Guus Bosman

Tomorrow morning we're leaving for the Dominican Republic where we'll celebrate Christmas and New Year's Eve. It's going to be a great vacation and I'm really looking forward to it.

Yesterday evening and today we've done a lot of preparations -- shopping, laundry, last minute things etc, and now we still need to pack our bags. Our flight is at 6.10 am tomorrow.

Terry Pratchett, the author of the Discworld books, announced yesterday that he has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. I've been a fan of his work for over 10 years, and this is sad news for him and his family.

From his website:

"PS I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above that this should be interpreted as 'I am not dead'. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think - it's too soon to tell. I know it's a very human thing to say 'Is there anything I can do', but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry."

This morning I was with the Jaycees in Chapel Hill to help in the organization of the Chapel Hill Christmas Parade. The Chapel Hill Jaycees did that for the first time this year, and things went really well.

I was in the "walking groups" area and we made sure all the marching bands and other groups started in the right order. There were about 2,000 participants in the parade, and with 15 volunteers and some experienced community members things worked out really smoothly.

There was a nice variety of participants, I liked the Chick-fil-a cows. There was even a girl in a traditional Dutch costume and a Sinterklaas!