RE: Hi!

[Kristin Byrnes <http://www.boi.hp.com/~kbyrnes>]

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From: 	Robert[SMTP:http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert]
Sent: 	Friday, March 08, 1996 10:52 AM
To: 	Kristin Byrnes
Subject: 	Re: Hi!

> > How do you like your new place?

>It's great!  It has a garbage disposal, washer/dryer, and a dishwasher!
>And the price is OK (not stunning).

Glad to hear it.  Brad and I are renting a house a few miles from work.
It's pretty nice.  We were planning on buying a house after a year, but
now that we're getting married, we're going to put it off a while.  We
want to have a nice honeymoon and that's going to put a dent in what we
saved for the downpayment.

>Well, you may be able to move around later.  I know some QA people
who became programmers recently...

That is the plan.  And it may be happening pretty soon...  we're losing
yet another person from our group.

>Why did you pick Idaho??  How is life there?  It must be great working
at HP.  That's one of the places I had always wanted to work at.

This is where all HP's laser printer divisions are.  And since that's
the area that Brad and I have experience in, it made sense.  Plus we had
a contact here from QMS.  That helped get us interviews.

HP is a great place to work.  The atmosphere is _so_ different from QMS.
It's so much more upbeat and flexible.  Now I know that the problems I
thought I had with my career were just due to a negative environment.

I used to think Idaho would be too cold for me.  I didn't think I'd like
it here until we came for our interviews.   It was September and the
weather was terrific.  It was in the 70s with clear skies and low
humidity, while in Mobile it was sweltering and in the 90s.  And I liked
it even better than Ca because it wasn't packed.  Now that I've
been through a winter, I don't think I'll have a problem with the cold.
The winter has actually been as mild if not milder than those in north
Alabama, though we had a little more snow here.

>You mean, the same Brad from Alabama??  Why the change?

Okay, I didn't remember if I'd told you about that.  We got back
together last February.  (I had broken up with Mark from Chicago in
November.)  It took a lot of begging and pleading on my part, but it was
worth it :) .  Then in August we decided to look for jobs in the same
place so we could stay together.  And then when we relocated to Idaho in
November we rented this house together .

>Anyway, that's pretty exciting.  Almost everybody I know is married.  It's obviously a trend.

I was wondering about that too.  But I've decided that it's just that
most people get married.  It's not a recent thing.  It has always been
that way and it's just getting to the point that everybody around me is
of marrying age or older.

Not too long ago I was anti-marriage.  Part of what changed that is that
I met some neat married people (I had thought that when you get married
you become boring and dependent).  Also, since we've been living
together, things have been great.  I haven't had to give up much freedom
and I think the advantages of having someone there outweigh what little
I've had to sacrifice.  So I don't think that being married is going to
enslave me or anything.

>Our roommate recently left, so we're looking for a roommie...  This place
>has 3 bedrooms and Noelle and I are using 2 of the bedrooms.

>I've still been looking for a job, but, being the picky person I am, I
>still haven't found one yet.

Well, I think HP has some sites in your area.  Cupertino and Roseville?

>I'm still not playing in a band.  My hands have been feeling a lot better,
>but I just haven't had time to do drumming again!

So what have you been doing for fun then?

How is Noelle?  Has she decided on a career yet?

Kristin

I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian 
 because I hate plants.
                               -- A. Whitney