RE: Happy Summer Solstice!

[http://www.continuum_si.com/~robert (Red Hat Linux User)]

 > From: Mike McQueen <http://www.ix.netcom.com/~mmcqueen>
 > Date: Mon  Jun 22,  2:21pm
 >
 > Hi Robert,
 > 
 > Thanks for writing, I like being updated on whats going on in your life, 
 > and enjoy reading your letters, as always.  Sorry I write back so
 > rarely.  I'm really lame that way.  Not very good at keeping in touch.
 > 
 > I'm living down in Hayward these days, staying with a friend and his
 > family since November of last year.  I ended up bailing out of San Jose
 > in Sept. '96, I think; I was kind of burning out, and was just ending
 > one of those relationship-from-hells.  Don't know if you've ever had
 > one.  This was my first one.  It was a really painful experience, and
 > really truely insane at times.
 > 
 > So I sold a bunch of my stuff, put the rest in storage, bought a tent
 > and sleeping bag, and rode my bicycle to L.A.  Took about eight days.  I
 > have a brother down there, so I stayed with him for a month.  Then I
 > rented a car and headed back up to my parents in Des Moines (just south
 > of Seattle).  I ended up staying up there for a year.  Got a job at
 > Synergistic Software (a Sierra Online subsidiary) working on Front Page
 > Sports Football '98 (a PC game).  That lasted about six months.  Then I
 > got a contract at Microsoft, and that lasted a couple months.  Then, of
 > all things, I decided to ride my bike back to San Fran, although under a
 > bit better circumstances.  I guess I really enjoyed that ride to L.A.
 > Its really amazing the things you can learn about life, and just the
 > insight you get on a ride like that.
 > 
 > So I did it.  Took me almost 4 weeks, met some cool people on the way,
 > and I think I want to go to Australia and do a ride over there.  Some
 > guy I met (from Switzerland) had previously rode from Perth to Sydney
 > along the South Coast, about 8500 km, took him 8 1/2 months.  That
 > sounds *very* cool to me.  So, that was Sept. '97.  I got down here, got
 > a contract at a "startup" company in S.F., worked there 'till April,
 > took some time off, now I'm ready to get back to work, then maybe go for
 > another ride this winter.  We'll see.
 > 
 > Glad to hear about someone else into taking advantange of public
 > transportation.

Good for you!

 > I decided that while I like cars, and they are fun to
 > drive, they have significant negative side effects which currently
 > outweigh the benefits.  So, I don't own one.  I rode down here on a
 > bicycle, I sure as hell can get anywhere around here on my bicycle, as
 > well.  I take BART all the time, which allows bikes on the trains, and I
 > love it.  Keeps me in fairly good shape in my otherwise sedentary
 > occupation and lifestyle.
 > 
 > Good luck with your No Kidding! group.  Its not a cause I can personally
 > rally behind, because I hope to have kids someday, but if its something
 > you believe in its good to see you go after it and do something about
 > it, rather than just sitting around complaining about it, which is all
 > to common in so many people.

Yeah.  I'm going to be working on the web page.  It'll probably be ready
in a few days.

 > 
 > BTW, I'm a C++ programmer these days.  I know, I know, a simple
 > language, according to one of your previous posts a while back.  Maybe
 > so, but I guess I'm a simple person.  I really love this language, and
 > the way it is evolving (in particular templates, and the Standard
 > Template Library).  I'm still has happy as ever being a progammer.

Actually, I'm _C_ programming!  But, it's a great job 'cause I get to work
under Linux and I'm learning a great deal about system administration and
statistic analysis.

 > 
 > Anyway, enough for now.  Say 'HI' to Noelle for me,

Will do.

 > and I hope you are
 > able to endure the East Coast Mentality while still maintaining a
 > relatively high level of happiness.

Ugh, yeah.  I'm definitely not going to stay on the east coast for too long...

 > Mike McQueen
 > http://www.ix.netcom.com/~mmcqueen