2008 has been a real roller coaster, but fortunately, I think the highs outweigh the lows. For me -- and likely many of you -- the low point was the decline in the stock market. I wish I’d paid attention to writer and commentator Kevin Phillips (no relation) back in April when he predicted the mess in the financial markets in “Bad Money.” At the time, everyone thought he was a wild pessimist, only to find out he was a wild realist.
Warren Buffet recently said on the Charlie Rose Show that in the stock market there are first innovators, then imitators and finally idiots. That hurts, since I’ve got at least one foot in the idiot camp.
On the upside, in 2008, Janis and I welcomed to the world our third grandson. It was particularly miraculous since our daughter-in-law had serious medical complications, was on bed rest for several months, and for a while it was touch and go. But mother and baby are doing just fine, thank you. We periodically baby sit, and having grandchildren is truly a great blessing. It’s a blast to spoil them and then just send them home.
The other high point has been in my professional life, where I’ve seen how well Frito-Lay has navigated through the rocky shoals of our economy relative to other companies. Our CEO, Al Carey, has mapped out a vision called “Inspire Well-Being” with specific plans for improving our Products, Partnerships, Planet and People, really helping us stay above the water and continuing to grow and bring healthier products to the market, while taking steps to become “greener.”
The vision is clearly resonating with our people -- a recent employee survey showed a significant increase in approval ratings for the company, which is great to hear. I’ll talk more about our vision next year.
So as the door closes on 2008, I say good-bye with mixed feelings. The stock market was a roller coaster, but that seems unimportant compared to the joy of having a healthy new grandson and working for a company that continues to meet and beat the challenges in our uncertain economy. What are your closing thoughts on 2008?

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