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Thu Mar 21 14:13 EST 1996
Business Trip Update, March 12-20, 1996

I'm back from my sojounrn around the country (San Jose, CA, and
Bethesda, MD) and happy to settle into the comfort of routine once
again even though I am very grateful for the punctuations of adventure
in my life.

As most of you know, I was scheduled to depart on March 8th but a
snow storm grounded me.  I rescheduled my flight to the 12th and made
a convincing request to someone to get my trip bumped up to first
class.  I really appreciated the attention but I am afraid that all
that luxury was lost on a commoner such as I am.  I tried a taste of
salmon and didn't like it because it tasted too fishy.  (If you don't
think I see the humor in that statement, you're mistaken.)  I knew
what the slobs in cattle class were getting and wished I had their
chips and plain meat sandwich.  What I like best about first class was
the hot, damp washcloth on descent; it changes a person's whole attitude
after a 6-hour flight on a 757.

I only had Tuesday afternoon for sightseeing out west this time so
a friend and I drove about the San Francisco coast getting as many
southern views of the Golden Gate bridge as one can see.  At the end
we wondered what the big attraction was to a traffic conveyance if
not the surrounding country and turbulent tides in and around Alcatraz
Island.  (Wish I'd had time to see it.)  We met up with some other
colleagues at an embarrassingly expensive restaurant called the
Cliff House overlooking the Pacific Ocean at sunset.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were pretty much business.  However,
on Wednesday evening the entire Tech Pubs community got together for
dinner at a hotel and put on a for-fun awards ceremony.  With a bit
of fanfare, the announcer for our group called me up to the front
to bestow my award upon me: a green elf's hat with feather to
indicate that like Peter Pan, I've taken a vow never to grow up.

Saturday morning I was on a 747 bound for Washington DC's Dulles
Airport.  I was impressed by 10 seats across and wide screen (silent)
movies.  (You pay $4 to hear the movie on headphones.)  I picked
up a rental car (Dodge Stratus) that they said would be green but was
beige (at best).  It was a bigger car than the Mercury Topaz I had in
San Jose but not better.

Now since I didn't stay in a hotel while on company business, I was
permitted to buy a meal for my host family while I stayed with them.
I stayed with David and Lynn Shaw and their four lovely children -
growing up to be very talented young men and women, I might add.
When we ordered takeout food (mainly for the kids) I ordered enough
for lots of leftovers, but I was able to take mom and dad out on
Monday night to a Japanese restaurant (also embarrassingly expensive)
where our food was prepared before our eyes.

On Wednesday morning, I headed towards the conference for the
final morning of talks, of which I was mildly interested in only
one which would last for about 15 minutes.  Traffic around the
Washington beltway was particularly thick and the radio reported
an accident in Maryland, perhaps near where I was going.  I decided
to head towards Virginia and Dulles airport to see if I could get an
earlier flight home.  I did and thankfully, my ride (Dennis Scott)
was able to pick me up earlier than we first agreed upon.  He brought
me home and I walked in the door at around 2pm and asked if it was
okay if I came home early.  Joy and Mandy sat on the couch at a momentary
loss for words and then blurted out "what are you doing here?"

Joy got up and gave me a big hug.  I told her that I had more luggage
to get from the car and that she'd have to let go for a minute or two.
She told the kids to get my bags; she wasn't letting go.

I brought home yo-yos for the kids and Northern Reflections clothing
for my wife.  Dad's a hero once again! and I done good on the clothes,
too.  I am happy to report that my wife is feeling much better and seems
to be about fully recovered from her surgery of February 29th.  Make
that "very happy to report..."

It will take me a while to get through email of the past week and a half
so if I respond way out of context, I'll try and explain myself.

It's good to be home and back online.

Mark
       __________
     .'----------`.                        .-----------------------------.
     | .--------. |                        | Mark Metcalfe               |
     | |########| |            __________  | Cadence Design Systems, Inc.|
     | |########| |           /__________\ | 270 Billerica Roads MS04    |
.----| `--------' |----,------|    --=-- |-| Chelmsford, MA 01824        |
|    `----,-.-----'    \_0_,  |o ======  | | (508) 446-6451              |
|   ______|_|_______     M    |__________| | metcalfe@cadence.com        |
|  /  %%%%%%%%%%%%  \   .|\.               |=============================|
| /  %%%%%%%%%%%%%%  \                     |  @  @  @  @  @  @  @  @  @  |
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^                     |                             |
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