I was going to start today trying to be a better person, but it isn't working out so far.

Sleeping late, deciding the pile of work can wait another day, looking around and seeing the clutter in my house and not caring. It's all good. I guess I'll just keep indulging my every whim and running roughshod over any temptation to give in to my better angels.

For example, I can't possibly lose any weight after the drawstring on my sweatpants snapped in two and fell out this morning. I might have to add a few Chips Ahoy to my diet just to keep my pants up. (Like I need an excuse to eat. "I'll just have one Milky Way to cleanse my palate.") Or I could just sit around more, reading and watching TV. That wouldn't be too taxing on the elastic waistband. (This is all working out great, so far.)

One resolution I can keep is to spend more time reading. I'm enjoying Summerland, by Michael Chabon. What's not to like? Elves and giants in a magical universe revolving around baseball. It's all my fantasies inside a hard cover, but the hectic December pace didn't give me enough time to read. Now that it's January (and there's no reason to expect the pace to slow down at all), I'll have to make time to read. And I will.

My one other personal wish for the new year is that I'll have a new car by the end of it. That's because I'm pretty sure the old one isn't going to make it through another twelve months.

There have been more and more instances of the engine not wanting to turn over lately. Yesterday I was stuck at the post office for twenty minutes, waiting for it to decide to start for me. If it hadn't been raining I would have got out and taken a walk, but it just happened to be pouring at that moment.

That's the main reason I'm not going out today, even to get a paper. I can't have this kind of thing keeping me home on days when I have a chance to get out. Even if I do stay home, not trusting my car shouldn't be the reason.

I hate (literally, hate) the thought of looking for a car and working out a deal and wondering if I'm doing it wrong. I don't even mind making monthly payments; it's just all the stuff leading up to that. I hate it. That's why I haven't done it yet, the one and only reason. (Well, that and the fact that I'm a lazy bum who never leaves the house unless he has to.)

So that's my primary resolution for 2003, but don't be surprised if I break it. I looked at last year's January 1 entry and I have to laugh. Three simple resolutions and I haven't kept one of them.

This afternoon I heard someone knocking on my door. What with hangovers and football and such, I wasn't expecting any company today. I looked out and sure enough, there was no one there, but the rapping was getting louder. It seemed to be coming from the corner of the house, just out of my view. I opened the door and with a great flurry a large woodpecker flew off into the oak tree behind the garden.