28 Kendall St.,
      Charlestown NSW 2290
      15th. December 1996
     

Dear People,

      By popular demand, the Cashin Letter returns. My mum Vera died 22nd July this year aged 79. The last couple of these letters I mentioned her deteriorating condition - she had something akin to Alzeihmers and was unable to communicate or do anything for the last few months of her life. I prefer to remember her as she was up to recent years, a quick minded and active lady - I hope those of you who met her remember her similarly - may she rest peacefully.

      A friend remarked that when both your parents have died, you are next cab off the rank. And I confess that when considering the inevitable, taxes used to loom much larger than death in my thinking. But mum's passing has started me mulling over mortality and why we are all here. Well, I haven't got the answer and I haven't become a born again Christian but there may be a purpose and maybe there's a creator who knows what it is. In past times some put their faith in Nature and some in Jesus, and they both celebrated Christmas (the Christians adopted the old midwinter festival). So whatever our faith we can join the celebration - a time of sharing, of reflection and of planning. Season's greetings to you all and best wishes for the future.

      The past two years have been pretty good for us. No earth shaking events (pun) but a solid suburban existence. The main record of our doings is the kitchen calendar, and 1995 was "Advanced French for Exceptional Cats" with gems like 'The most delicious water is invariably found in the toilet bowl - on trouvera toujours l'eau la plus délectable dans la cuvette des toilettes'. Exceptional in survival, Klu the cat is still with us - he survived a tick attack last year and has been fine apart from that. Nicole now looks after him and it seems a satisfactory arrangement to them both. He doesn't drink the toilet water but does do nasty things to slow birds - delightful as cats are, I think I'd agree with the man who wants a cat free Australia by 2020, they are not kind to the wildlife.

      French is still with us also. Joanne is doing it at Newcastle Uni as part of an arts/psychology degree. In May 1995 she went to Noumea for two weeks in a school exchange. We had two Noumeans in the return visit the following October. 1995 was Joanne's HSC year but she was studying so well that a couple of weeks away didn't seem to be a problem. However, it unsettled her and for the rest of the year she lost interest did the bare minimum study. We had words about it, and I said if she didn't work harder I considered she was not interested in further education and would not pay for her to go to uni. She did well in the HSC with a TER around 85, but we know she could have done a lot better so I carried out the threat and stopped her allowances. But this did not deter her, she enrolled and is paying her way with whatever work that comes her way, mainly baby sitting.

      She is still at home although I think if she got a reasonably paying job she would leave. She is now 19 and has a steady boyfriend Grant (as steady as Joanne lets it be). Perhaps the fact she is now in control of her own destiny has been beneficial, her end of year results are High distinction in French and in Linguistics, Distinction in Psychology and a credit in an information systems subject (so exciting she hasn't even remembered the name). The only problem is that she's decided she doesn't really want to be a psychologist. She's toying with the idea of taking a year off, do some work and think about it. But there's nothing definite so stay tuned folks.

      Sandra moved out earlier this year. She has moved in with her boyfriend Leif in a flat near the uni and so far the arrangement seems to be working out very well. He is polite, intelligent, hard working, tall and good looking. There's got to be something wrong with him, but so far I haven't found out what it is. He comes from near Macksville and is studying Elec Eng/Comp Sci on a cadetship from Transgrid, a power company . Sandra is now in the second year of an Arts/Law course. She had 4 Distinctions last year and looks like getting Credits in her two Japanese subjects and a Distinction in Torts, and has passed the other subject (it's about comparing religions but I'm not sure of the name) on course work although she hasn't got the exam results yet. Next year she will do 2 more law subjects and two third year Japanese subjects, which will be enough to complete an Arts degree.

      Last year was pretty rough for Sandra, she started with a new boyfriend Ben, and the relationship had its ups and downs. Then Ben was diagnosed with leukemia. Fortunately, he has pulled through it and has made what looks like a 100% recovery after undergoing chemotherapy. Sandra stayed with him through the whole affair even though I believe she was about to make a break before the leukemia was discovered. The break finally came after Ben completed the therapy and looked like making a full recovery. As Ben said, if you're going to have leukemia, this was the best type to have as the cure rate is very high. Perhaps it is the effect of worrying about someone else's problems, but Sandra has been reasonably healthy although she still has troubles with her chest getting infected.

      In the 1994 letter, Nicole was still in the USA. She returned Jan 95 to start high school and has slotted back into the Charlestown scene with hardly a ripple. She was only 6½ when we moved to Newcastle, so now has spent most of her life here. Perhaps the biggest disruption was her best friend Michelle went to a different high school. Michelle was going to the same primary school because her mother was working nearby, but mum's work moved so Michelle went to a high school near her home. There were many weekend meetings and the friendship continued apace. A much bigger rift occurred when Michelle's family moved to Melbourne this year - but Nicole has managed a train trip down there for the July school holidays. They still write and have the occasional phone call so maybe friendship conquers all.

      Despite $1200 of Russian coaching in the USA, Nicole didn't make much progress in her gymnastics. Of course there were many other things to do, and $1200 bought only half the gym time that $200 did in Australia and that may have had something to do with it. When she returned to gym here, she wasn't as keen as before so she stuck it out to the end of year, passing her Level 6 and joining in the end of year display. Unfortunately to be a top gymnast you have to give up just about everything else and Nicole (sensibly) didn't want to do it.

      This year she had a go at soccer, and was doing well. But unfortunately none of her friends are playing soccer so she doesn't want to continue. It looks like sport and the junior Cashins are close to going their separate ways. Sandra had a brief flirt with karate in 1995, Joanne has done nothing, Beth went into the lowest level of competitive tennis in 1995 but quit at the end of year. We are pressuring Nicole to do one more year of some sport since all the others did something until they were 15 - but if she doesn't want to do anything there's no pointing in making her.

      Nicole is the latest, and perhaps the last to go through the braces on the teeth. Sandra and Joanne had them but Beth seems not to need them. The orthodontist uses coloured rubber bands to make the braces interesting and we have had blue and purple, then black and white, and now we have red and green for Christmas. It amazes me that the children tolerate all that metal but there seems to be some sort of status in having braces so there is hardly a whimper. Fortunately the BHP medical scheme covered most of the cost or we'd be even poorer.

      Academically both Beth and Nicole are doing well. Beth is ninth in year 10 and Nicole is third in year 8. That ain't bad when there is more than 200 in each year (Whitebridge High is a BIG school). They are both showing skills in all areas, Beth was first in Music, Nicole was first in History but they are doing OK in all subjects. Nicole hasn't the faintest idea what she wants to do (a familiar line) but Beth has settled on being something behind a movie camera - director, producer, sound, whatever. It's nice to have one child with a goal. She did work experience in the local ABC radio studios and loved it.

      Beth is turning into a very interesting person. She plays clarinet and sometimes saxophone in 4 different bands. There is a school jazz band and a school concert band. Also in 1994 Beth started by playing clarinet with the crochets and quavers which is a training band for the University of Newcastle Concert Band. This year she was invited to join the Concert Band. The CB is in a way a training band for the Uni Wind Orchestra as the CB is mainly composed of juniors (i.e. 18 or younger). It is a pleasure to go to the concerts. The standard of playing of the concert band is very good, they were Australian junior B grade band champions this year and will be competing in A grade next year. The wind orchestra can only be described as awesome - they were second in the Australian open A grade, beaten by 1 point out of 500 by Sydney City. To add to the pleasure, the conservatory concert hall is outstanding. It is visually pleasing and acoustically brilliant The designers started by designing an acoustically 'perfect' hall, then modified it until they could build it. This contrasts with most halls which are designed to look good then have acoustics retrofitted. It has won its designers quite a few awards.

      The fourth band Beth is involved in is an ensemble which is part of a theatre company called the Metropolitan Players. They have put on 'Billy', 'Singing in the Rain', and 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' over the last 18 months. This is a fairly intermittent happening, with long breaks then a couple of practices a week then a packed performance schedule. Most of the people involved are of uni age or older and it worried me that Beth might feel left out but she seems to fit right in there which is worrying when you consider she is only 15.

      Beth's clarinet teacher has pointed out that Beth's clarinet is a very good training instrument but not really up to the standard for the work she is doing. How much for a 'proper' clarinet ... oh about $1400 for a cheap one. Although we could probably scrape up the money, we didn't want to be seen to favour Beth over the others so suggested she might like to contribute. So 6 weeks later she announces that she has a part time job and so can we advance her the money and she'll pay us back. She is working about 8 hours at present each weekend in a hot bread shop, for about $50 week. I think the kid has us cornered, I just hope she can keep up the pace. She fits in a considerable diet of movies and TV shows so there must still be some slack time.

      Nicole opted to learn piano this year and has a very nice Russian teacher called Luba. She is developing very quickly but is refusing to do any performances or sit for any tests. That's fine by us as long as she is enjoying it. All the others had a bash at learning the piano but dropped it. She brings home some interesting scores, they are Luba's and all in Russian. The house can sometimes be very noisy - Poss watches the TV, I play guitar, Beth on the clarinet and Nicole on the piano. Not surprising Joanne goes out a lot.

      Poss had problems earlier this year, her blood iron levels were about 20% of what they should have been. She has been taking medication to get things back to normal and certainly she is fitter and happier but she feels things are not right yet and is going back for more tests. When she first went to the doctor, she was having trouble doing anything strenuous, she'd get puffed really easily. The doctor said the levels were the lowest he'd seen.

      Apart from that, Poss has been pretty much the same as ever. She abandoned us for 6 weeks in May/June to visit her sister Barbara in the USA. Poss had a great time and we managed fairly well but were extremely glad to see her back. The previous time we saw Barb was in March 1995 when we all went to Michelle's wedding (Barb's daughter) in Coffs Harbour, March '95. We're all going to get together at Michelle's place this Christmas, Barb and Gordon and their other children Kate and David are staying in Australia for a few weeks, Christmas with Michelle then travelling north to show the children some of the country. Kate is going to stay with us for 6 months after the others leave and will do the first half of year 7 at Whitebridge. This is a continuation of the children swap we have been doing for the last 12 years, ever since Michelle stayed with us in Armidale to go to NEGS. It will get us back to a full complement of 4 children for a while and we're wondering how Kate will take to being the youngest of 4 rather than the eldest of 2.

      Poss is still cleaning houses, ironing, playing tennis but is no longer involved in the school activities. She was very active in the primary school but we didn't 'click' with the parents at Whitebridge, they seemed a very closed group and so we haven't gone to the P&C meetings or otherwise been involved in that side of school life. We have been to all the parent/teacher nights, attended the presentations and gone to the concerts but left the organisation to those that want to do it.

      Having got away with a partial abandonment of the children in May, we did the full thing in November. The last two years we 'banked' our timeshare weeks then exchanged them for two weeks in resorts in Western Australia. Poss and I spent 6 weeks and 15,000km looking at W.A., neither of us had been west of Adelaide before. The children were offered the care of their grandparents but they opted to 'rough it' and managed very well. I gather things got a bit frayed round the edges at times but they claim it wasn't too hard.

      We followed the coast from Newcastle to Mt Gambier, then via Mannum on the Murray river to Port Lincoln, then across to Esperance, Ravensthorpe then via Wave rock to Mandurah for the first week of resort accomodation. We day tripped to Fremantle, Perth and some nearby timber country, after that we camped at Albany, Pemberton, Margaret River then north to Cervantes then another week at Kalbarri. A day trip to Monkey Mia, then a rush back via Kalgoorlie and the Dubbo zoo. It's starting to assume dreamlike properties already and we've only been back a week, however I have something like 200 photographs to prove we went so when I pose the innocent question 'would you like to see the photographs', be warned.

      It was a great experience and there really is too much to say to even start here, but in answer to the most commonly asked questions -- Did you stay friends; Yes - the car was fitted with a radio/cassette before we started which eased the conversation burden and we whiled away the time quite amicably except for one day when I put my foot in it: Did the car break down; Well sort of - the alternator failed but that was very much on the cards as it had been crook for a while and I was carrying a spare so we were held up for 2 hours while it was checked out and fitted. The Peugeot otherwise performed impeccably and has now done 420,000 km. [I must add I spent $1200 in preventative measures before we left to make sure that everything was up to the task - it might sound a lot but the benefits will live on, and it was cheaper than renting, flying or taking the train]

      While on the subject of cars, the Datsun 200B (now called 'the datto'), which Poss' brother left us, occupied much of my spare time in 1995 and was rebuilt and registered for about $2000. Both Joanne and Sandra have had their licences for over a year (Joanne was first, Sandra was deterred by her mishap in David's Jackaroo back in '94) and it was used by both of them until Sandra left, now Joanne uses it when she has the money to pay for petrol. It still needs one or two things doing (like the rear wheel bearings) but it is a good little runabout, and so far has been reliable. The Nissan Pulsar which I bought in 1995 from the auctions still has a death rattle when you start it, still chews up oil, but keeps on going. I was sure we'd be dropping in an exchange motor before now, but it seems to run just like it did when we bought it. Apart from that it has proved the ideal about town car and is OK for longer runs when we don't all go. The Peugeot should have been pensioned off but its ability to carry 6 people in comfort (or 2 people plus tent, tent poles, table and chairs, tennis racquets, wardrobes, gas cylinder, esky, food box, tool box, and kitchen sink) makes it a very difficult car to replace. I fitted a 48 inch by 30 inch desk in it recently (and closed the hatch) - you can't do that it many of today's cars.

      There's not much to be said about me. I'm now the technical support for a world wide network of PCs running Windows NT which are the backbone of BHP's mail system. I occasionally get to travel but have been successful in showing that the machines can be managed remotely so do most of my work from my desk. I was lucky enough to get to Cairns last year, a pretty place. Apart from that it's mainly been Brisbane and Melbourne.

      I am rediscovering the guitar, thinking about buying a new one. I bought mine for $17 in Wollongong in 1968 and it was beaten up by the children when they were younger. I have also been fiddling with electronics more - trying to resurrect an old quadraphonic system and some old televisions. This has had mixed success, they all work more, but not properly. And I've told you about fixing the datto.

      Poss and I still play volleyball once a week. We are getting worse - the team has always been top or second on the ladder for years, and the last comp we were beaten into third place. Perhaps we're not worse, the competition is getting better. There's money prizes for the first two places and we've used that for an excuse to go out for dinner. We'll have to think of another excuse.

      Emma (my eldest daughter - 28 in Jan) is getting married in Feb. We keep in contact erratically, when I go to Melbourne I try to see her but sometimes it's down and back in a day and there isn't the time. She has been living with the same boyfriend for 7 years and it looked like a fairly permanent arrangement then last year she surprised us by leaving him and moving in with Todd (the intended). She was engaged in summer last year and said they were intending to marry in summer. I said that was a fairly short engagement but she said 'oh, not this summer, probably next summer'.

      Poss' parents sold up their house earlier this year and bought a 'mobile home' - a diesel van with table, bed, shower, toilet, sink etc. They finally embarked on 'the trip', working their way anticlockwise around Australia. Despite being dogged by rain (they should become commercial rain makers, it follows them everywhere when they holiday) they thought it was great and plan to do it all again next year. For the interrim, the 'house' is parked on Michelle's property which probably works out well. Norm and Dawn can look after the assorted animals any time Michelle and Peter want to get away for a day or two, otherwise they would be hard pressed to leave them. Apparently there is quite a menagerie, I guess I'll find out in 8 days (gosh is that how close Christmas is).

      I guess that takes us full circle. Best wishes again.