Our hearts go out to our colleagues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory over the probable loss of Mars Polar Lander.

With a public loss like that, the issues are very different because you are in the media. People that don't know you know. You can't hide. You get no relief anywhere. I'm sure in the supermarket people are whispering. It makes it very different. The fact there are kids involved is always very tragic.

We talk about the tasks of grief. Emotionally, we have to acknowledge the loss. The second task is to experience the pain. What happens when you are going through a trial, you are still in the pain. Hearing the graphic testimony is like taking a razor blade and slitting open a scar. Initially, with a shocking death like that, you go numb right away, and a year later, you hear the details, you are more aware.

As an investor, you can take some reassurance in the fact that after an initial period of loss of business, there will be a lot of cash and insurance proceeds flowing into the area,

It's a total loss. The only thing that will be left is the concrete slab. It's a shame it happened to a house this unusual and pretty.

I feel like a thief. And I don't steal. Put two and two together. It ain't because of me. Ain't because of me. I had 50 in the first. You tell me. You do the math. Last time I checked. That's all I'm saying. They do what they do. They're trying to turn me into a thief, but I ain't a thief.