[PRCo] Re: Merry Christmas

[Ken and Tracie]

Don't forget Hoover Dam...Charlie and I want to join you on your trip to 
Phoenix.

K.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Schneider Fred" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 11:04 AM
Subject: [PRCo] Merry Christmas


> 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
>