Tom's Diary

Consider that work would be easier this time around because I’d not be home-based. I won’t do that again. I’d have the more orthodox working routine, where I’d get up every weekday at 6:00 and leave for the office at 7:00 and get there by 8:00. Then leave for home at 5:00. It wasn’t all bad when I worked in Dayton, and I do miss that part of the routine. While I worked at the main campus, things were for the most part good. Not perfect, but quite good, except that I couldn’t get a desirable woman. There were the trying times (especially with LJ). But once that finished in 1989 into 1990, life got pretty nice.

Now people did expect more of me than I felt comfortable giving, and that used to bug me although that didn’t happen too often. The only time I remember this was in the early 90s.

But once I came into my own in 1994 with the delivery of the MailMan document delivery system, I went until at least 1998 as a highly respected and esteemed leader in the development community.

Of course, that scathing employee survey changed all that, but not for long. Once I recovered, and the Y2K remediation work got hot, I shined once again until 2001 when we started working on CM.

Many of the hardships spun off from my home-based status because interacting with people face-to-face could not easily be done. Without that frequent interaction, I found it difficult to learn about the new system designs. Then too, I suspected when I first became home-based that career stagnation would be likely, although at the time, I was so eager to move to Philadelphia that I didn’t care, and went anyway.

In short, I can’t blame all my woes on my last job. Some of them resulted entirely from choices I made. I wanted to be home-based, and I’ll always be grateful to them for allowing it. Not that I want to be _home_ necessarily. But I did want to live in Philadelphia, where things were accessible. Unfortunately, that meant eventually giving up any opportunities for career advancement at the home office.

Perhaps I need to reconsider my feelings toward working outside the home for an employer. Right now, the idea distresses me. But since many of the problems at the last job originated in my home-based status, and since I would not be home-based in future full-time jobs, maybe a new job wouldn’t be as tough as I remember the final two years of my last one being. And, to be honest, if I was a boss in software development, I wouldn’t hire anyone home-based. I’d insist that they be at work at least two days out of every week.

Now I wanted to make as much money as I could. Periodic raises assured me that I was appreciated and valued. I had to fight in 2000 to get the raises I should have been getting between 1993 and 2000. That fight went on for several years and may have contributed to my weariness of playing the corporate work game longer than I did.

Well, I’m rambling at this point. But given my fifteen year run at the last job, I learned much, and got used to a decent salary. But since leaving, I’m living with Mom, and I’m poor (relatively speaking). I don’t think I wish to live the rest of my life here in Altoona. Again, the need for making tough decisions is upon me this year, that must be met soon. What am I going to do with the rest of my life?

Here in Altoona, I have virtually no accessibility to desirable women. There’s virtually no one on the dating services I’ve examined, whom I want. Perhaps I should change my operating environment again. Perhaps once more, I must move to a place where they are more accessible. However, going where the ladies are won’t guarantee me a warm bed with a lovely woman in it.

True, I was in Philly. But meeting them as I did at bars and on busses just wasn’t working. I spent many an evening at Michael’s Café’ drinking, hoping that She’d come in. Well nowadays, even if I went to the big city, I wouldn’t seek to meet anyone in bars, as I no longer drink.

More later,
Tom Hesley

Dear [Lisser],

You’re very welcome. Looks like I’ll be making another trip to Dayton in late January, visiting for a week or so. Among other things, my team will be doing a [workstation component] release during that time. So you and I will probably get to interact then.

I moved back to Philly in November. It’s sure good being back.

Been hitting the dance hall and making new friends. A bit more happening in Philadelphia, than in Altoona, PA, where I was living during most of 2000. 2001 should be a great year. Hey, at least we don’t have Y2K to deal with, ‘eh?

Congratulations, and best wishes for success in your new [...] coordinator position. Hope your kids were happy with what Santa brought them yesterday, and that you got what you needed.

Take care, and will talk to you soon. Perhaps we can try for lunch while I’m there. Will get in touch as the time grows nearer and the dates of the visit are finalized.

Later.

Tom Hesley

Dear   [Lynn],

You got yourself a deal. No, this is for the 5/21 release. The Y2K bonus, I don’t think I got a letter for. But now I’m curious and so will poke around and see if I can find it.

Got your voice mail, as you probably already know, because if you’re logged into midcoast and reading this, you probably had to LISTEN to your VM in order to place the modem call afterwards. That “stutter” dial tone really confuses modems.

I sense that if I come up there to live, that dinners at The Haven will become somewhat of a tradition for us – perhaps weekly? That would be nice.

Hope you’re enjoying your Fathers Day dinner.

Later.

Tom

‘Mornin’ sweetie [Lynn].

Temp is about 19 degrees here. I just got home from West Philly about a half hour ago and was doing a time sheet for [work]. Getting ready to head out for the weekend at 12:30 this afternoon. Love that train ride. The dog is smart.

The manager emailed me yesterday about my appraisal. I hate appraisals. They’re like warts that just will not go away. Anyway, he seemed a bit surprised that I didn’t meet my training objectives for last year. Of course, those objectives didn’t account for the Y2K pit falls we encountered. And, they also assumed that the software I currently support would have been retired by now and that I’d be supporting the ‘new’ system. So, I told him that there would be no point in taking the classes until I was sure to use the material immediately. If I take the courses and then do not apply the information, I’ll forget it. So, I think he understood.

Well, have to go for now. Take care, and talk to you soon.

Tom

Dear Sister Diane,

Yep, I’m back home. And I am back on my diet. The Thanksgiving / Christmas holiday season this year cost me 11.5 pounds. Hopefully, I can lose this by sometime in late February.

I need to talk to you on the phone, about Mom’s estate. Will call this evening. Or, if you won’t be around then, let me know when would be a good time. This will probably take a half-hour.

Congratulations on your Y2K work. Sounds like you didn’t have too much to deal with.

Well, back to work with me. Talk to you later today.

Later.

Tom

Dear Sister Joann,

All is well here at [work] in regards to Y2K. No issues found. Yes, there have been scattered problems with cash registers and ATMs. But nothing serious so far. However, we’re still not in the clear yet. We won’t really know how we stand until sometime in March, when everyone has had a chance to pay bills, issued in year 2000, for the first time. I’m expecting to see at least a few problems in my bills. But we’ll just have to wait and see.

Later.

Tom

Hey Diane.

Happy New Year!!

No, we didn’t have any Y2K issues here either. In fact, after Saturday morning, they told us we didn’t have to work the rest of the scheduled Y2K shifts. So, I had off yesterday, and didn’t have to report to work today until 8:00 AM. Had the Y2K work scheduled still been in effect, I would have had to come in at 6:00 AM.

I return to Philly on January 8th, this Saturday.

How many more days must you work the 12-hour shifts?

I’m staying with   [Brandon]   this week. He’s still quite the interior decorator. He has matching and color coordinated towels and wash cloths in the bathrooms, and color coordinated bed spreads, quilts, and vases in the bedrooms.

Joann says that Christine’s party was quite a big hit. I so much wanted to be there. But our party here was nice. Quiet, but nice.. They had punch, shrimp, chips, wings, cake, and other fattening tid bits. And we just hung out, talking softly, waiting for the Y2K bug to bite. But fortunately, it never did.

Well, back to work with me. Talk to you soon.

Tom

Hey there,   [J].

How are you?

Did you receive my message over the Christmas break?

I’m in Dayton this week to help with Y2K troubleshooting. However, it’s been a silent time so far. No problems have been reported. Nice.

Been reading the book you recommended, albeit slowly. Intriguing and encouraging story. There may be some useful information in there.

Well, must run. Hope you’re doing well and that your root canal isn’t giving you any problems.

Later,
Tom Hesley

Hey [Gee Bee]!

Nope, no Y2K problems have surfaced as of yet.

Yes, I would have much rather been there in Altoona with you all, than here in the computer trenches. But the Y2K testing had to be done to help ensure that Monday morning (today) would go smoothly.

And, yes, I’ve seen numerous old friends and finally met my manager for the first time in person. He was quite smiley and jovial, a very friendly guy. We’ll be meeting more this week to discuss the evolutionary direction of the software I support and to make sure I have enough to do for this year. No problem there.

I’m staying with   [Brandon]   now. He has a very quiet house. Nice.

Are you back to work today? Hope you don’t have too much trouble getting up.

Well gotta run. Talk to you more, later on.

Tom

Hi   [Lynn].

Yep, as you already know, I got moved from the hotel to   [Brandon's]   place on Saturday morning without problems. No Y2K issues discovered as of yet either. Nice.

Here in Dayton, the weather was very warm the past few days too. It’s just been raining and overcast most of that time however.

On the spell checker: If you want to teach it a new word, I think all you need to do is to select the redlined word and right click. That should bring up a little menu that offers suggestions for correct spellings and also has an ‘add’ option. Pick ‘add’ and Eudora will consider the previously incorrectly spelled word correct from then on. Good luck.

Yes, the people contact has been heart-warming. Just met my manager for the first time in person this morning. He was all smiles and quite jovial. Nice fellow and I don’t feel quite as intimidated by him as I have at times felt, while talking to him on the phone. Being able to observe the body language adds such an important dimension to interpersonal communication – something that I do miss being home based. But I do not miss it enough to return to Dayton.

Gotta run for now. Talk to you tonight.

Later,
Tom