I didn't know Mick very well, but I didn't like him. He made me feel really uncomfortable, so I didn't run in their circles. He's one of those people that stared at you at all times.

Becky played by the book. She couldn't go anywhere without letting someone know 24 hours a day because she was scared of him. That's no way to live.

He didn't want her to be around her friends. I used to call her everyday until she said 'don't, because he checks the caller ID at lunch.' I just stayed away because I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

She was a smart girl. She just got into a bad situation. ... She lived every day in fear.

There are short-term questions to be sure -- the impact of changes in residential housing markets and the prospects for inflation are two -- but, overall, the economy in 2006 seems likely to be very well-behaved.

We may be entering a period in which policy changes are even more dependent than they have been on current readings of the economy, with all the uncertainty such readings can bring.