Are you thinking of saving that expensive New Year's Eve ticket or maybe the last local newspaper of the 20th century for posterity? According to Sylvie Gervais of the Bermuda Archives, it is possible to preserve your beloved treasures in the Island's humid conditions -- it just depends on where you live.

"You have to be realistic, there will be some aging,'' she said. "But things do keep really well in Bermuda.'' Ms Gervais said that sentimental locals eager to hold on to their precious millennium mementos need take a few precautions.

"They have to be placed in an area where the air can circulate and its not too humid or damp,'' she explained. "Sometimes that can be pretty hard to find, it really depends on where you live.

"Sometimes boxes with holes in them work and actually, I've heard that rubber-made containers are pretty good,'' she said. "The item has to be kept as clean as possible, that way nothing will grow on it.'' But when it comes to saving newspapers, Ms Gervais said there was little that could be done to prevent aging.

"Laminating newspapers will delay the process for a while, but it will still yellow,'' she explained. "We don't laminate anything here. Encapsuling is better then laminating, but nowhere does that in Bermuda.'' But what if you want to hold on to something for more than a couple of years.

Suppose you want to squirrel away proof of your existence at this historic occasion for future generations.

If you think of making a time capsule is as easy as placing a few mementos into a box and burying it into the ground -- think again.

For Father Time and Mother Nature are not kind to our precious belongings. So how do you make time stand still? You can follow the lead of Thornwell Jacobs, president of Atlanta's Oglethorpe University, and build a 2,000 cubic-foot time capsule known as the `Crypt of Civilisation'.

The crypt, sealed in 1940, contains thousands of contents ranging from dental floss to copies of Shakespeare's masterpieces and will be opened in the 8113.

For the do-it-yourselfer who wants their voice to be heard in the future, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone.

According to the International Time Capsule Society there are an estimated 10,000 capsules hidden worldwide and most of those are lost.

So if you are going to make a time capsule, be sure to tell people where it is hidden.

The association also recommends selecting a realistic retrieval date. Fifty years or less is recommended since the longer duration, the more difficult a task the capsule becomes.

And experts suggest people should not take the whole `bury' thing to heart when it comes to home-made time capsule. Storing you capsule in an indoor location is the best way to protect it.

Remember not to place anything in your capsule that will require any equipment other than the eyes or hands to interpret -- case in point, are there still any computers or hardware around which use 5 1/2 floppy disks? How about an eight-track cassette? Experts claim that the best way to keep a little piece of you living on forever is by word of mouth.

Tell your family, children and grandchildren little tidbits about you and what life was like in the late 20th century.

Urge them to hand these stories down through the generations so that they can become family treasures that Mother Nature cannot destroy.

Making time stand still: If you want to preserve your special mementos of the 20th century be sure to take some precautions before storing them away. But remember, no matter what you do, it may be virtually impossible to keep Father Time and Mother Nature at bay.