Just a little substance before moving on. The Seattle Times reports on the impact of the economy on pets. Stateline.org reports on the condition of state pension funds. Unfortunately, Hawaii ranks down near the bottom in percentage of the future liability atually funded by the state retirement system. Google is breaking new ground again, this time apparently locating PDF documents on the web and using optical character recognition software to enable searching and indexing, according to a story in Computer World. And Dan Inouye may be backing his friend Ted Stevens to the bitter end, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made it clear over the weekend that Stevens will face possible expulsion if he manages to be reelected, according to a story in the newspaper Roll Call.

We had our first visit from the peacock chicks over the weekend. We?ve been hearing for months about them for months. First Mr. Peacock found a girlfriend. I have no idea where she came from. Then there were chicks. They are fixtures on the other side of Makaua Stream, or so we?re told. We got a call from a neighbor on Saturday with word that mother and chicks, now grown up, were coming our way. I grabbed a camera and headed into the yard. We first spotted them standing around on neighbor Elizabeth?s front steps. Then they wandered into our front yard, around the side of the garage, and out the other side. I suppose this was just some kind of get acquainted tour. In any case, it was fun seeing them stroll through as if they own the place.

And here we go with another front row seat at the Lind?s table. This was last night?s homemade pizza. Whole wheat crust from scratch. Sauce cooked up with fresh garlic and basil. Topped with whatever we had on hand–a bit more garlic, onion, a small slice of leftover green pepper, anchovies, leftover low-fat pepperoni, and a bit of cheese. Then came Meda?s salad, this one with romaine lettuce and her special nonfat dressing which uses a yogurt base mixed with a bunch of goodies. Wine. Cat to taste (note Duke in the far right of the photo asleep on a chair).