723 Marsh Rd. #3 Menlo Park, CA 94025 December 16, 1990 Dear Friends and Family, This has been a quiet year for me; at least, as I come to the end of it, I find there is not much news to report. New friends move in to town and old ones move away, but I remain the same---missing those who have left my life, yet cherishing the memories, and grateful for those who come into it. In February I made a whirlwind three-day business trip to Boston and Pittsburgh to attend two meetings. The meetings were very productive, but I came back exhausted; I hope not to travel on such a tight schedule again. I didn't even have time to call my brother while I was in Boston. In March I spent a much more enjoyable three days in Seattle, attending a design review at the DEC site there, giving a talk at the University of Washington, and doing some sightseeing. I have a friend who worked a summer in Seattle and loves the city, so I got some good tips on what to see and where to eat from her. My mother came to visit me for two weeks in May, and we had a wonderful time together. She is still spry and energetic at 72. One highlight of her visit was a car trip to Yosemite, Mono Lake, and Lake Tahoe. Mom even did some hiking with me at Yosemite. We saw the park when all the trees were still green and lovely, before this year's fire. Another highlight was seeing "Les Miserables" in San Francisco. It is a fantastic show, a tremendous emotional experience. Don't miss it if it comes to your area! In July I once again spent a week at Bible Camp in the Sierra foothills. This year I served as counsellor for a group of high schoolers, and also as treasurer. It was a fun week, marred only by a bad ankle sprain that still bothers me at times. I spent most of November sick in bed with a lung infection. I came down with it late in October and spent a week in bed; then, thinking I was nearly over it, I girded my loins and went off to Houston, where I was on the program committee for the IEEE Workshop on Replicated Data, then on to Albuquerque to visit my old roommate Paul Veers, along with his wife Karen (also an old friend) and their two little girls. It was great to see them again, and I was telling stories about their kids for weeks. But I really hadn't been well enough to travel, and came back much worse; I didn't get back to work full time for two more weeks, and had to miss a Thanksgiving trip to Mexico that several of my friends had planned. My family are all well and happy, with no big news. I'm looking forward to seeing them all in Milwaukee from December 20-31; hopefully I'll see many friends (like you?) then too. Love in Christ,