You really only need to read the first lines ... In the end, we got it done. Not without travail, but that ain't important no more. Ken and Jenny Hitchen of Rutland, UK, won the studio.

Sounds better than "almost last words" doesn't it? I figure the last words on this phase of the raffle will be the announcement of the winner, so these are my next to last offerings ...

...maybe the Ides of March are not as auspicious a day as that of lucky St Patrick, on the 17th, the following Monday...

The extras can go home. The dancing girls retire. The gaffers and go-fers and the trained seal and the pink-dyed poodles and the gilded stretch limo won't be needed...

Winston Churchill said it: "There's nothing so satisfying in life as to be shot at and missed."

It's been a trial, more of one than I actually care to go into, but we now have a date for the replacement draw.

...The Computer Is Making Me Do It ... And I should have done it three days ago, before I sent you the last newsletter...

...What a wonderful way to be able to run a hotel! Back in the 19th century, when Austrian Archduke Luis Salvador, the young scion of the Houses of Habsburg and Bourbon, was exploring and mapping his vast holdings around Deya and Valldemossa (he eventually wrote nine books about Mallorca's flora and fauna) he owned a large house that he kept open to the public. Guests were not charged as long as they stayed no longer than three days...

...Let me start with an invitation for you to visit the townhouse hotel this Christmas...

...Another Bite at the Brass Ring, Another Grab at the Cherry...

...Brevity is the soul of news. The number that was drawn was...

...Only a week to go as I write this, and we've decided what we're going to do for the draw. It involves the swimming pool. We won't be trying to broadcast this one live on the Internet, which is technology currently beyond us, but we'll be videoing the draw and will post it where you can see it within a few days of it happening. We'll also send you an email to announce the winning number, though we can't tell you the winner's name until we've received permission to announce it publicly...

...We're in countdown mode ...

...Weather not too hot. Constant sun. Balmy nights and lazy days. It ain't half bad if you're a government employee, not just an ordinary civilian trying to get something done.

...Speaking of August, don't forget the annual visitation of the Perseids on the weekend of the 11th, 12th, and especially the night of Monday the 13th between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m. We won't have viewing conditions like this again - with a dark sky and a new moon - for another twenty years. Pray for clear skies, get yourself a comfy lounger and enjoy Ma Nature's fireworks.

Instead of waiting until all of our vouchers are sold and then holding one big raffle draw for the whole ten properties, I've decided to raffle them one by one, starting with the smallest one and moving on until we eventually hold the drawing for the big fella.

The Presidential Candidate, The Tennis Player and the Commodities Broker... You may wonder what the three men cited above have in common. It's easy -- they all are voucherholders with us.

What a Spring we're having! Crap weather for almost ten days, and at a time when the entire North of Europe was basking in sunshine. Some holiday destination we are. But our reservoirs are practically full now, so we'll be grateful come summertime. Besides, the sun's out again now and some of us are blessed with goldfish-like short memories...

... Since you're all smart people -- otherwise you wouldn't be on our mailing list -- I thought you'd like to take this quiz a smart friend sent me. (I failed, but you might find it easy). The quiz consists of 4 questions. Scroll down for each answer. The questions are NOT that difficult. Don't scroll down UNTIL you have answered the question!

... Because of the long delay caused by our list management travails, this newsletter is kind of a pot pourri mixture of information for voucherholders, people who have registered for information about the raffle project, and hotel guests people who've asked to be on our list for hotel information. In future we'll be able to separate the lists. Just read the stuff that interests you -- if you find any -- and ignore the rest.

... New Year's traditionally is all about the future — what you'll do next year to make your life better. All those New Year's resolutions. Lose weight, stop that nasty habit — yes, that one! — be kinder to your family and dumb animals, make more money or gain more wisdom (both if you're lucky) and as the old army ad goes, "Be all that you can be." ...

... in which we revisited the issue of the US law and also explained what's in it for us in being so generous in our offering. The intent in this newsletter was to address the doubts that some people had expressed that the project seems "too good to be true." We think we end up convincing our readers that in fact the whole undertaking is a good deal for you, but also a good deal for us.

... in which we clarified the confusion between the raffle tickets and the hotel vouchers, and set out the reasons our lawyers got spooked because of all the nonsense that was going on in the States over the new Internet Gaming Bill that was about to be passed. We explained why our US purchasers didn't need to worry. We also suggested giving the tickets and vouchers as gifts.

... in which we made the "Godfather Offer" even better by starting to allow ticketholders to use their vouchers even before the raffle drawings instead of having to wait until they're over. We also touched on a few of the common concerns people have expressed to us about the project and gave all the good reasons why those worries are groundless and without merit.

... in which we advise our readers that many of them lost Newsletter No. 2 because we mentioned the word "raffle" in the title and delivery was cut as spam by some of the biggest ISPs — AOL, Yahoo!, Hotmail, and a couple of others. So we learned our lesson and won't do that again. We mention, too, that our townhouse hotel was just reviewed in the Daily Mirror as one of Europe's Seven Sexiest City hotels. Flattering. Oh yes, there was also a nifty little horoscope game.

... in which we make our impossibly and absurdly generous Early Bird offer. We also implement the suggestions made by our readers in the poll we took in the first newsletter.

... in which we introduce ourselves, describe the general outline of the raffle project, and ask our readers for opinions on how many ticket types we should have, what our Early Bird prizes should be, and other structural aspects of the raffle. Useful mainly as a historical reference.