Diet
Yes, it is a diet. I've said I will try it for three days and let you know how it goes. Well, I have only cheated once (a coke at lunch). I'm drinking only black coffee and water. I'm not watching my food intake. I eat whatever. It's been frightfully easy so far. I think three days is going to be a snap. Two weeks thought may be the breaking point. after long term exposure, the cravings will get the best of me. I'll keep writing about it.

Survivors

Survivors in seven countries on the shores of the Indian Ocean scrabbled frantically through debris and devastation for their loved ones on Tuesday as the death toll climbed inexorably toward 40,000. ... The United Nations said the disaster was unique in encompassing such a large area and so many countries. Aid agencies struggled to cope with the enormity of the disaster. The International Red Cross said it may have to treble its appeal for funds. "The enormity of the disaster is unbelievable," said Bekele Geleta, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Southeast Asia. The United Nations said hundreds of relief planes packed with emergency goods would arrive in the region from about two dozen countries within the next 48 hours. ... Sunday's giant 9.0-magnitude earthquake cracked the seabed off the Indonesian island of Sumatra. That tectonic movement triggered a tsunami that raced across the Andaman Sea and struck Sri Lanka, southern India, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar and resorts packed with Christmas vacationers in Thailand. ... Officials fear the figure could rise above 60,000. Indonesia said its toll could hit 25,000, while Sri Lankan officials warned up to 25,000 people may have died there. Thailand said its toll may exceed 2,000. "There are lots of dead foreigners because it is during our high season and Christmas. It is a family vacation time," Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters. ... On some of India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, located almost atop the epicenter of Sunday's earthquake, rescuers found only a third of inhabitants still alive. A hundred air force officers and their families vanished from one island base. ... Sunday's huge waves were tracked by U.S. seismologists who said they had had no way of warning governments in the region. Reuters

The emphasis in the above article  is mine. I guess I should have quoted the whole article. This article had allot of quote from survivors. They should rewrite the definition of the word disaster.

The extraordinary loss of life from Sunday's earthquake and tsunami waves is prompting Asian governments to consider developing a more comprehensive and effective warning system. Scientists nearest the quake's epicenter knew shockwaves could create tidal surges that would threaten coastal regions and shipping, but said Monday they had no way of measuring the size of the danger because a warning network like one used in the Pacific is not installed in the Indian Ocean. The technology might have saved countless lives Sunday by giving residents in coastal areas — especially in Sri Lanka and India, the hardest-hit nations hundreds of miles from the quake — time to flee to higher ground. ... "Unfortunately, we have no equipment here [see below] that can warn about tsunamis," said Budi Waluyo, an official with Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. "The instruments are very expensive and we don't have money to buy them." ... "They won't tell you how high the waves will be, but they can tell you when they will hit. Local authorities can warn citizens to get off the coast," said Waverly Person, director of the U.S. Geological Survey's national earthquake information service. Such a system presumes, however, an organized communication system and widely understood procedures and discipline by hotel operators, fishing villages and local authorities to clear the coastline quickly in case of a coming disaster. Most of Asia lacks such infrastructure, and casualties were highest in three very impoverished areas  the coasts of eastern Sri Lanka and southeastern India and the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island. The warning system in the Pacific was started in 1965, the year after tsunamis associated with a magnitude 9.2 quake struck Alaska. It is administered by the U.S-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Member states include all the major Pacific rim nations in North America, Asia and South America, as well as the Pacific islands, Australia and New Zealand. Yahoo AP

Do we have this "equipment" on the Texas gulf cost? =\
Poor people take the brunt of the death and destruction.
I haven't heard tell of any video or photos of the waves themselves. I'll keep my ears open an post anything I find here. ... Well, CNN has them, but CNN charges for online video (bastards). A dozen other places have obviously been swamped (bad pun =\) and have taken the videos down. I'll keep up the effort.

Year End Quiz 2004

Number	My Points
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	1
6	0
7	1
8	0
9	1
10	1
11	1
12	0
13	A big 0
14	1
15	0
16	0
17	0
18	0
19	1 (easy)
20	0 (glad I missed it)
21	0
22	0
23	1
24	0
25	1
26	0
Total:	9 (yeesh)

For all the news I read, you think I should have done a bit better than that. Way less than half (almost one third) pretty much sucks. What did you get?