Alaska is just on fire. This is one of the biggest booking years for Alaska. Every year they say that last year was the biggest year and of course '98 looks like it's going to be even bigger yet.

Of course a fire on any ship and especially a cruise ship is a very scary proposition. The cruise lines go to incredible lengths to prevent this from happening. This is a very unfortunate and very isolated incident.

I think it really indicates how important it is that people pay attention to the lifeboat drill. This would indicate that if nothing else you should pay a little attention to what's going on so that if a situation did occur that you would have some idea of what to do.

[Many executives, particularly those of Pottruck's age and tax bracket, would simply have retired, using that competitive fire to improve their handicaps. But for Pottruck, the best coping strategy was simply to charge ahead, to believe that what came next was just as important as what had come before. By September, he had settled into luxurious new offices (paid for by Schwab as part of his severance agreement) that overlooked San Francisco's Embarcadero, just 10 blocks from Schwab's offices.] There is going to be mourning, ... but successful people let go of the past as quickly as they can. You can't mourn at the same time you have a new beginning because it drags the new beginning down.

That's the biggest difference. The ability to fire people and hire your people to take their place.

I am pleased that seven fire departments in our district applied for and will receive funds from the Homeland Security grant program.