter of the straw in Porky’s house and stapled a garbage bag to hang over the doorway so the cold air wouldn’t blow in. When we were carrying the straw bale into the back yard, Porky scared Anne. Porky had come out of her house, but being pure black, Anne couldn’t see her and almost stepped on her. Porky let out a loud grunt which made Anne jump!

Valorie and I went for a drive to look at Christmas lights. They were beautiful!

Saturday, December 19, 1998

I arose at 5. It’s not as cold outside as had been predicted and there appears to be a light dusting of snow!

Today was an interesting day. I got two phone calls, both at about 6:30 AM. When I answered, there was only static on the line so I hung up. When Anne arose, I mentioned the calls, and she suggested dialing star 69. That will identify the last number that called. It was Paul’s cellular phone! So she called the cabin and we found out that the Subaru had been broken into! The radio and CD player were stolen, along with some skiing gear and Paul’s cellular phone. I left a message with Mike Cooper, our insurance agent and gave Paul the number for Air Touch Cellular so that he could report his phone as stolen. Bummer!

I wrapped Anne’s CD and set up the CD recorder on the computer to make a "Bob’s favorites" CD of Garth Brooks songs. The process works by selecting the songs from the CDs and then copying them to a large file on the computer. Then the one file is copied in one operation to the new CD.

By 10 it began snowing. I thought it was only going to be a flurry, but it kept on until everything was completely covered. We all got into Thomas’ car and headed off to Safeway so Anne could pick up her pictures. She had some good ones of the Arizona sunrise and some silly ones of Sarah.

We next went to the Maple Valley Post Office where Valorie mailed a gift. Stopped at McDonalds for lunch. I had a fish sandwich. Anne had a two-cheeseburger meal. Can’t recall what Thomas had.

From there we headed very slowly and carefully up the Kent-Kangley road to Covington. Thomas bought some chains for Paul and I bought a set for Thomas. In this area the snow was much less so the driving was easier. We headed to SeaTac Mall and spent an hour shopping. I found two CDs for Valorie and a small water pump so she could make a small indoor fountain. Thomas bought some jeans for himself and a photo holder for Anne.

We stopped at REI and browsed a bit. Thomas bought some gloves and Valorie bought a small flashlight.

At home Paul had returned. He had made a list of everything that had been stolen from the Subaru. I cleaned out the car and Paul helped me cut a plug for the car window. Paul drew a face on the plug with the caption, "Merry Christmas".

We went to Shakeys and had their Shakey’s special pizza. Anne got a small cheese pizza for herself.

At home again we watched a bit of TV. We got a notice that Airborne Express had tried to leave a package, but no one was home to sign for it. I hope it is the camera for Thomas.

The dogs have been putting on a good show this evening. They both love their "chewies" and love to wrestle with each other. Anne got a picture of Rhys and Molly in a dog pile, both enjoying their "chewy".

I modified one of the night pictures of Christmas lights so that a tree blocking some of the lights was removed. Is this art or debauchery?

Sunday, December 27, 1998

I arose at 6:15. Ground some Starbucks "Gold Coast" coffee beans and made fresh coffee. I spent a few minutes cleaning up the kitchen.

Debra arrived today on Alaska Air flight 740. Anne and I went to SeaTac airport to pick her up. Her flight was about 20 minutes late. There were a lot of passengers arriving and we had to wait about an hour for the luggage to arrive for pick up.

Came home and fooled around on my computer for several hours. Also spent a couple hours resting my eyes.

Ted and Lola came by after having gone to the cabin to see if the water pipes had thawed. The bathroom pipes had frozen during our last cold spell, but they had thawed OK. There was a broken fitting in the kitchen which the workers had repaired. There was about four inches of snow, but it was melting quickly.

We all went for lunch at Jaspers. Angel, Sarah, Debra and Nickki were all there. Angel took some Polaroid pictures which we scanned in to the computer after we returned home.

I played "Grim Fandango" for an hour and then headed to bed. Sarah planned to stay up all night and had a busy agenda meeting friends before going home tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 29, 1998

I arose at 5:45. I’m trying to be quiet since Debra is sleeping on the couch behind me. I wonder how she can sleep with no covers and all the noise and commotion?

I tried to make a read-write CD this morning and failed miserably. Either I’m not following directions correctly, or the software really sucks. I ended up destroying another read-write CD.

Spent some time on the Internet and let Debra listen and explore a music CD site. I fired up my new indoor electric grill and grilled some hamburger patties. It works pretty good and the Teflon coating makes cleanup much easier, although I must admit that I failed to clean it up and Valorie did that duty for me.

I cleaned off a bench in the garage and set up my new miter saw. It works great.

Jeanne Vandeberg came over and we talked about how she should go about making a data file for her "lucky days" gambling horoscope program.

Got a call at 1 PM from Magnolia HiFi. They had an opening for me to have my car stereo and CD installed. So I immediately headed out and left the car at 2. While the equipment was being installed, I shopped at a few stores. Went to CompUSA and found a kit to install a USB port on my computer. If I can install it, then I can get a USB scanner.

At home, I had a hamburger for dinner and then made a CD from Tim McGraw’s latest album, Everywhere. I made a copy of the CD cover using my scanner and made a song list with the Easy CD Creator software. Paul was trying to figure out how to convert his copied CD songs into wave files so that (hopefully) we can re-create some of the CDs that he had stolen.

Anne started removing ornaments from the Christmas tree but left the lights on for one more day.

Wednesday, December 30, 1998

I arose at 6:15. Paul left me a note asking if I could make a CD from some of the wave files he had made. I also noticed that there is a white spot on the inside of my camera lens. Now how do I get that cleaned off?

Paul had made twenty wave files of songs so I defragmented my hard drive and then copied them over via the network. It took over twenty minutes as there was almost 700 megabytes of information. The copy process worked well and I made over an hour of music. Before Paul left to work in Seattle, I made a CD cover using a photo of Ron’s colored sea-float balls. I tried to find a way to make curved text, but apparently it is not possible using PhotoShop. I ended up adding a letter one layer at a time! Since the information for the CD was handy on my computer, I made a second copy for myself.

My next project was to clean out enough space in the garage to move the generator. I found a spot near our aluminum can storage. Filled the generator with treated gas and fired it up. It works well!

I also cleaned up the laundry room area. Moved a bunch of cardboard boxes into the attic and put the recyclable plastic in bags. I even managed to clean up a bit in my room, sorting my old check stubs and throwing away things that had been cluttering my shelf.

Nickki came over at 11 and picked up Anne and Debra. They went over to Ted and Lola’s to look at some makeup that Ted had found. They returned several hours later each with a sizeable bag. Nickki also showed everyone how to properly eat a cordial cherry chocolate.

Since it was warm and sunny, I cleaned out several wheelbarrow loads of straw from Porky’s house. I even found another blanked inside and removed that. Porky nosed about inside the house and even stayed in there for a bit.

I attached my new hose reel to the front of the house. It took a bit of doing as two of the mounting screws had to go directly through a knot in the wood of the sidewall. I ended up using a box-end wrench to tighten them. It does look a lot better and it works great!

I spent a short time looking at my camera. By jarring it, it managed to dislodge the white speck from inside the camera lens. At least I’ll be able to take clear pictures for a bit longer now.

When Paul returned from work, he finished applying the label to his newly created CD. Of course he had to hook up my speakers so he could play his music. Debra liked it since it had several cuts from Alice in Chains. Anne used a cat toy as a pretend microphone as she pretended to sing along to the music.

Paul also installed my USB port on my computer. Unfortunately there is no way to check whether it works since I don’t have any USB hardware yet.

Valorie, Anne, Debra and "Ed" went to the cabin at 8. Ed is Debra’s friend who lives in Maple Valley. They picked her up after Valorie had got some Shaklee diet drink.

Paul left for the cabin shortly afterwards. I’ll bet Anne would have liked to know that as they were packed like sardines in Valorie’s Honda Civic!

Thursday, December 31, 1998

I arose at 5 this morning. The poor dogs. They don’t know what to do since Thomas and I are the only ones here. Thomas had his door closed so they couldn’t crawl in with him when I got up. Unfortunately, they both crawled into my lap as I wrote the story from yesterday. One lap is not big enough for two dogs, and they both were slipping, and re-adjusting themselves trying desperately to cling on to lap space!

I took the opportunity to clean up the house. I vacuumed the floors, burnt the trash and then decided to take down the outside Christmas lights. Fortunately it wasn’t raining. When I got onto the roof to take off the lights running along the ridge, I noticed that there was an enormous amount of fir needles. So I got a garden rake and raked all of the roof! The rake worked really well since the needles were wet and clinging in clumps to the shingles. I must have removed 50 pounds and lots of moss.

Since I had the rake, I also decided to rake the front lawn. There must have been ten thousand pine cones and lots of tree limb tips laying about. It made a large pile.

Once the cleaning was done, I started packing food and collecting those items that both Anne and Valorie needed. The car was really packed by the time we left!

There was very little snow at the cabin so we were able to drive down. The crowd didn’t arrive until later this evening. Thomas and Paul opened their "keg" of beer that they got for Christmas. Tina played her country music favorites in the kitchen while other music played in the "great room". I came up with the idea that there was a "rift" between the two rooms, so every time some came into the kitchen they crossed the "rift".

A good time was had by all and we all greeted the New Year with fireworks!

In The News This Year

The top news stories of 1998 chosen by 299 Associated Press newspaper editors and broadcast executives in the United States:

1. Clinton-Lewinsky

2. McGwire-Sosa home-run race

3. World economic turmoil

4. Hurricanes Georges, Mitch

5. Iraq showdown

6. GOP slide in elections

7. U.S. embassies bombed

8. School shootings

9. Glenn return to space

10. Tobacco settlement

Top news stories of 1998, by David Foster, The Associated Press

There were other stories this year in America, you know. Think of Texas floods and Florida fires. Think of Wall Street's wild ride and John Glenn's even wilder one. Think of Viagra!

Think of anything but presidential sex, lies and videotape. This 1998 retrospective won't dwell on that tawdry matter - even if it did lead to President Clinton's impeachment. We in the media know you're sick of it all, and have been for months. So you said in survey after survey. So you declared on Election Day, according to the pundits. Yet Congress was too fascinated to let the subject drop, and so the rest of us - journalists and readers alike - were left to watch as the sorry details emerged, holding our hands over our eyes while peeking out between our fingers.

To some extent, that's how America dealt with all of 1998, a year in which we grew more adept at filtering reality to our liking. With help from V-chips, Internet cookies and 100 cable channels, it was easier than ever to create our own private takes on the world.

Clinton led the way, inventing a planet where telling the truth differed from the "legally accurate," but we're done with that subject - remember? - so let's move on to another example: the economy.

Selective myopia

All year, Asia's slump threatened to drag the world into recession. Yet America diligently ignored the bad news abroad to forge an unlikely prosperity at home. Gas was cheap. Mortgage rates were low. Even the federal government made money, posting its first budget surplus in 29 years. The stock market, despite hair-raising fluctuations, rocked on.

Since selective myopia worked on Wall Street, who could blame us for trying it elsewhere?

Powerful new drugs yielded another year of declining AIDS deaths in America, a cause for celebration – if we ignored the 95 percent of AIDS sufferers worldwide who couldn't afford those drugs. Gulf Coast residents could be thankful that although Hurricane Georges was destructive, it was not particularly deadly as long as they didn't look south, where Mitch killed more than 9,000 people in Latin America.

For most of the year, it was almost possible to forget about Saddam Hussein - until his game of hide-and-seek with U.N. arms inspectors pushed the U.S. and Britain into launching airstrikes. In a few days, U.S. warships and bombers launched more Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iraq than were fired during the entire Persian Gulf War.

Dueling ambiguities

Saddam was clearly cast as a villain, but many stories of 1998 were neither purely good nor evil, merely full of dueling ambiguities.

Trust-busting prosecutors stormed Bill Gates' software fortress, cheered on by Microsoft competitors with market-dominating dreams of their own. Dr. Jack Kevorkian continued his grim reaping and faced first-degree-murder charges for what he called a mercy killing.

Republican leaders in Congress, expecting Democrats to be dragged down by you-know-who's problems with you-know-what, strolled confidently into the November election. They staggered away in shock, their majority thinned. Newt Gingrich quit his job as House speaker and was followed out the door by his designated successor, Bob Livingston, who was caught in a sex scandal of his own.

Blood and destruction

The bizarre turned routine in a bloody string of school shootings in Jonesboro, Ark., Edinboro, Pa., and Springfield, Ore. Hundreds of law officers combed the woods of North Carolina for bombing suspect Eric Rudolph, and another manhunt in Utah's canyonlands sought a pair of cop-killing survivalists. Both searches came up empty.

Hate wore many faces: A black man was dragged to death in Texas. A gay college student was beaten and left to die in Wyoming. A doctor was shot to death through his kitchen window in New York.

The Red Cross spent more in 1998 than in any previous year, tending to a nation that seemed to have enrolled in the Disaster of the Month Club. Hurricanes and tropical storms were the most destructive, but other weird weather took its toll. A tornado wiped Spencer, S.D., off the map. A half-million charred acres in Florida and a deadly heat wave in Texas left Gulf Coasters praying for rain, which finally flooded in with a vengeance.

And Frank Sinatra died.

Now for the good news

With so much bad news, it was tempting to shut the whole world out, but that would have meant missing some of the good tidings of 1998:

Impotent men rejoiced as Viagra lifted their spirits. IRS officials promised to be nicer. Keiko, the killer-whale star of "Free Willy," made his own real-life escape from an Oregon aquarium to a sea pen near Iceland. States won a $206 billion settlement from tobacco companies for the cost of treating sick smokers.

A duel of sluggers returned the magic to baseball. Mark McGwire won the good-natured race with 70 home runs to Sammy Sosa's 66 for the season, and basked in the glory of shattering the 61-homer record set 37 years ago by Roger Maris.

John Glenn took America on another nostalgic ride, blasting into orbit at age 77. By turning the space shuttle Discovery into an Elderhostel, Glenn helped make space exploration exciting once more.

He gave America a reason to look ahead brightly, past the worrisome Y2K hump, toward a millennium when nations may work in peace aboard a space station, an era when the world may finally have forgotten a certain White House intern (not that we're talking about her now, mind you).

"Zero-g and I feel fine," Glenn said, again, floating about with a grin as he demonstrated one of the most satisfying ways to look at 1998. Through his distant lens, the world still was a place of hope, a blue jewel in the cosmos waiting for us to throw away the filters and see its beauty, this time with our eyes wide open.