from Gail (fwd)

[Noelle <http://dummy.us.eu.org/noelleg>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:01:19 -0800
From: g3 <http://www.cox.net/~g3>
To: noelle <http://dummy.us.eu.org/noelleg>
Subject: from Gail

Dear Noelle and Robert,
    We hope you have a very Happy Valentine's Day celebration! Will you be doing anything special then? Tomorrow eve. we will be attending the monthly Symphony Preview at someone's fancy, large, expensive home for dinner to hear the conductor talk about the upcoming concert and to hear the soloist perform and speak about their lives as it relates to their music as an educational and music appreciation event. This past Sun. we organized a pre-Valentine's event at our condo clubhouse for 44 attendees from Social Tennis on Sundays and SB Ski and Sports Clubs with mixed doubles round robin tennis and catered dinner/dance with a DJ for music. It was very successful and a lot of fun we and everyone else thought. Last Sat. Don returned home from a week of skiing at Breckinridge, CO with friends staying together at a condo. No one was injured nor sick, and Don said he didn't fall even once. Evidently that area got the most snow and cold weather they've had in many years. It snowed daily, and one day there were 60 mph winds, so I was glad I didn't go. I'm sure Don has, as a result, improved his skiing ability even more.
    I have been meaning to contact you since Xmas, but have been very busy. I really appreciated your gift of the CD entitled Bait & Switch by Barbara Ehrenreich which we listened to on our drive up to where-I-live and Healdsburg and back to SB. It turned out listening to it was helpful in my assessing I think correctly my work environment at Mentor Corp. when I was there as a full-time temporary in the accounting dept. from 12/10-1/9 before our ski trip to Whistler, British Columbia. That was my first experience working in a large co., and I didn't like it. I felt they were an example of bad corporate America as described in that CD. I might have tended to gloss over their shortcomings, in my estimation, had I not heard that CD.
    I did, however, also want to chastise you a little for forgetting to acknowledge Don's Birthday on Jan. 1. I think it's important that you remember dates like that (put it in your calendar) and thank him for all the things he does for you such as paying for the meals when we take you out such as when we visited you over Xmas, etc. Being able to express gratitude is a very good trait to have so that people will want to continue doing nice things for you. Unfortunately we see that trait going down the tubes in the younger generations and feel that that is a shame. By the way, we certainly very much enjoyed our visit with you over the Holidays.
    I have been busy lately as a student again. I'm taking a no credit class at SBCC one eve./wk with homework in QuickBooks plus I took 2 classes in Access at adult ed recently and taking seminars in Human Resources to bring my knowledge current in helping me career-wise. What mainly precipitated this at this time is that I have been negotiating for a part-time contract labor position in accounting and human resources for a start-up alternative energy co. in Goleta that I found out about at a Dec. job fair. They plan on purchasing QuickBooks, and I had only experience with more complex higher end accounting software. So anyway, we'll see what happens eventually with that prospect. Of course soon we'll be preparing for our trip to Northern India and Bhutan from 2/22-3/17 with Overseas Adventure Travel and Morey and Jeong.
    Before I forget to tell you, Dick and Joyce Axilrod's daughter, Susan, and her husband, Mark Mastman, and their young daughter plan on moving to where-I-live to be near Mark's family. They are your ages, so I told them when that happens I will give them or you each other's contact info. so you can get together. Who knows, maybe you will become good friends.
    We hope all is well with you two and look forward to hearing about your recent activities.
Love,
Gail (and Dad)