Dear [Emeebee],
Thanks so much for the card. I received the polar bears yesterday. 
I’m back in Philly now, assembling furniture here at the apartment, and getting ready for the Florida trip on Sunday. Never been to Fla. in the winter time.
Later.
Tom
Dear [Emeebee],
Grant was taken to the hospital last night. They thought he had appendicitis, as his fever was at 101.7 and his white blood cell count was higher than usual. But it turned out NOT to be that, and they thought he just might have become infected with a virus of some sort. He was also dehydrated, as he had vomited several times during the day. Diane and I went to sit with him at 4:45 this morning and waited while they did the CT scans. Got home to bed at 7:30. Never sleep too well during the day. So I ended up getting back up at 12:30. So tonight should be a long one of peaceful sleep.
Tom
Dear [Emeebee],
I came to Mom’s on December 23rd. The train was over five hours late and so, didn’t arrive here at the house until around 2:00 AM on Christmas Eve. But we have a tree up and the outside bathed in green flood lights in the front and north side of the house. Mon’s place is painted yellow now. I think when you were here seven years ago, it was white.
Tom
Dear [Emeebee],
You might look into Ameritech Voice Mail (VM) on your home phone. It’s really convenient since it allows you to check your messages from anywhere. People can still leave you messages even when you’re on the phone or computer, without getting a busy signal. And, for those (like me) who occasionally would like to send you a VM without ringing your phone directly (say, in the middle of the night), provisions are available for that also. Finally, you can set up pager notification which would page you, when a message comes in. When I lived there, I believe I was paying $6 per month for VM, and you don’t have to worry about an answering machine that fails, or is unavailable during power outages. It’s rather convenient. I have it on all my residence phones.
Tom
Dear [Emeebee],
I’ll be coming back to Dayton for 7 to 10 days in late January. Will let you know the exact dates when I know them. But I must make a presentation to the architecture board, as part of this new strategic planning assignment I’m doing now. Let’s plan to hang out together during that period. It gets awfully lonely in that hotel room all by myself. If you want to hang with a guy who won’t “deck” you, hang with me. *grin*
Getting the train to Altoona on Saturday, to kick off the holiday vacation. Such a nice 5-hour ride, especially through the mountains with the snow about.
Then, I return to Philly on January 6th, to continue getting my apartment in order.
Then, on the 14th, it’s off to Orlando, Florida for a LotusSphere conference.
Then, on the 18th, it’s off to Dayton for an undetermined period. I have to discuss that with my Mgr. But I suspect it will be for at least 7 days, but possibly 10. Please be available then. Please, please, please??!!??
Anyway, be safe in any traveling you might be doing over the holidays, and will talk to you in January.
Later.
Tom
Hey you [Lynn],
Welcome home. Ironic, isn’t it, that the rain was threatening you, when you were about to visit the flood plains.
It’s been a nice fall here in Dayton also. Lots of sunshine the past three weeks. Only rained once or twice. And there’s still much color around. However, Mom says that in Altoona, most of the leaves have assumed those “muted” colors that they do when they’re about ready to come down. Yep, winter is approaching. What a year this has been.
I don’t have the new title yet, as I have not yet been promoted. The raise I mentioned was a separate thing. Hopefully, if I can complete this strategy assignment by the end of the year, the promotion will be granted shortly thereafter.
The two new contractors are coming along and almost up to speed enough to begin contributing. My job here is almost done. Looking forward to getting back to Altoona on Sunday.
Had dinner with [Emeebee] last night. Very nice. She said that her boyfriend was jealous that she was coming to meet me, and wanted to know where we were eating. She did not tell him. Then, later, she related a story of how they had broken up for a time because he had abused her physically, and she asked me if I thought she should leave him. This made me a bit nervous. I kept imagining this crazed person entering the restaurant with a gun and running a muck. But, that didn’t happen. However, I think I’ll stay away from her until this guy is out of her life.
Well, I have two hours of training today (as a student, not a teacher) to prepare for. So I’d best get going. Take care. Talk to you soon. Will probably give you a call sometime next week.
Later,
Tom
Dear sister Joann,
Things are going fine here. Been struggling with a cold the past week. But it’s breaking up now and I feel much better today than over the weekend. I tried those Cold-Eze lozenges that have the zinc in them. Seemed to help. The illness cleared up within a couple days. Normally colds take a couple weeks to leave MY system.
I have a date with [Emeebee] set up for next week, and also one with a young lady named [Kristen]. I have lunch with a long-time coworker named [CVL], and lunch with a manager I had a few years back. The social calendar here is really filling up. I asked the hotel desk clerk to join me for a drink. Said she would but that hotel regulations forbid her from “fraternizing” with the customers. But she told me that if ever I am in Dayton, and not staying at this hotel, that she’d love to go out. Cool. That made my day.
One woman I’ve known for several years turned down my offer of a foot massage [Carlene J]. She would have done it I think. But her husband was upset at the proposition, and she didn’t want to jeopardize her marriage by going ahead with it. They share everything with each other of course. Guess I’ll just have to wait until I get home, and do Krista’s again.
Looks like I’ll miss the Halloween bash at RJ’s. I’ll not be getting home until the evening of October 29th. 
Then, the following weekend, I must go to Philly to get the keys to the new apartment. Looking to move in around the middle of November. Yes, I’m very excited. I think my arrival time on October 29th at the Altoona airport is 6:13 PM.
Hey, you stopped SHOUTING. WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?
Well, must get to work. Thanks for writing and I’ll call soon, probably over the weekend coming up.
Tom
Hi [Emeebee].
I found a place to stay for the days I discussed with you on the phone the other week, during my Y2K visit to Dayton. Therefore, I will not need to stay with you. Thanks for considering my request however.
Happy holidays. Hope you’re doing well.
10:00 AM: Happy New Year! I still have this nasty cold, and I’m hoping that [Emeebee] will relent and drive me home. If not, I suppose I’ll be busing it for the next few hours.
02:00 PM: I’m home here at Copper Creek Court once again. [Emeebee] did drive me, because I told her that if she didn’t that I’d not speak to her again. I offered her gas money but she declined. Anyway, I think I’ll just lay around the house here and nurse this cold away.