Do you get those letters from family and friends
during this holiday season with stories of their year's events? You know
the ones - somewhat embellished tales that are intended to make your own
life seem small and pale by comparison? Well, with a bit of satire, I
thought I'd take a few moments to write the HydroComp Holiday Letter.
Here goes...
Dear family
and friends,
Well, 2006 is almost over and it has been a busy year in our HydroComp
family. We hope this letter finds you well, and that you will enjoy
hearing of the mind-boggling events of our thrilling HydroComp life.
All of the children have been very active this
year, rising to new levels of "above average"-ness. We only
have room in this letter for a few highlights, but we'll start with
"It's a boy" - early 2006 saw the arrival of Mat (project
engineer), the newest of the HydroComp children. He's growing nicely,
and plays well with the other kids. He even got married. Congrats! Big
brother Vin (project engineer) was quite the athlete in 2006, with
great finishes in the Marine Corp Marathon and a New Hampshire
Triathlon. Once it starts snowing, we're half expecting Vin to ski to
work. Vin is also the family popcorn maker - Friday is "popcorn
day"! And, Buddy the "Wonder Pup" still visits almost
every day to keep the home office safe from wayward popcorn.
As is the case in most families, the ladies
actually run the household. For example, big sister Stephanie (EU
services) is managing the family business in Ireland. Her New
Hampshire background makes her a perfect fit for the rural driving in
western Ireland. Here we watch for moose, there it is cows. And sheep.
And rocks. Did I mention cows? Little sister Katie (our business
administration intern) has flown the nest and is starting her
professional career in the big world. Bon Voyage and good luck, Katie
- now you can buy lunch for us!
Everyone else is doing just fine. Really
super-duper-marvelous, actually.
The family was able to take a number of trips to
exotic destinations this year. There were family excursions to Florida
(Miami boat show, IBEX, customer training), Virginia (propeller
seminar), London (WMTC presentation, NavCad seminar), Las Vegas (NMPA
convention), Galway (EU office) and Amsterdam (METS, PropExpert
training). We saw many of our 500+ worldwide HydroComp cousins. Aunt
Betty Lou looks particularly lifelike after the botox therapy. Or was
that her Madame Tussauds statue we saw in London...
There have been many new projects in and around
the house. New software and special R&D projects have been the
focus of the kids' homework. Home-schooling the children has been a
real success. (Did you know that you cannot find a decent public
school class in wake adapted propeller design? Of course, keeping kids
awake and adaptable at the same time can be a challenge.) Naturally,
the kids want the latest technological toys - like this blog. We've
been looking all over for the new iProp, but we're having
trouble finding the 25 kW batteries...
That about wraps it up for 2006. Its been busy,
great fun, and very productive.
Whatever framework your faith may take, our
HydroComp family wishes you and your family all the best for this
holiday season and a prosperous New Year!
