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At the bottom on the left is an alphabetical list of the pages in this web site, to help you navigate if you feel so inclined. A guide to our family journal from 2008 on is here. A guide to the photo album covering 1994-2007 is here. A guide to our family time-line is here.
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2002: getting older We're not really sure why, but somehow 2002 did not merit an annual update. We started writing one in mid-December, but never finished and sent our Holiday wishes without it. Oh well: no big deal. But its absence does now oblige us to locate a few of the year's events to insert here. Organizing the various summer vacations was a challenge, as it has been most of our time together. The older children need time with their respective other parent, and court orders have a tendency to decide when rather bluntly. Ian has professional commitments and cannot spend as long away from home as can the rest of the household. Here's the schedule that we prepared in 2002 to keep track of everyone:
But once the organizing was done, well now that was a whole different kettle of fish!
The other even that sticks out from 2002 is Ian's turning 50. This only occurs once in a lifetime, fortunately, and so we decided to celebrate that this would be the only time it occurred! The party is portrayed here, but here's a photo that didn't make it on to that page: Alex conked out on the floor of the living room as the musicians played on! We did not have a lot of visitors in 2002, but here is Claude, who came all the way from Paris, on the pier. In Santa Cruz, they call it a wharf.
Finally, a Memorandum from the bad side of Silicon Valley. You've all heard about the good side, the fabulous entrepreneurial energy here, the quick-witted techies reinventing our favorite gadgets year in year out, popularizing semiconductors and now the internet: there's a whole lot of creative energy, a lot of smart people doing interesting things. But there's also coping with the inevitable cycles of business, the good ideas that don't quite make it, and here that can be harsh. This Memorandum, received in the build-up to Christmas 2002, is a relatively muted example of that harshness. Hundreds of this particular chip company's employees had already been laid off as the company tried to cope with a 30-40% drop in gross sales in the space of a year, and now those that remained were told to make their much easier contribution. Still, being docked a week's pay is not fun. To: All San Jose Vice Presidents & Directors From: Human Resources Re: Unpaid Time Off Requirement Date: October 9, 2002 Chip company is continuing to seek ways in which to reduce costs during the current economic slump. To that end, chip company is requiring all employees to take 40 hours of unpaid time off by the end of 2002. In order to comply with California state employment laws, exempt employees must take an entire 40 hour week (Monday-Friday) off without pay. Non-exempt employees may work with their supervisors to arrange a mutually agreeable schedule, as long as they meet the 40 hour requirement by the end of the year. Employees whose 40 hours of unpaid time include a company holiday will not be paid for that holiday. Employees will not be allowed to utilize sick, vacation or PTO in lieu of unpaid time. There are no exceptions to this requirement. Please meet and communicate this requirement with your employees as soon as possible, schedule their time off and provide the schedule to ____________ in Payroll by October 18, 2002. We appreciate the difficulty and disappointment inherent in this directive. If you would prefer to have someone from the HR department in attendance when you present this information to your department, please contact _______, or _______________. Here is is our carousel of time, and here are other annual updates: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
