| The feedback we got last year was that our first-ever Christmas
letter was reasonably good--or, anyway, "inoffensive and benign," which is
sort of the same thing--so this year, it's a family tradition. The challenge now is to
write something different; in fact, if you're in a hurry just recall last year's letter,
change Colorado to Idaho, Whistler to Breckenridge, and you'll be caught up. Enjoy the
holidays and have a happy, healthy New Year! Just kidding. Not really, though. OK, maybe a couple of things have changed. Doug got promoted in January to Manager of Engineering Analysis and Technical Services. His area has expanded to include computers & systems, statistics, and the company library at Torrington's Advanced Technology Center, in addition to the engineering analysis group he had been leading before. Last year he made some wry, sarcastic cracks about being a manager. Now that Manager is in his official title, he can't think of anything funny to say about that, and doesn't think it would be appropriate to do so, even if he could. |
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Sue finished up her internal assignment as a project
management coach at Ernst & Young. She, too, was promoted, to Senior Manager, and has
returned to consulting full-time. She's now working in Cleveland, managing a computer
conversion project, and commuting back to Connecticut on the weekends. (The irony of
having a lot of frequent flyer miles may be that you get so tired of earning them that
it's hard to get excited about using them. That hasn't stopped us, though.) Who'd've thought 15 years ago, when Doug was a scientist and Sue was a nurse, that our careers would someday converge around information technology and computer systems? (Who'd ever heard of information technology?) We get together on weekends and talk in acronyms, and we pretty much understand each other. |
| Despite El Nino, we skied more than usual last year. In Colorado, we joined friends for an early-season, long weekend at Steamboat, and vacationed in Breckenridge, one of our favorite places in the world. We also enjoyed quite a few days on the slopes in Vermont. As we sit in shorts and 65-degree weather writing this letter, we're contemplating the Farmer's Almanac's threats of a real winter to make up for last year. Let it snow! |  |
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We didn't ski at our other favorite
place, but our mountain bike week in Sun Valley, Idaho was spectacular. The older we get
the more we look for cool new equipment so that even though we can't keep up with the
young, fit riders we at least get compliments on our gear. We're doing something that's new, exciting and different for us. We've decided to remodel our kitchen. Although we're early in the planning stages, we're looking forward to a more modern look by summer. Considering how much we both enjoy cooking, it appears we can save quite a bit by excluding appliances in favor of a phone programmed for ordering take-out. |
Drop us an email or a note anytime--we'd love to hear how you're doing. Until then, have fun, Happy New Year!
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