However, as events march toward the alternative year of 2002, some of his characters come to believe, despite much evidence to the contrary, that they can change the way they live.
But analysts said that introducing new ownership is better than the alternative: more years of losses, layoffs and government subsidies.
She made the move when it became clear the alternative was years on a waiting list for a position as a specialist dermatologist.
But with its impressive line-up across the arts, it's the alternative any year.
And while this deal doesn't replace all of sequestration, as I had hoped, and it's not going to solve every problem facing our families and businesses -- it's far better than the alternative: another year of across-the-board cuts, or even worse, a potential government shutdown.
The alternative can be years of awaiting trial in an overcrowded and dangerous prison system.
But I had heard impressive stories about the benefits of juicing, and if the alternative was "90 years on the floor", it had to be worth a try.
Jagielka agreed, although he admitted he preferred the expectation which came with an opening-game win rather than the alternative of recent years.
Burton was wooed to the alternative side 5 years ago when his wife got immunity-boosting shots of a cell-surface antigen that, he said, has prevented a recurrence of her breast cancer.
Since the alternative is two years of Washington gridlock, it is certainly worth the try.
Difficult as these changes are to face now, what is the alternative in five years time for our students and our nation if we don't?
