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The Woodhead Gnus |
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www.koalacomputers.com and www.aogusma.org/soc/tallahassee |
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The Woodhead Gnus |
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www.koalacomputers.com and www.aogusma.org/soc/tallahassee |
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Patches and Kevin are still operating out
of the Florida Panhandle in Tallahassee, Florida. Althea is operating out of Chandler Arizona
(near Phoenix)
In 2006, Intel (where Althea works),
decided to cut 10% of its work force. Althea survived the first round of cuts, but
everyone was told to look forward to round-two during 2007.
Early in 2007, Althea took the
opportunity to have her all of her wisdom teeth extracted. Obviously, employees with LESS wisdom is
exactly what Intel is looking for in employees, because in June 2007, Althea
survived round two of “Intel Survivor” and was not asked to leave the island. While she was having her teeth extracted,
Kevin took time off from work to spend time with her while she
recuperated. It was not (as some have
suggested) that he spent the time with her hoping her jaw would be too sore for
her to talk!
Since recuperating and regaining the
power of speech, she took on an assignment at Intel as a System Engineer. Since she is, by training, a programmer, this
meant she now enjoyed the opportunity to ask operating system type questions of
her husband.
Most of the work Kevin has been doing for
the last two years has been Email Archiving software. Due to the need to be able to perform legal
discovery on email messages or for regulatory compliance, more companies are
installing specialized software.
The company I worked for (MTI) was a
‘partner’ of two companies that have competing software that does the same
thing.
EMC makes EmailXtender, and Symantec
makes Enterprise Vault. Both will store,
index and search email that is sent or received by a company. Fortunately, I just install and configure the
software – someone else convinces the client which software package to
purchase.
The unfortunate side of my ‘portion’ of
the implementation is that many times the ‘sales’ engineers do not tell the
customer ‘the rest of the story’.
When I show up (or better – from my
standpoint, speak with the customer BEFORE showing up) I am the one that gets
to tell the customer what hardware and other software they will need in order
to implement the ‘solution’ they have purchased. Many times this is thousands of dollars MORE
than the client anticipated.
Imagine if you had just purchased a boat
from the dealer. When you show up to
take delivery, the mechanic tells you that you will have to purchase a trailer
and tow the trailer and boat with a car. You exclaim – the salesman never told
me I would have to buy a trailer or have a car!
So now you have a boat you cannot use unless you get a trailer (to get
the boat to the water) and a car to tow the trailer and boat.
In August, Nordica Tasha (NT) passed
away. She was very ill. Her liver was failing and she had lower back
problems that made it difficult for her to stand and walk. She was a good companion and I hope she felt
she had a good life with Althea and myself.
In October, things got rather
tumultuous. Kevin was at a client site
in Washington DC. He was notified there
would be a company-wide conference call on Thursday evening. Thursday evening, he learned that when he
arrived home late Friday evening, there would be a Fedex package waiting. MTI (the company Kevin worked for) had
declared bankruptcy. All employees were
terminated immediately. Obviously, this
did not distract Kevin from my work at the client site on Friday… (SUUURREEE!) Actually, on Friday, he received three
employment offers and got a call from Symantec asking him to work for Symantec
directly. Kevin had a job in hand before
he even received the official termination letter.
I now work for a company called Pacific
Software Association (PSA). ‘They’ are located in Oregon. I am still operating out of Tallahassee. The company is trying to open up work in both
Tallahassee and Phoenix. So I am doing
the same thing I was doing for MTI, but with a little less travel and 20% more
money. As a parting shot however, I did
receive a letter notifying me that I was still bound by my ‘non-compete’
agreement. Yep – I am not allowed to
work for a competitor to a company that no longer exists…. I was not the only
former employee of MTI to receive this letter.
Other PSA employees received the same letter. So PSA is now looking to purchase the
remaining MTI assets, so they can go after the company that really sent out the
letters claiming THEY are in violation. (truth is sometimes stranger than
fiction. And sometimes I am stranger
than both!)
In November, Althea and Kevin were able
to spend some time together on the East coast.
They spent Thanksgiving together in Orlando. The story and photos can be reached via a
link on www.koalacomputers.com. They hope to spend Christmas together in
Phoenix (actually Gilbert, AZ). At that
time, they will be celebrating their 3d anniversary!
Other
Affiliates:
Montgomery,
AL:
Tami writes:
As of this Saturday Scott will be working full time at
Publix in the Grocery/Stock Dept. Almost what he is making at the factory
with a raise every 6-12 months, plus stock, 5 paid holidays for not working,
extra pay for those holidays we do
work and every 3 months a retail bonus. Health ins. is much better also.
Travel time 3 minutes and I can go back and forth to work on one tank of gas
for almost 3 weeks.
The part time job at the Shakespeare Theater will be
ending at the end of this month..I worked 10-12 hours per week for little money
but get 2 tickets per play for free and 4 at discounted prices. It will start
again in March when the "busy" season begins. Some weekends there
will be 3 plays at one time. During Jan, Feb and March they will only be
doing one show "Pooh" and only for kids during the day. We saw
Pete Pan the other night and it was great. I have met most of the actors
and really like them so it was great to see the show from start to finish w/o
having to work the show. If any of you are headed this way let us know if you
will be here so we can get tickets and time off.
I fell asleep with a pot of chicken on the stove and
now the house smells to high heavens. Thank goodness it is 75 out and
sunny...we have all the windows open.
As for addresses this is the latest I have...please
let me know any corrections that need to be made:
318 Buckingham Ave
Syracuse, NY 13210
12418 110th Lane NE
G102
Kirkland, WA 98034
26258 Gamboa St.
Hayward, CA 94544
3617 S. Lakewood Dr.
Tallahassee, FL 32305
3134 S Market Street
Azul at Spectrum
Apartment 2022
Gilbert, AZ 85296
Tami
appears to be on the fast-track into Management. They rescued a dog name Willie. Willie now spends his time barking at
everyone who comes to visit and then gossiping with the neighbor dogs through
the back fence.
Kirkland,
WA:
Craig write -
On Sunday I ran my 9th half marathon of the
year. It was Seattle, and I paced my friend Andy to his best time
ever. This weekend I am running Vegas with my friends too. My
girlfriend is doing her first half marathon. That will be it for
me this year. 10-half's and 1-Full marathon.
I included pictures of us at the finish line as well
as a picture of us at a formal event. She continues to tell me how bad
running is for me. (She is an orthopedic surgeon)
The broken bone n my pelvic region healed pretty well,
although I didn't take the "required" 6-week vacation from sporting
events)
I am back to playing soccer and ice hockey.
Next year the goal is to run 12 half marathons in
several different states. The ultimate goal is 50 states.
(currently Florida-New York – Washington - Canada (ok it isn't a state) –
Ohio -Kentucky)
Still volunteering with Habitat for Humanity (although
I would never live in a house I helped build), Volunteering at Christmas with
Monica at a soup kitchen. (do that almost every year)
Next year I would like to do more volunteer
work. A woman I dated for a bit did some work with special needs kids,
and it is something I plan on looking into. You basically mentor them and
take them hiking, skiing, camping, etc. It sounds right up my alley.
Aside from that, nothing really new is going on
here. It has been pretty quiet.
My
hockey team has its own website. www.squidshockeyclub.com
Have
a good one.
In January, Craig will be flying to Phoenix to check Arizona off his
list. While there he will be staying
with Kevin and Althea.
Mary is on Line
Becky writes:
Things are going well.
I did buy a house in the SU area. It's great. I'm in the
process of settling in and unpacking. If you're ever in the Syracuse area,
you're welcome to stay with me. The address is:
318 Buckingham Ave
Syracuse, NY 13210
The boys are doing well. Chris is a JR. at Hartwick, he's
majoring in biochemistry. He will be off to Prague for January term and hopes
to earn a scholarship back to Thailand for the summer to work on his Sr. paper.
Ed is working at BOCES, in the print department. He's deciding what he would
like to do next. At the moment he's making good money and working full time, so
maybe next year he'll be ready to decide what he wants to do next.
North
Carolina: The Marshalls of North
Carolina (Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Dale to many of the readers…) are doing
well. They are settling into the role of
doting grandparents well. They also went
on a cruise as a means of getting together with family members.
Internet and
photos:
The editor can be reached at:
kevinbwood@koalacomputers.com
for comments and corrections to stories.
Also, let him know what is going on in your lives so he can include it
in the next exciting newsletter.
This newsletter (and photos and other articles) can be
read on-line via links on the web page:
The editor is also the Web Master for the West Point
Society of Tallahassee. For additional
news and photos, go to
www.aogusma.org/soc/tallahassee/newsletter.htm
Regularly as it is updated monthly and is
another great source of news.