Tom's Diary

Dear   [BB],

Good morning [...].

All is well here this week. I got all the new electrical outlets installed upstairs and the wiring run. All that remains to be done is to hook them into the main circuit breaker panel, which I plan on doing this weekend. Since this operation requires that I pull the mains for maximum safety, I need to wait until Mom and her friend [...] are out of the house before I do it.

Starting installing a new flood light for Diane on Sunday. Hope to finish that job this weekend also.

And I just finished some computer work for a family friend. Her modem and printer weren’t working. Looked like incorrect hardware settings in the modem case. I’m not really sure what the deal with the printer was, because when I tried it, it worked fine. So, the customer is coming back, probably today, to pick up her machine. So I’m going to have her try everything out here before she takes it away, just to make sure that there’s nothing wrong, and that all is working as she expects.

That would be cool if you got the PenDOT position. There’s always lots of fun activities going on around here during the summer months, at which you’d probably enjoy yourself very much.

Anyway, hope your mid term exams are going well. Will catch you later.

More later,
Tom Hesley

Dear   [Vanna],

Well, sorry we won’t see you there [at the Overbrook spring dance]. Hopefully, we can touch base in June, if you go to the alumni activities. I plan on being there.

Tom Hesley

Dear   [Vanna],

We have two cats here. A male and female, siblings, black and white, and very friendly, like their mother. Unfortunately, their Mom was killed on the highway here in front of the house just after her kittens were weaned. Talk about timing. If she’d have been hit just a couple weeks earlier, her offspring might not have survived. But as it was, these cats are very healthy and spunky. They’ve started coming up to my bedroom at night to visit. That’s so sweet, hearing them purr in the dark across the room.

Well, I must get back to work. Take care, and we’ll talk again soon.

Tom

Dear   [Vanna],

Mom is doing well. They found no blockages in her heart. However, they still don’t know why they obtained anomalous readings in her stress test. I’m hoping that there’s not a blockage that they missed in their analysis of the catheterization results.

She’s thrilled however, that her arteries appear to be very clear. By all rights, she SHOULD have blockages. Don’t misunderstand. I’m very happy that she doesn’t. But her diet is so bad, that I was very surprised that she had no constrictions, and this is also why I’m skeptical of the doctor’s evaluation of her tests. But she’s still seeing them. Not sure what their plan of attack is going to be next. But we’re hopeful that they’ll correct her problems in short order.

Tom Hesley

Dear   [Lynn],

I’d suggest that you just reinstall AIM. There’s version 4.7 out now, which is probably several versions beyond the one you have on your machine. This will put that little AIM icon back on your taskbar. Go to:

• http://www.aim.com/

and follow the instructions there. AOL Instant Messaging isn’t a very big program so it shouldn’t take very long to download.

Very sunny today. I have a friend’s computer to work on for an hour or two today, and then, back to laying insulation. I want to make some headway on that keep-warm project, before the next cold snap gets here, sometime next week.

Enjoy your time in Texas, and say Hi to Bella for me.

On the cats, I’m surprised you didn’t have any comment in response to the line at the end of that slide show, that said that cats are tiny little women in cheap fur coats.   Seems like, given the feminist that you are, that you would have been inclined to make at least a little remark.

Later,
Tom

Dear   [Vanna],

Hey, that was pretty cool. Yes, it played fine on my machine. The music is supposed to sound like a piano playing I believe. It appears to require a midi-compatible soundcard in order to sound nice, such as a sound blaster, or sound blaster-compatible card.

Thanks for sending it along. I really enjoyed it.

I’m getting ready to go to Philly for your Overbrook alumni spring dance. Had lots of fun there last year. Will you be coming?

Later,
Tom Hesley

[Pink],

This looks like it is an embedded image, as opposed to a file attached to your email message. The image type says that it is a JPEG picture. However, I too can only save it to disk as a BMP file. Since I don’t use AOL, I’m not sure how to send an attachment, as opposed to inline images. However, if you can send the image as an attached file, with the JPG extension, doing that may solve your problem.

Tom Hesley

Dear   [Lynn],

Gee, that’s interesting. I wasn’t aware that web sites could control which browser opens when you follow their links. I thought that the default browser applies to all links followed. Ah well, we learn something new every day.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

We had a big layoff at work recently – 175 people, with 4 of them in my immediate group. So, plans to purchase a mobile home have been put on long-term hold, as the company has indicated that they’re not necessarily finished yet, with the layoffs. In the meantime, I’ll be living upstairs here at Mom’s, and want to convert the blue bedroom into an office once the insulation is in place.

Are you still working on the stairway walls between your first and second floor? If so, that’s been a really long-running project, ‘eh?

Later,
Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

Things in PA are okay. I’m installing insulation on the second floor upstairs here at Mom’s. Started that project last night. It already feels warmer.

I added baseboard heating up there a few weeks ago. And I’m just about finished installing some new electrical outlets in the two rooms up there (added four outlets to each one). Needless to say, there have been lots of trips to Lowe’s.

Tom Hesley