28 Kendall St.,
      Charlestown NSW 2290
      11th. December 2000
     

Dear People,

      Hope this annual outpouring finds you all in good health and even better spirit. Now we've got the millenium out of the way we've all been Getting On With It. (Mistakenly it seems ... that ultimate authority on timekeeping, the US Naval Observatory, says no - go party even harder this New Year as most of you Got It Wrong and really 2001 is the start of the millenium). I for one am with the USNO as last New Year was DEAD BORING. A small army of IT specialists cost the public an obscene amount of money to sit on their ... and watch clocks tick over to 2000. Through several feet of concrete wall we privileged? few heard the distant cries of delight as more ordinary folk went about doing what we all should have done and enjoying themselves. Come 31st December it's catch up time for some of us.

      What couldn't be said last year is BHP has divested its IT division, we now all work for CSC (computer science corporation), the Australian arm is 6000 of a worldwide 60000 employees. It's not proven to be a good thing yet, but it's too early to judge if it was a wise step. The Australian CSC arm has grown threefold in 18 months and is having growing pains. Work for me is not the same old same old, but it's not that different either. You can't be in the IT industry and not accept change - it is the most ephemeral business. It is reasonable to think that of systems created in 1990, perhaps 2% are still productive. It's doubtful if anything created 25 years ago survives unchanged. So we'll go with the flow and see where things are next year. As my responsibilities leave home the prospect of not having a job begins to appeal. I guess I'm going to be a winner whatever happens.

      On the home front, another fledgingling has spread the wings, Beth has moved out and lives in a house with 3 other people, 7 video recorders, an amplifier in every room including the bathroom, and a backyard of car shells. She probably feels quite at home. She's not really happy with her course, I haven't heard how she's done but if she follows after her older siblings, there's a change afoot. But she was the only one with a clear notion of what she wanted to do, so it will probably be in the same area, video, photography, etc. She's had a change of boyfriend, a bit of a surprise as she's had the same one for many years. She's also dropped out of serious clarinet playing, she hasn't as much free time now she's looking after herself.

      Nicole is the unlucky last at home, tolerating the parents as they degenerate down the hill of crabbiness to the valley of senility - well, I think that's what she thinks but who can fathom the female teenage mind. But there's no indication of her giving up the soft touch of living with the olds just yet. The HSC was a trial, some histrionics but since it is the last time Poss and I could have survived much worse. There's no expectation the results will be good or bad, Nicole does as much work as is needed, there's more important things in life than study. It's mainly music, looks and books, there doesn't seem to be any boyfriend in sight, not sure if that's good or bad.

      Poss's parents and brother David have given up Darwin block life for a more suburban existence. They've moved to Woodruffe which is near Palmerston (the population centre of Darwin). David will not get back proper use of his feet, and is having trouble finding suitable work. There's a possibility he will land a job loading cartridges for police guns. It seems the mandatory police training sessions use up a lot of ammunition, so it is a full time job supplying enough bullets. The guy that did it before is leaving the job, David has experience and it is something he doesn't need to walk for and that's not easy to find. Norm and Dawn are doing OK, it seems each few months the doctors find something wrong with Norm and fix it better than before. New ears, knees, eyes, look out Steve Austin. We haven't seen them for nearly two years, but Dawn is a prolific correspondent, and Poss makes full use of the cheaper phone rates so we keep in touch.

      The 'Sandra and Joanne' house seems to be working out, if not the way it was first envisioned. That's too complicated to put in a letter, something to talk about over dinner one night. The girls have paid their way and the house has been little trouble. There's been the usual little things like a small leak in the roof, a leaky water pipe, the hot water service failing but no dramas. Poss insisted the stove should be replaced, and that's been done but apart from that it's been quite functional and bit of a success.

      Sandra is nearing the end of her second degree, did really well in her mid-years with top of the class in three of her subjects. One of those results gained her a $500 prize which I believe went mainly on books. She plans next year to be a part time student, studying accountancy. She will also look for part time work, but where and doing what is still a topic of discussion. It'll be in the next year's letter (sometimes I feel I'm writing the script of a once a year soapy). Her social life has picked up, her 'steady' is a mature age student who taught for a couple of years, then went back to do law. Sandra is a year ahead academically, but one feels that Adam is leading the way socially. So there's balance in there somewhere.

      Joanne and Scott are still together, they are off to Tasmania early next year for a holiday. She has done well at the librarian course, it will be only a matter of time until she gets work in that area. There are many trained people looking for work so she has to join the casual brigade, learn the trade, work her way into a permanent position. There's no doubt she will succeed, she has been doing work experience and everyone is impressed with her ability and work ethic. In the meantime she is still working at the garage although it seems it's getting her down a bit. She's trying to get out of the early morning shift, she has been getting up before 5am two mornings a week. She also completed her uni subject in linguistics, with High Distinction and plans to do another subject next semester.

      Poss and I don't seem to have changed much since last year, Poss's tennis day folded but she is working most days so I think appreciates the time to herself during the week. She, I and Sandra are still playing volleyball Friday evenings (well, it bears some resemblance to the real thing). One of the team is an ex BHP IT person who took the opportunity to leave when the division was sold, so it gives us a chance to catch up with him. We are also part of a group who are working to restore rainforest to Kooragang Island, it is a large Island in the Hunter river with a few small rainforest remnants but was almost totally cleared for farming. We get along about 2 months out of 3 on a Sunday, mainly tree planting. The results are very encouraging, the project is now 10 years old and some of the older regeneration is starting to look distinctly feral. Another 10 years and it should start to resemble the original areas. In total about 50,000 trees are planted, but we probably need to plant 200,000 before the ecosystem gains critical mass and doesn't need any looking after. That won't take 40 years, the project spent about 5 years reaching its critical mass, we probably planted 12,000 trees this year.

      In March Poss and I spent nearly three weeks in Tasmania. Poss has wanted to go for eons, I've resisted on the basis of who wants to go to a place where it is known to snow in January, I left Armidale to get away from the cold. But now we've seen all the other states I didn't have a chance, went on the ferry with the car and saw most of the easy sites. It is a beautiful place, the weather was almost perfect, could have spent an extra week checking out the east coast. I can now see why the greens are so passionate about it, the west coast is so rugged and scenic, a walker's dream if the weather is right.

      No sooner had we returned (or so it seemed, it was the end of May), and Poss was off to the US of A to surprise her sister for her 50th birthday. She stayed two weeks, wanted to go for only one but if you go that far it seems insane to race back [and it gives the blood clots a chance to disperse?]. Then we spent a week in Coolangatta at the time share in July. Nicole went ahead of us and spent a week with her Melbourne (ex Newcastle) friend Michelle at the Gold Coast, the next week with us. The Uni holidays and the time share week didn't coincide so although the others wanted to come they were disappointed. We have organised in 2001 to go in the university holidays (no more shoolkids - yipee) and stay at a different resort in the Gold Coast just for a change.

      Can’t finish without a renovation/car mention. No renovations, but the carpeters are moving in tomorrow to replace the carpet that has bugged Poss for 8 years. The Datsun amazed by requiring a whole $58 to get it through roadworthy. Beth got her licence at the start of the year and has used it constantly, we’re supposed to get it back so Nic can do her driving lessons. The replacement Peugeot disgraced itself by breaking major suspension components and required $3500 to fix it. But I love it and it’s running really well now. And Poss’s car just keeps on going.

      Well, that hits the highlights, there's enough trivia to fill several pages but this has to be finished tonight or it may be New Year or later before it reaches you. It was very hot (37C) when I started this yesterday but tonight is much better, a little thunder, a little rain and 22C. If it were cooler this may have been longer, so you may get more benefit from the mini heatwave then we.

      I trust you've all had at least as good a year as we have. If you have, or even if you haven't, may 2001 bring you all the best, and only the best. As always, love to see any of you who come this way. And if you don't make it, I'm on holiday for three weeks starting this Friday. Priority one is to fix up our web site. So take a look in the New Year - www.cashin.net. And keep those emails coming: family@cashin.net,

      Regards to you all - The Cashins: Klu, Nicole, Beth, Joanne, Sandra, Poss and Alan.