December 6, 1992

Dear Everybody:

Last year I was apologetic about using this (relatively) impersonal method of communication but this year I'm like, screw it - it's the only way to go. Also everybody seemed to like the questionnaire, so this year I've kept that feature and this whole package may become a regular annual event in your life, lucky you.

Brief Recap:

Recall 1991 was a way-sucky year for me. I was homeless, jobless, stuffless (my stuff being abandoned in Sacramento), completely destitute, maxed out on about 16 lines of credit and basically wandering the planet and just prostituting myself to anyone who needed someone to answer the phone or make a few copies? Well, since then you could say my condition has improved dramatically:

A Job:

At the end of February I got a job and I'm working for a law firm. Oh yeah, my Uncle is one of the partners so if you were to call work, you'd hear my super-cheerful voice saying "Good Morning, Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Wilder" (then I change the greeting in the afternoon) and Wilder is my Uncle. [See the article I wrote for Cosmo entitled "Nepotism - It Worked for Me."] So everything is working out with that and I'm learning a lot. I even got a perk and I went to Washington, D.C. where Hobbs, Straus, Dean & a bunch of other people work and they put on this super-swank party to celebrate the law firm's 10 year anniversary. There are only two lawyers working in Portland, my uncle and another guy and there's me so it's fair to say it's a small office.

My Home:

Having reasonably rectified the shambles that was my financial situation, I found an apartment and rented a truck and embarked on the weekend from hell - because I still had to get all my stuff down in Sacramento. (Try to imagine living without all your stuff for almost a year, or conversely, try to imagine being Collette and living with all my stuff all over your house for almost a year.)

In case nobody's heard, people are leaving California in droves, so it was significantly cheaper for me to drive the truck both ways. I left on a Friday afternoon, it took about 11 hours, I did this alone - just me and an AM radio. Yee-hah, did you know there are about 200 country-western stations coming in clear as a bell ANYWHERE on I-5 between Portland and Sacramento?

Saturday Collette, Erin and I packed and loaded the truck and I left that afternoon and drove to Grant's Pass and then Sunday morning I drove to Lake Oswego, my new home. It is quite safe to assume that I'm not looking forward to doing that again at any time soon.

I now have Oregon license plates, Nike shoes, an Eddie Bauer rain coat, I watched the Blazers (in the playoffs) last season and I feel like a real person again.

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PHOTOGRAPH:Sundance as a pup. Photographer: Dad

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