What else is there to say? The year has been a good one and, even with the recession looming, I look ahead with naive optimism cut with a dash of the early on set of being an old grouch. We traveled a bit but not enough. I could have eaten more types of meat but when isn't that the case. For someone in my mid-40s I lead the life very much of someone in their mid-40s and 2008 was proof of it. I will remember it fondly but with no great sense of loss. Like 1996, come to think of it. Decent enough of a year but I put away all my 1996-ish stuff years ago.

So we move on. I generally fall into the half of the planet that hates New Year's Eve but there is nothing yet on the horizon to foreshadow anything extraordinarily bad waiting for me in the next few hours. NCPR appears not to be having its live phone in this year - which is sad. It always sounded like a mix of college radio and too much beer. I am sure they were all on the ginger ale in past years. I bought pet food just now. Common sense tells me that were I to have a hangover tomorrow I might not like being attacked by a starvation-crazed house cat. These are the lessons I have learned from my years on this planet. That and which remote does what. Reason enough to open a bottle tonight.

Happy New Year and Happy Hogmanay. Don't forget to first foot, replace the old salt for new, change all the sheets in the house and spin all the clocks more than 24 hours. If you don't, whatever my Grannie was scared of will get you.