[PRCo] Merry Christmas

[Schneider Fred]

For those of you wanting a Christmas card ... her is my annual  
Christmas letter:
Sunday, December 14, 2008


Greetings of the Season to all of you….

The cards are late this year.   Living alone, I just cannot seem to  
get into the Christmas mood.    Or maybe it is that I’ve been having  
too much fun trying to analyze the recession (The Great Depression of  
2008) or other inane projects.



This was one year I didn’t travel too much.   The only trip was two  
weeks in India and Nepal last February.   Very fascinating.   One  
always worries when going to a strange nation if you could do this on  
your own; in this case I came home with the realization that while  
every government document must be printed in 17 national languages,  
the legacy left behind by Queen Victoria is that half the Indians  
speak some English and 30 percent are fluent in English.   When I  
inadvertently became separated from the tour group in Delhi, I had no  
difficulty commissioning a motorized rickshaw driver to take me on a  
40 minute ride back to my hotel in South Delhi (for all of about  
$2).   While the others on the tour were insisting on American  
comfort foods in the hotels (we were booked into five-star hotels  
that served European foods on the buffets), I gorged myself for two  
straight weeks on the Indian side of the buffet and loved every  
minute of it.   It proved to me that my local Indian restaurant is  
authentic if only a little less on the hot side.



I do want to go back to see some of India that I didn’t see … Kolkata  
(Calcutta was the British name) and Mumbai (Bombay).   The tour only  
took us to the tourist triangle in the north plus Nepal and a flight  
around Mount Everest.   Amazingly, when I came home, the head waiter  
in the local Indian restaurant spent fifteen minutes debriefing me  
about Nepal and then decided I needed to see more.   He announced  
that he was going back to see his family in 2010 and asked if I would  
accompany him and stay in the family home so he could show me “the  
real Nepal.”   I suggested that he be really sure that he meant that  
offer because I’m crazy enough to do it and he assured me he meant  
it.   Perhaps I’ll go back there and see it through the eyes of a  
native.



This year was my 50th high school reunion and it hardly seems that  
long.   I was very active this time on the reunion committee and  
found myself getting to know people whom I never really knew in  
school.   It has proven to be a fantastic experience.   Perhaps the  
nicest compliment was the newly found friend who asked why we waited  
so long to become friends.   He woke me up with a phone call the  
other morning and I thank him for that.   For those of you who have  
not become involved in such an experience, I highly recommend it.    
Friends can be a great treasure.



The other event of the year was my granddaughter presenting us with  
our second great-grandchild, a boy.   At the age of 20, Shannon has  
her plate full.   She is working full time as a nurses aide, goes to  
school full time to be an RN, pays off her mortgage, and tries to cat  
nap.   We know why the master plan for the earth was for young people  
to have children don’t we?   Us old people don’t have the stamina to  
chase after two babies and earn a living too.



More trips?   Thanking of Phoenix next.   Their light rail line opens  
in two days after Christmas.   Let’s wait for the days to get a  
little longer … March maybe.   Then go to Phoenix, San Diego, Death  
Valley, parts of old US 66 too.  But first we need to get patched  
together in the hospital again first … at least hunt the possible  
ulcer and perhaps another coronary artery stent.





Fred Schneider