September 5, 2000
Hi Folks,
It’s been a long time since you’ve heard what’s happening up here in the NorthWest. I’m not a letter writer, so perhaps you can excuse the computer I use to help me.
I have been teaching software for a company called Ramco Training. I specialize in Web and Internet classes but also teach the office software from Microsoft. I like my job very much, it allows me to see immediate results as students learn and apply the lessons. It also puts me on center stage, where I give an 8-hour show. The better I do, the more the audience retains and enjoys the learning experience. I am “evaluated” by the students and am very proud to receive a high number of evaluations with glowing compliments. We teach small public classes and large company classes for places like The Boeing Company & City of Seattle.
In addition to working with Ramco 3 to 4 days a week I continue to operate a small Internet Web Development company called iDEAS –which is short for: Internet Development & Electronic Advertising Services. I have had this business since ’95 and enjoy building Web Sites for small and large companies. I have a couple impressive accounts like The City of Woodinville, City of Kenmore, and Strategic Resources but, my most successful is probably brother Duncan’s business web site called KegWorld out of Las Vegas. They have been selling nationally and internationally using the web since late ’95. I now have a friend & business partner doing most of the HTML creation and I am doing mostly customer sales and relations, so the little business is growing, but not by leaps and bounds, just baby steps. I am reluctant to leave Ramco, I like the work, it pays very well, and it is my security blanket.
Dulane (Dee), was working with a small software company until just recently. She helped them develop their business for 3 years and was a key employee throughout that time. In fact, for the longest time she was t he only one who knew how to operate their software! Not even the owners could operate it, although they understood what it did, and could do, they just didn’t know how to actually run the software. Dee lost her mother recently and has spent uncountable hours sorting through legal debris as the executrix of the estate. It has not been a pleasant task but the end result has allowed her to leave the software company and pursue other interests independent of the confines of a 9 to 5. We don’t know where this will lead, but will enjoy the adventure.
We have a large mobile home on a shy acre just 2 ½ minutes from 2 major freeways and the 3main local thoroughfares. Our home has 31 years of history with the last 12 years or so without much care, so it is rather overgrown. We nicknamed it the Tanglewoods. The Tanglewoods is thick with lush greenery and was once quite the showplace. We are hoping to build a new house here soon, mostly because the mobile home is simply giving up the ghost. The other reason, due to Dulane’s recent financial independence is that we could build a house here and sell it at a rather large profit and move out of the Seattle area to a more relaxed atmosphere. These are things we are currently deliberating, and we don’t know which way the cards will fall quite yet. Building is such a huge undertaking and there are so many pluses and minuses that only time will tell. Then there is moving; like where and how to make a living!
Dulane and I have enjoyed some great trips together and we hope to make a few more in the near future. The fall through spring weather here in Washington is mostly dreary and drizzly for months at a time and that is when we yearn for a “sun break”. We’ve backpacked and camped through Belize in Central America where we visited Mayan ruins, slept in the midst of deep jungle (the jungle voices are incredible at night!), and snorkeled off the coast on the barrier reef. Belize was a great adventure. The people spoke English and used US currency so it was very easy to get around. Another super sunspot was Cabo San Lucas where tourists abound. To avoid spending a year’s income we went backpacking and camping – saved a ton of money and had a super time. Every couple years I have been able to make a trip back to Las Vegas to soak up some sun and visit with relatives and old friends. During the summer months here in Washington we find more great things to do than time allows. The West Coast is fantastic and offers so much. I’m very involved with the Moto Guzzi motorcycle groups locally and internationally and usually take 1 or 2 major motorcycle trips each year. Last year was a big trip to New Mexico, this year was to Virginia, next year is California and in 2003 our local club is hosting the National Moto Guzzi Rally here in Washington. I run an international Moto Guzzi e-mail correspondence group and also run the main Moto Guzzi classified ads on the Internet. Because of all that involvement I’ve been fortunate to make motorcycle friends around the world. Other than that we try to attend music festivals, which have become sort of a family affair.
Son Josh will be 23 this year! I can’t believe it. It is a pretty sure thing he and a lovely girl named Katie Horner will be married before the end of the year. Josh is busy developing a career in the shipping transportation industry and Katie has been creating quite a winning reputation as a pro horse trainer. I think they will have a very happy and enjoyable relationship. It’s pretty hard to describe our family ties. As it turns out other families have adopted Josh and I. Katie’s family has been wonderful, inspirational, and supportive of Josh and all he strives to accomplish. It is comforting to know he has the Horner family to call his own. Dulane and her disjointed family has captured my family spirit and I believe they all consider me apart of “the family”. They don’t have a real defined family like the Horner’s’ because of split relation. Never the less, I have discovered a group of related and non related individuals who have created a “family” in every sense of the term.
On
the
web
I
can
share
information,
pictures,
ideas,
programs,
music,
etc.
Anyhow,
here
are
some
addresses
if
you
get
online:
www.Inet-Rendezvous.com/pops
My
email
is:
WebMaster@Inet-Rendezvous.com
Home
is:
4706
208th
ST
SE
Bothell,
WA
98012
800-545-7407
See
Ya,