Tom's Diary

Dear [Vee],

Having lots of house-fixing fun. Taking 2 weeks vacation here in April to finish the job.

Tom

Dear   [Vee],

Things are wonderful. The trip to Philly last weekend was grand. Nice to see old friends.

Tom

Dear   [Vee],

Having a good day. Just being lazy. Going to my sister Joann’s for spaghetti early this evening, and then later on, visiting my sister Christine and her family. Spending the night there, so that Mom and her boyfriend can have the house here to themselves. Plus, it gets me out of the house. Then, tomorrow, I hope to get a few hours of work in on the insulation installation project. That effort is taking a long time, and is really starting to turn into “The Project From Hell.”

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   [Carrie],

Hi there. I’m here in Altoona, and will be returning to Philly on July 14th, thus my delayed response in getting back to you. Further, I didn’t want to make either you or Steve feel uncomfortable by calling. [Steve is her boyfriend.]

All is well here. No, no girlfriend yet. Was talking to [Vee] for a bit, but that has ended once again. Will tell you more about it the next time we talk live.

Work is going well. Lots of changes there too. I’ve lost almost 30 pounds since you last saw me. I hope you’re doing well. [Our Philly friends] are all doing well.

Well, take care, and I’ll talk to you soon. Perhaps I’ll try and call you this week.

Later.

Tom

Hi sister Jojo.

Things are well here. Easter was nice.

The apartment is coming together nicely. I want to buy a pantry cabinet for the kitchen, and a hope chest to put at the foot of my waterbed in the bedroom. Plus, I need another CD rack. The two I have are full and overflowing.

The Easter egg hunt at Mary Ann’s. Yes, sorry I missed that. But I’ve been doing too much traveling these days and think I’m going to stay put for about six more weeks. Then, for Memorial Day, I may go to Dayton to visit [Vee]. We’re still talking about it, but will let you know what happens.

I hope to spend much of July in Altoona so we can hang out at the pool. That’s always so much fun. And now that the ladies know that I like giving foot massages [...], it should be even better.

Well take care and have a nice spring. Talk to you again soon.

Tom

Dear sister Mary Ann,

Hi there.

Glad you liked the email.

I will be at Mom’s for Labor Day.

I was also thinking of coming up to your place for the tale gate party. I’d probably ride the train to Lewistown. The available stops are Lewistown, Huntingdon, and Altoona. So, pick the stop that is most convenient for you. I’d probably come up on Friday September 10th, at roughly 6:30 PM, and go home on Sunday, September 12th, at 1:00 PM. Let me know if you can accommodate me and I will get you more detailed specifics of my trip, such as the location of the Lewistown train station.

I can work with Joann over Labor Day on the email issue.

Yep, I’m behind on the house work also. I just bought a real nice leather office chair and file cabinet, and just finished rearranging the office to fit them in. Had to move and re cable two of my computers. *yuck*

Been thinking about buying a digital camera. That would make it much easier and faster to send pics over email, like this one.      Can you view these? Just double-click the attachments. What will likely happen is that your web browser will start and the pics will display in there.

…

The first picture is a yellow rose. The second portrays the last woman to steal my heart (about two years ago). Her name is   [Vee], and she sent me these a while back. If you can see them, then,, once I get a camera, I’ll be able to send you pics of life here in Philly.

Got to go for now. Talk to you later.

Tom