Tim Mann 707 Leahy St. #127-C Redwood City, CA 94061 mann@pa.dec.com December 17, 1998 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, which is Christ the Lord." --Luke 2:11 Dear Friends and Family, I'm a bit late on all my Christmas preparations this year. I hope this card reaches you before Christmas Day. I came down with a nasty case of bronchitis the day before Thanksgiving, and I'm still recovering from it. For Thanksgiving dinner I had a solitary bowl of chicken soup instead of sharing a meal with friends, and I ended up missing two weeks of work. I'm definitely thankful for being in good health otherwise, though. Early this year I reached the fifth anniversary of finishing my cancer treatment. I've been cancer-free throughout those years, and I'm now considered "cured." Statistically, I'm now no more likely to get cancer again than the average person who has never had it before. I thought about throwing a party to celebrate, but didn't get around to it. Maybe I'll celebrate the sixth anniversary together with my 40th birthday next year. Anyway, what with missing Thanksgiving and my illness, I fell behind on a lot of things. Email, and the new Internet shopping services that have sprung up, were a Godsend for getting gift suggestions from my nieces and doing a lot of the actual shopping. I almost skipped putting up my Christmas tree, but I finally got to it this week. I finished decorating it yesterday and now have only until the 20th to enjoy it, when I leave for Milwaukee for a family get-together at my Mom's. I'll be there through Dec. 31st and hope to see my friends who are still in the area. My Mom's phone is 414-466-3082. At 80, Mom is still going strong. Most of the family trekked to Wisconsin Dells this August to celebrate her birthday with her. My brother rented a cottage on Lake Delton for a week, and the rest of us came to stay for whatever time we could. It was a nice reunion. The big excitement at work this year came when my company (Digital Equipment Corporation) was bought by Compaq. Compaq wanted to expand from being mostly a PC company to a full-line enterprise computing firm, and Digital had most of the missing pieces, so it was a good fit. Moreover, Digital had been struggling for years, with some good technology and good people, but poorly focused management. There have been a lot of layoffs around the company since the merger, but times have been good for the research labs. Advanced research was definitely one of the missing pieces that Compaq was looking for, so we were spared layoffs except for a few support positions, and our management has been kept intact as well. So far contacts with the new parts of the company have been exciting and have led to some interesting new research projects being started. May the blessings of Christ be with you both now and throughout the year. Love,