Subject: Weekend Update: June 22-24, 2001
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 14:28:28 -0400
From: Mark Metcalfe <metcalfe>
Organization: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

On the road again.  Do I like to travel?  Yes, I do.  Do I like to be
away from Joy and the family?  No, I do not.  How do I reconcile the
two?  I do not reconcile them.  Some people say that "absence makes
the heart grow fonder" and others say that "absence makes the fond
heart wander."  If I felt the latter rather than the former, I wouldn't
travel.  But there is something to be said for the change of
environment;
being away from home base, left to one's own devices.  This is not to
say that I am scrounging to survive when the choices I have to make
for myself include which restaurant I want to go to, and what should
I do with my free time (if I get some).  I am a gregarious fellow, as
you well know, and I am seldom alone, even on these business trips.
The exception is the not-quite-monastic refuge of my hotel room.  I do
find the time away to be an opportunity for better reflection because
atypical surroundings heighten the awareness of such things that make
the heart grow fonder.  Just as a monastary draws out spiritual
revelations
from deprivations of the material world, I find that nightly restaurants
make "spaghetti at home" a welcome experience.  That sounds like a
rather
disjointed comparison, but the point is more about the change of pace
and
environment than it is the things we do.

I apologized to my neighbor on Saturday for continuing to hold his
ladder
hostage to the painting that still has not been completed on the spa
room.
As it turned out, I came to within two windows of completing a second
coat
of black. (Who would have thought that anyone would need TWO coats of
black?!)
He, being the better neighbor, told me not to worry about it.  The
weather
has been unsettled and the risk of rain has postponed successful
completion
of the painting project.  We also killed a portable phone last week by
leaving
it out in the rain.  Not the first phone we've fried.  But as long as
the
weather only threatens to rain, we're sure to get some folks coming over
to enjoy the Manor in the summertime.  This past weekend was no
exception
and we're looking forward to a busy summer.  (Let me repeat that: we are
looking FORWARD to a busy summer, with friends, family, and cousins.)
The fruit is coming out in force and we're hopeful (since I haven't
sprayed
anything; probably should have); organic lovers will enjoy!

We enjoyed a little bit of yard sailing on Saturday.  It takes me a few
stops
to get back into the groove of pouring over people's castaways and
walking
away without a purchase or guilt.  The guilt does wear off when you
realize that the stuff you buy would just become your own castaway.
Miranda, however, struck a bargain for an entertainment center,
orginally
bought at some swanky import store (so they told us), and was heavy as
the
dickens.  Luckily, the man of the house was around to sell it to a poor
college girl for $25.  The son told his dad that mom was going to kill
him (because she wanted at least $100).  So the key is not to leave the
guy in charge of the yard sale because he finds value in removing stuff
from the property.  It isn't about making money, is it, except to buy
pizza
and soda to celebrate what you no longer have to store in your attic and
garage.

Miranda has resumed her work on the barn murals, adding buildings and
figures that will make up the April-May portion of a year in painting.

Emily and Andrew finished school (successfully) last week but all the
kids have jobs throughout the summertime.  I am hoping to find a day or
two to take off for a family event (The Basin, Water Country,a Spinners
baseball game).  I wish we all had summers off.

Jessica has been to (Nazarene) General Assembly out in Indianapolis,
Indiana as a representative of the Nazarene Youth International.  She
should be home today and I want to hear how things went.  I wonder if
her heart grew fonder for home?

Mark
--
+---_-----------+ Mark Metcalfe, metcalfe@cadence.com
| c a d e n c e | Cadence Design Systems, Inc.    Phone: (978) 446-6451
+---------------+ PCB Systems Division, Technical Communications Manager