Tom's Diary

Dear   [Lynn],

Your AT&T phone card has been sent.

The $42 includes all taxes and everything else. So, send me $42.

You’re welcome.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

I will send her a phone card today. I have several extras – I buy in bulk.

[...]

Congratulations on the joint venture with Fred. Sounds like it should be profitable for the both of you.

Give the cats my regards – especially Tabbo.

My work is a bit daunting these days too. I’ve spent the last two months studying the new environment, on which we’ll be deploying all our new web applications. It’s starting to make sense, but there are still many books to read and things to try out, before I attain the expert status I enjoyed previously. But on the bright side, I now have high-speed internet connectivity (DSL), and email works at lightning speed through both Outlook and Eudora. I love it. Plus, I can listen to Dr Mirkin here in Philly through his web site. They don’t carry him on the radio here in Philly. Check out:

http://www.drmirkin.com

sometime. You’ll probably enjoy it.

Later.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

I was (and still am) using the AT&T calling card, which you can purchase at Sam’s Club. 1000 minutes cost $42 these days. These minutes are true minutes (one calling card minute equals one actual “wall clock” minute) as long as you are making calls within the continental US, and you’re not calling from a payphone. When you make payphone calls with the card, depending on who operates the payphone from which you’re calling, they deduct three to six minutes as soon as the person at the other end of the call picks up. So, a one-minute call from a payphone will cost you seven card minutes. But really, that’s not so bad, as the payphone surcharge amounts to about a quarter per call. If you don’t have a Sam’s near you, I can pick some cards up for you and call you with the numbers – you don’t need the actual card in your possession to make calls so long as you have valid card numbers to key in. That is true, unless you’re using one of those payphones that requires you to swipe the card. But those seem rare (at least around here).

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

[[Lynn]   sent me email recently, saying that her life’s been busy and ‘not great’.]

If you’d care to chat on the phone, I’d love that. Give me a call if you like, or let me know when you’d like me to call you.

I thought you might have been away on vacation.

Later.

Tom Hesley

Dear Dean,

You know, here in Philly, when someone utters the F word, we refer to it as “dropping the F bomb.”

Tom

Geeze [Lor], what a shocker, about the MS. My thoughts are with you. The good thing is that they’re making so many technological advances these days in drug therapy and genetic research, that they just may be able to cure you before too long. Best wishes for continued good strength.

When I visit Dayton again, I’ll certainly give you a call and we can get together for lunch. I do miss those times, when we used to go out frequently.

Sorry I forgot about you being in your house already. There’s just so much new information coming through here these days that I can’t keep it all straight, and some of  it “slips through the cracks” as it were.

Well, take care, and we’ll talk again soon.

Tom Hesley

Hi there [Lor].

Yes, it’s been about a year since we last talked. Here’s a summary of what’s been happening since then:
• November, 2000: I moved back to Philly. I’m living in the far northeast now, about seven or eight miles away from where I was mugged. It’s a much better neighborhood here in the Bustleton section of Philly. Before, I lived in the Frankford section. I have a spacious two-bedroom apartment with a balcony and a swimming pool out back. Haven’t been swimming yet. But I hope to get there at least once before it closes on Labor Day. It was sad leaving Mom, and she cried the day we drove the moving van to her house to load my stuff for the return trip. But it was the right decision for me. It was kind of boring in Altoona. Philly however, is much more my type of life style.
• February, 2001: I heard from [Vee] again after three years. [She] and I had an on-again, off-again relationship in the mid-to-late 90s. We’ve been talking just about every day and have seen each other in June of this year. She wants me to move to Ohio to be with her. I love her very much, but I love Philly too. So, I have no plans to call U-Haul anytime soon. But I’ve been trying to get her to move to Philly. But this is equally unlikely, as she shares custody of her two children with her ex husband, who lives in Dayton. What to do, what to do.
• May, 2001: Through the winter, I lost 28 pounds. I gained a few of them back over the summer, but should be back down to 144 Lbs in a few weeks.
• June, 2001: Bought a new computer (my third one in five years). My, the speed with which technology advances. This one is a Micron PC, and it has a 1.4 Ghz. Athelon CPU, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB hard drive, 250 MB zip drive, CD RW drive, a DVD drive, Windows 2000 Professional, and some Altec speakers that sound wonderful.
• June, 2001: Gave up my position as [...] Tech Lead. Too stressful, and I was growing bored with that role anyhow. Now, I’m just a developer again. Not nearly as high-profile a position as the tech lead one. But that’s fine by me. Now I’m working on designing the next generation [...] infrastructure, based on the Java programming language, servlets, Java Server Pages, JDBC, and many of those other up-and-coming web technologies. Leaving the current [components], was a bit disconcerting. I was considered an expert and knew just about any question someone would ask of me, or at least, could find the answer quickly. Now however, I’m starting all over, knowing nothing about web development and the associated technologies. I’m a new kid on the block again. Don [...] referred to this once as being cyclically stupid. You start off stupid, then you get smart as you acquire skills to propel you to expert status in the systems on which you’re working. Then, you move to something new and are “stupid” once again. I suppose many of us do this iteration several times during a career. But I can’t complain though. The last time I had to start over again was eight years ago. Not bad.
• July, 2001: My doctor informed me that my cholesterol reading of 217 is still too high. So, I need to lose more weight, and very closely monitor my fat intake, being careful to avoid consuming more than twenty to thirty grams a day. I’ll do that for the next three months and then, in November, have the reading taken again. If it is still high, he wants to put me on cholesterol-lowering medication, which I’d like to avoid if possible. Too many risky side effects. So I’ve been eating lots of fruits, veggies, beans, and whole grains, with occasional seeds and nuts. Stopped drinking milk altogether. I do okay when eating by myself. But when I dine with friends, it’s very hard to eat correctly. I’ll either have to learn how to eat lightly around friends who are constantly telling me to eat more, or I’ll have to cut down on the number of times each month I dine with friends. Decisions, decisions.
• August, 2001: Completed a two-week vacation. I went to camp this year, as I have done numerous times throughout the 90s. Got in a couple of 10-mile hikes, lots of reading, and dancing. Camp is always fun.

Well, there are some of the major happenings in my life since we last talked.

Did you ever get into your own home? I believe you were checking into buying one last we talked but am not sure if you actually moved in.

Later.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

Bought a new computer in June. The brand is Micron and it has a 1.4 Ghz Athelon CPU, 512 MB RAM, a 60 GB hard drive, a DVD player, a CDRW drive, a 250 MB zip drive, a SoundBlaster live card, and it came with Windows 2000 Professional. I’ve already filed the hard drive.

Tom Hesley

Dear Dean,

I got a Dell Latitude laptop last December. 700 Mhz CPU, 128 MB RAM, 10 GB disk drive, 56 KBPS modem, a floppy disk drive, and a CD ROM drive (read only, not a burner). Not sure what the company paid for it. But it has been quite reliable. It runs for 8 hours on a charge, and you can put up to two batteries in it, although I only have one at this time. I’ve also had a couple other Dell machines and none have failed me. So, I’d definitely recommend Dell. They may not be the cheapest. But they’re among the most reliable, customer-friendly machines on the market.

Tom Hesley

Dear Dean

Yes, very neat that we’ve re established communications. I miss those afternoon bus rides on the 60.

Here in Philly, I ride the 58, 14, 67, 20, and 66 among others. There are 132 different bus routes here and during the business day, there are approximately 1500 buses on the road. Wow.

Tom Hesley