In Japan eight is a lucky number. And in just eight days we'll be living the last day of the second millennium anno Domini.
Lest we get all puffed up about our historic destiny eight days from now, we should modestly bear in mind that exactly 1,000 years earlier inhabitants of this planet preempted the thrill of being the first "anno Dominis" to kiss a millennium goodbye. Anyone who was here then, if still here now, might be tempted to say that if you've seen one millennium come and go you've seen them all.
Promoters of Millennium 2000 might agree. In case you hadn't heard, Millennium 2000 promoters planet-wide are scaling down their once-grandiose plans for ringing in new everything -- year, decade, century, millennium. Maybe the whole thing has all been too much for everyone to contemplate, under the drumbeat of progressive contemplative pressure.