Hi Kate,

Thanks for the email.  Sorry it's taken me a while to respond but it's chaos
here as we prepare to head off for the next part of our trip today.  Glad to
hear the glow of the screen still has you enthralled.  Keep hitting F9 and
all will be well.  The bit when the screen flashes like a disco ball means
your pay is being cut.  I hope all those hideous applications I built that
you were using haven't blown sky high.  But you know I did put little bugs
in all of those things so that they would stop working about 4 months after
I left.  Sorry!  I neede to ensure there would be work for me to do when/if
I come back.

Your plans for a summer escape sound fun.  But what you should really do is
come out to Jackson with Elliot at the beginning of May.  We're planning a
debauched weekend here right after we finish a section of the trip.  Should
be fun.  Just the thing for relieving stress from staring at the screen.  By
the way, have you seen the movie Office Space?  I'd recommend it.

Please check that Elliot is actually working from time to time.  He does
this routine where he'll have a bunch of things up on his screen, but his
eyes are actually closed.  Whenever you see that, just throw something at
him.  Of call his phone and says it's Jeff Skilling.

Hope all is well in sunny Portland.  Keep me posted on any unseemly office
gossip.

Talk to you soon.

Winston





>From: Kate.Symes@enron.com
>To: wgoodbody@hotmail.com
>Subject: bananas and other things you can call me with
>Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 12:08:06 -0800
>
>Greetings from the land of watery-eyed, flat-assed office workers! How goes
>the burly mountain man thing? I've been hearing second hand from Elliot
>that you're faring extremely well mentally despite some poorly crafted
>sleeping bags and a bad case of frostbite on your toes. (That second part I
>made up, but it sounded appropriate given the sleeping bag situation.)
>All's well here. As you could imagine, and probably often do, the sweeping
>expanse of people staring at computers that is Enron has changed not at all
>since you left. There are still many computers, many of them have changed
>positions, some have gone away, most we are not sad to see go. That's just
>the nature of this cutthroat business. Also on the stagnantly invariable
>list is the status of my life in relation to Enron. I am still here. I
>still stare at the computer. Every once in awhile I meander over to the
>dark window-less corner that enshrouds the IT wizards and ask them silly
>questions like, "What does it mean when I hit this button and my screen
>starts flashing at me like a disco ball, then makes this awkward shrieking
>noise and finally goes black?" They are incredibly helpful. I am still
>pretty much clueless about most things, although I've learned to talk about
>them with a semblance of authority, as in, "No, you twit, the 25 megawatt
>off peak deal should clearly be flowing across SP-15 to NP-15 because of
>the illiquidity of SP's market right now. What kind of idiot wouldn't hedge
>their position in California at a time like this?" It all sounds very
>exotic and important to me, which is why I'm still here. But I'm infinitely
>jealous of your wild exploits in the great American outdoors. I suspect my
>forbearance for sitting in an office will run out right around the middle
>of the summer, so I'm planning a trip to coincide with that meltdown. I
>haven't decided between a road trip through the western United States or
>just a direct flight to Paris. Both sound good, and way beyond my budget,
>therefore equally attractive. Well, I've managed to say practically nothing
>for long enough now. I do hope you're having an amazing time, rambling on
>toward the next crazy adventure on the horizon as I believe Jack Kerouac
>once wrote. We're all very proud of you here and constantly refer to you as
>"my good friend Winston who's skiing across the state of Wyoming, which was
>my idea." I'd love to hear about your trip direct from the source, although
>I know you're extremely busy out there, skiing and killing wild animals for
>sustenance and whatnot. But please do write back....if you can still move
>your fingers.
>
>Sincerely,
>Kate
>(the slightly ditsy one who sits in the middle of the room and tries to
>look constantly busy)
>

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