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  A Trip to Sacramento Kris and me at Bill's townhouse I t was the fall of 1986 and Kris's calendar was now filled with me! We were both working at Consilium in Mountain View. We held the same position, Software Development Engineer. We were in the same building with our offices just down the hall from each other. As a result we saw each other multiple times a day at work and we were spending most of our time away from the office together. O ne of our first getaways was a weekend trip to a place near Mendocino called the Little River Inn. I had been there a time or two in the past. As it turned out this was also a place Kris's dad Bill knew of. I decided to try to make it a more scenic, romantic drive by driving up Highway One. It would be longer, more of a 4 plus hour drive but we had time. Big mistake! Kris is someone who gets carsick easily and before long she was turning green. I had to drive slow as well as stop a couple of times. It didn't take ...

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive T he above title is a Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer song. Johnny recorded it with the Pied Pipers and released it in 1944. If you are familiar with the song maybe you know it through the Bing Crosby and Andrews Sisters version that was recorded and released a few months later. Unless you like Jazz vocals, pop 40's music, you may not know this song at all. However, this story is not about the song but rather more the message of the song. M y mom, who is 98 and still with us as of this writing, is a positive person. My mom is an encourager (is that a word?). She is always finding ways to compliment those she comes across. While she tries to like everyone, she struggles with people who are negative and she doesn't like hearing gossip. Like her, and from her, I became someone who will frequently tell people who are helpful when waiting or assisting me, like at the store or an office of some kind, that they are doing a good job. I was ...