The Ferrer / Echols Tacky Newsletter 2002

2002 Lots of Changes

We moved!

Yes, this year we realized last year’s dream of a Master Bedroom, Jacuzzi tub and a Pool. We finally gave up our little paid off house on Cloverdale. As we mentioned last year, John and I wanted a pool, but our little house on Cloverdale could not support the addition. Plus we’d be the only house on the block with a pool, a risk in a neighborhood such as Cloverdale. So, we began looking for a house in Farmers Branch, that we could add a pool. We love Farmers Branch and did not want to move out of the area.

After about six months, we found our new home, a mile and a half away and still in Farmers Branch. When we bought the house, it was in great shape, plus it already had a pool. But… we had to make it ours. We did a complete remodel -- a new kitchen, new master bath, new floors, paint, and we converted the pool to salt water.

We bought it in February and finally moved in June. We love our new house on Tanglewood Drive Of course, such things come with a price, and ours is holding a mortgage again. Oh, well with luck and some planning we can pay this house off, too. So drop by on New Years Day for our Black-Eyed Pea Party and we’ll give you a tour.

Health, Family and Cats

We’re still, fat, happy and sassy. The Kilimanjaro climb I want to do, is looking higher and higher. I need to re-motivate my self. I thought working in Dallas would make it easier to work out and get in shape, but John loves to cook, and I love to eat, maybe in 2005.

WhiteFang and Scruffy, took the move well. It did take them about a month to settle in and claim the house. They are at home now. It’s hilarious to watch Scruffy scamper over the wood laminate floors. I’ll have to show you the disco kitty if you drop by.

We put up an 8 ft. concrete fence around the house to keep the cats in the yard. Yeah, that worked. It took us about 4 months to finally plug all the holes, and cut-down a tree limb so Scruffy cannot get out of the yard. So far it’s worked, but we know he’s planning something.

Finances & Work

John and I did as well as could be expected this year. I’m still at Verizon on contract working as a Project Manager. I love the work. My projects are national in scope and I’m working with great teams. I kept busy all year. John’s sales business is still doing well. John is optimistic about 2003.

Others have not been so lucky, if you know of a position open, especially in the IT or Telecom please let me know. I’m trying to help other friends of mine get positions.

As for other investments, we put them on hold until we worked out the new housing situation. We still own the lot on South Padre Island, and plan to build a rental vacation home. But we’re waiting until we sell the land in Granbury. We want to use the proceeds from the Granbury lot to pay for part of the construction on South Padre Island. Anyone interested in a view overlooking Lake Granbury?

Vacation

This year John and I traveled to Australia to see the December 4^th Solar Eclipse. We viewed the Eclipse from the centre of the Woomera launch zone. The eclipse traveled over Africa, the Indian Ocean, through Australia starting in Ceduna and ending near Lyndhurst, Australia.

John and I went to Woomera because we feared coastal clouds might block the eclipse in Ceduna, even though Ceduna would experience 15 seconds more of eclipse. The people who traveled to Ceduna were lucky; clouds covered the event until 3 minutes before totality. So the 50,000 visitors in Ceduna did get to see the eclipse, barely.

The eclipse over Woomera only lasted 30 seconds, but for those seconds the sky is spectacular. We watch the moon speed over the sun, blocking all light but the brilliant corona. This eclipse had the brightest corona I’ve seen.

This is the first eclipse where I got some of great shots. Here are the best two. A close of up the brilliant corona spilling out from around the sun and a view of the eclipse as it hangs over the horizon.

The Rest Of The Australia Tour

Since we traveled all that way for the eclipse, we thought we’d go ahead and see some of Australia.

We spent a week in Sydney in a two bedroom “serviced” apartment. The apartment over looked Darling Harbour. We had easy access to the Metro Loop, and several museums.

John loved staying in Sydney. Seafood, seafood, seafood, we made several trips to the Sydney Fish Market. Several nights, John and I picked up fresh clams, mussels, limpets and other delicacies, took them back to the apartment for a delicious dinner.

After Sydney, we traveled to Adelaide via “The Ghan” Train. In Adelaide we joined “The Explorers” Chartered Train Tour, which included the eclipse viewing from the Woomera Launch Zone and a tour of the Australian Outback. All together we spent 4 days on a train.

Our tour took us through Alice Springs in the center of Australia and to Ayers Rock.

Several members of our tour climbed the rock within the 2 ½ hours allotted by our itinerary. I’d like to go back and climb Ayers Rock, but I’ll need more time, like 5 hours.

I enjoyed one more first on this trip-- my first time on a camel. Granted these are very pampered clean camels but who knows, the 2006 eclipse over the Sahara on a camel expedition… um… probably not. However I did get a great idea for an ab machine call “The Camel”.

Just a quick comment about our tour group. Due to the effects of 9/11, our original cruise in the Indian Ocean cancelled due to fear of attacks in the Philippines and Indonesia. Apparently, well grounded fears because in October the bombing in Bali of a tourist nightclub occurred. So two months before the cruise, we scrambled to make other arrangements. We ended up with Explorers Tour Company out of the U.K. John and I were quite impressed. This is one of the best-organized tours we’ve enjoyed. If you’re planning on any type of astronomical tour, I recommend them.

On Australia and Australians.

John and I really like Australia. There are only 20 million people on a continent the size of the US. . It’s very “Fifties”, both in attitude and lifestyle. We traveled to Sydney, Alice Springs, Adelaide and Melbourne. Our favorite city is Adelaide. Large enough for opportunity, small enough for a laid back attitude. With the exchange rate in favor of the US, I highly recommended a tour Australia.

We’ll be back. We’re already planning to take our “off eclipse” trip in Australia-- next tour, “The Gold Coast”. John and I even found a couple of ingenious items we’d like to bring to the states. Let’s see, summers in the US, winters in Australia – not a bad idea. My favor tag line is “No Worries”, which is used as “O.K.”, “not a problem” or “Your Welcome” interchangeably.

We hope the New Year treats you well. Join us for Our Annual Black-Eyed Pea Party. We attached your invitation to the email with this newsletter link. If we don’t see you on the 1^st, please email, snail mail or call us, our information is just a click away.

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