20 Braytoft Close,
Holbrooks,
Coventry, CV6 4ED
(024) 7668 0670
9/12/2000

Phthrrt!! 113

It's been an eventful year, and one which we'll all remember well, except possibly Rachael, who'll have to rely on the countless photos and tales that we've gathered. Rachael Louise Owens was born on 24th May this year, and has been growing well, and learning carefully the fine art of how to choose the exact wrong moment to loudly request our presence. She's turning into a real character, and serves as a useful means of processing junk mail, which she can turn into paper maché within minutes. We've taken hundreds of photos already, mostly on a digital camera, and when she grows up we'll put them all on a CD and present them at the wedding. To the Groom.

Glad that we got the kitchen done last year, and finished the nursery in time for Rachael's arrival - we wouldn't have been able to do much afterwards. Looking forward to seeing the Grandparents in New Zealand this Christmas, and proudly presenting Rachael to them, and then running off with a car and a tent when they're not looking. (Bron - 'we'll see...') We've learnt to make the most of the times of quiet, to treasure our moments together, and to value all the little things in life, but if anyone wants to come and do the washing up, that would be most appreciated. One day I'll do the garden.

Rachael is now 6 months old and can sit up unaided although it does pay to have a cushion behind her - just in case. She is a very alert girl, doesn't like to miss out on anything and woe betide if I want her to go to sleep while we are out!!. Being parents has certainly changed our lives a lot - more than we could have ever imagined. But it is very enjoyable and satisfying to see Rachael grow and develop.

A cold, wet and windy Christmas to you all. Off to New Zealand tomorrow.

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(after hearing the gory details:)

Everyone I know with kids is constantly shattered. Katie wants children, I have changed my mind. The responsibility and possibility of problems is more than me. Still, my thoughts are with you all.
Mark "Mickey" Streete

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(Moray's October Letter)

Hello everyone!

Just got back from a week's holiday, and as it's been a while since my last letter, I thought I would take the opportunity to write to you all again before getting stuck back into work. You know, I think this is almost the third anniversary of my joining OM. Doesn't time fly.

At work we still have plenty of new challenges to keep us busy. Petra is written in something called Progress, which we have just upgraded from Version 7 (old, out of date, obsolete, horrible) to Version 9 (brand-new, up to date, super, wonderful). It has lots of new features, and some really fascinating new bugs; now we have to decide which of the new features we should use for Petra Version 2. To this end I spent some weeks immersed in a 1400-page tome entitled "Programming Windows", learning the mysteries of the Windows Printer Driver. It's not as bad as it sounds - I didn't have to read the whole book, and some of it was even rather funny. It was still a relief, though, when I finally got my test program working properly and was able to emerge from the intense concentration.

For the holiday, I had a few days in Edinburgh with mum, then we went to Pitlochry, Scotland (as opposed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Those of you from my University days will get that reference - the rest of you are spared. Fortunately). We visited Birnam, famous for the downfall of Macbeth in 1057, and also where Beatrix Potter (no relation to Harry) spent much of her childhood and wrote some of her stories. We also saw three plays at the Festival Theatre: The Golden Years, Jimmy Logan in a one-man show tracing the career of Harry Lauder, John Buchan's The 39 Steps, played for laughs and extremely funny, and One For The Road, a thoroughly objectionable piece by Willy Russell - the least said about that one, the better. In case you were wondering, Harry Lauder was, at the beginning of the 20th century, the highest paid music-hall artist in the world.

The last bit of family news is that mum is buying a flat in Edinburgh, and will be selling the old family residence. She has been thinking about doing something like this since dad died, but earlier in the year the house was broken into while she was on her Far East cruise, and that was really the deciding factor. Selling the house is a bit of a wrench for me too: that has been a constant and stable point my whole life, but I am adjusting to the idea. After all, there are much better places from which to derive security than houses or addresses.

As I said in my last letter, I look forward to hearing how all of you are doing, and catching up on your news.

Shalom,

Moray

No apostrophes were misplaced during the production of this letter.

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(After Nick's company's share price dropped to 1p, and, um, stayed there...)

We've just had a drastic round of redundancies; the UK operation went from 183 to 140ish and our office now has 7 people with room for 30. It feels like a Sunday afternoon in here! We lost 7 wiremen and that leaves 3. Anyone got a job spare?
NickO

(After the Burnham Carnival, in which Tim attached a string of flashing LEDs to his Trombone. Not content with simple flashes, he wired them up to 16KB of memory chips and spent months inventing patterns...)

Another carnival over, another lip bust, another high speed coin in the Trossachs. Actually it went very well. The float was much smaller and homemade, so we didn't have to build, use and dismantle it in one day. Actually it took about 4 weeks' work, but well worth it. It's just a shame it wasn't in time for judging, as the hundreds of balloons, lights and ribbons made it quite spectacular. Even the generator lasted out! We didn't get to see much of the other floats, as we were all strung out and then collected at the far end of town, so as soon as floats completed the course, out went the lights, marchers got in coaches and we didn't get to play for passing floats. I think it was the best float I've been on, and we'll try to save the woodwork for next year. Anyone got room in a large shed they don't need...?
NickO