CANDOER News

U.S. Symbol
Communicators AND Others Enjoying Retirement
Issue 36December 1998Volume 4 - Number 1

Welcome to the CANDOER News. Suggestions as to what you would like to see in the CANDOER are welcome. Letters to the editor, articles consisting of general information, feature articles, G-rated jokes, or poems, written/submitted by retirees or OC/IM employees, past or present, will be published, unedited. Material may be submitted on a 3.5" floppy disk (disk will be returned) using WordPerfect Version 6.1 or earlier (if it contains graphics), on a plain sheet of paper (if it has no graphics) or via e-mail. The deadline for submitting material is no later than the 25th of each month. Material received after that date will be published in the next issue of the CANDOER, space allowing. Please, restrict articles/submissions to two single spaced, typed pages. No hand written submissions, please.

The snail-mail address for submissions or letters to the editor is:

Robert J. Catlin, Sr.
Publisher/Editor CANDOER News
2670 Dakota Street
Bryans Road, MD 20616-3062

Cat's Corner

Welcome to year four of the CANDOER News. When Babe and I started the CANDOER Luncheon Group in 1994, never in our wildest dreams did we feel it would become this successful. We owe the success of this group to each of you, for your generous donations to the News and Memorial funds and your participation, both in attending luncheons and in the many articles you submit for publication. On behalf of Babe and I, I extend our thanks to each and every one of you.

Nancy and I would like to wish all of you and yours, a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

The December issue is only eight pages, due to the fact that the Directory of Members is included, more than doubling the cost of printing and postage.

To keep the cost of mailing the News and the Directory down, every year I cut the December issue in half. In addition, all Pen and Ink changes are incorporated in the Directory of Members, so there will be no need for a Pen and Ink section.

Those of you with E-mail capabilities already know, I am now distributing the CANDOER News via E-mail. If you would like to receive the CANDOER News electronically, you need to have the ENVOY 7 Viewer and, of course, E-mail capabilities. The ENVOY 7 Viewer comes in two forms. Both of them are free. You can get it as an add-on to your E-mail browser or as a stand alone viewer.

As an add-on, when you open the E-mail message attachment, the viewer automatically opens up the attachment and displays the CANDOER News for you to read and/or print.

As a stand alone viewer, you have to save the E-mail message attachment to your hard drive and then go to the viewer and open the attachment.

Both options work well. The choice of which option to use is yours.

When I send you the Newsletter electronically, the attachment file will be between 200 and 600 megs. It will appear just like the snail-mail copy, when viewed, but all the graphics will be in color, instead of just the first page. The INSIDE THIS ISSUE index will have hyperlinks that allow you to click on any given article title, or page number, and go directly to that page, instantly.

By the way, JUNO.COM and MSN.COM do not allow you to receive file attachments larger than 500 meg, so JUNO and MSN users will not be able to receive the Newsletter electronically. In addition, you must also be a user of Windows 95.

If you would like to receive the electronic version, you need to download the Envoy 7 Viewer. You need the Windows 95/Windows NT 4.0 version of the viewer. The Envoy 7 files are not compatible with previous versions of the Envoy viewer.

There are several Web sites that have the Envoy 7 viewer available as a free download (Not all of the sites have the add-on viewer available; the novell.com site has both.):

http: /www.trec.state.tx.us/envoy.html
http: /consulting.novell.com/toolkit/plugins/envoy.html
http: /www.twcorp.com/envoy.htm
http: /www.co.hernando.fl.us/envoy/

If you would like to get the electronic version of the Newsletter, let me know. Members who decide to receive the electronic version, in lieu of hard copy, will be asked to donate $7 per year, instead of the current $18. This will be $5 for the Newsletter and snail-mail version of the Directory of Members and $2 for the Memorial Fund. The Directory of Members will be too big a file to send electronically.

DEATH OF R. Phillip Hendrix

It is with deep regret that I inform you of the death on October 29, 1998, of one of our Foreign Service colleagues, Phil Hendrix.

Phil served in the Foreign Service from 1961 through 1988. When he retired, he was assigned as a CCO in the Department.

A card of condolences has been sent to Jytte, in the name of the CANDOERs and a donation of $45 was sent to the American Heart Association in Phil's name.

DEATH OF James V. Carter

It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the death on Sunday, November 15, 1998, of James V. Carter one our retired GS colleagues. Jim was a former day shift supervisor in the Systems Control area. He devoted over thirty years of service to the Department of State before retiring in July of 1993. He is survived by his son, David A. Carter and his wife Charmaine; three grandchildren, three brothers, three sisters, and a host of other relatives and many friends.

Jim will be best remembered for his kindness and thoughtfullness to others and for his life long dedication to church, family, and community.

A card has been sent to Jean in the name of the CANDOERs and a $45 donation has been made to the American Diabetes Association in Jim's name.

Letters to the Editor

The following letter was received from Jytte Hendrix on November 12:

Dear CANDOERs,

Thank you for your thoughtfulness. It was deeply appreciated.

Sincerely,

/s/ Jytte Hendrix

RETIREE'S REPORT

On October 27th, Paul Nugnes informed me, via E-mail, that he and Deborah have gotten settled in Harare and that he was back on-line.

On October 29th, I received an E-mail request from Keith Christie for information on the CANDOERs. I sent him my normal canned message. On November 5, I received a check and Keith's bio information. This information may be found in the 1999 Directory of Members.

On November 2, I received a post card from Dick and Patricia Hoffer. They have moved. Their new address and telephone number may be found in the 1999 Directory of Members.

On November 4, I received a telephone call from Bob Berger. Bob has moved to Delaware. His new address and telephone number may be found in the 1999 Directory of Members.

On November 10, I was notified by Bob Caffrey that Larry Ward had a heart attack on November 6. He had angio plasty and a stent to repair one artery. He went home on the 9th.

I sent Larry a get well card from the CANDOERs.

On November 11, I received an E-mail message from Jim Steeves. He is back on the air with a new ISP.

On November 23, I received a note from Stu Branch, requesting I send information about the CANDOERs to Fran Masterman. I immediately sent her my normal canned infograhm. As of the date of publication, I have had not heard from Fran, but her E-mail address may be found on the last page of this and every issue.

LUNCHEON LOG

Ten members attended the November 10 luncheon at Phineas. The following members were in attendance:

Bob Campopiano, Bob Catlin, Paul Del Giudice, Tom Forbes, Roy Hylaman, Will Naeher, Rob Robinson, and Don Stewart.

For the first time, and I hope not the last time, Ray Watson and Mel Bladen attended the November luncheon. A big CANDOER WELCOME to you both. May you find the time to attend many more luncheons.

UP-DATE on Frank Pressley and Clyde Hirm

Frank Pressley

The following information was received from Frank via E-mail:

I enjoyed the October luncheon very much. It was nice to get out of the hotel and to see some of the old bosses that I knew when I first entered the FS in January 1980.

I am feeling well and much stronger as the weeks go by.

I still have some surgery to under go, in the mouth. Replacing a few broken bridges that really hurt when I chew and removing one or more plates placed just below my teeth and above the jawbone. Looks like the latter will be done next week, probably Thursday, October 29. They will put me on I-V, a few shots to deaden the area and unscrew (5) screws in the upper plate, then remove it by sliding it out the front. It will be painful for a few days afterward but while this upper plate is in place it is mobile and prevents the gum and mouth to completely heal. After that, normal preventive maintenance to ensure that my bite is as good as it can get until the major jawbone and outer face has time to completely heal. I am told that will take about six months before they feel confident that the area has healed due to the severe trauma. Once they are satisfied with the healing, there are several preparatory steps taken (not sure exactly what they do), then reconstruction of my jaw either through grafts of bone and tissue or placement of soft tissue and a plastic material on my jaw to replace the missing bone. All in all, they estimate I am looking at about 12-18 months before the final surgeries are complete.

My wife is doing well with her pregnancy. She is about four months pregnant and feels very good. The baby is due in late March. My two little boys are doing well, despite the cramped hotel living. It might get worse as winter moves in and they cannot go outside as often as they love.

Clyde Hirn

The following information was received from Ellie Hubble, Clyde's sister:

Clyde continues his therapy several times a week. He is frustrated because he would like to make faster progress. He is very anxious to get back to work. Our family hasn't seen much of Clyde for several years, due to the locales he has been working in, so we are all getting to spend more time with him. Our mother especially appreciates the time he is able to spend with her.

Charles Atlas and Me
by Herb Walden

Chances are I'll never be built like Charles Atlas. Having passed my 60th birthday some months ago leads me to this conclusion. That, and I just took a look in the mirror.

It's too bad too, because I planned on it as a kid. It was all due to those comic book ads. Remember the skinny little guy at the beach getting sand kicked in his face by a big bully? Then along comes Charles Atlas and his "Dynamic Tension," and the 98-pound weakling bulks up and beats the living daylights out of the bully!

Unfortunately, I never had enough money to send for the Dynamic Tension stuff, whatever it was. I'd start to save up, and then a popsicle or candy bar would come along and, well, it was just one thing after another.

As a teenager, I still had bulging muscles in mind. (And in mind only, I might add). So I bought a pair of grip exercisers. You know - - - those things you squeeze that look like nutcrackers. One would have been enough. I could have switched hands from time to time, but the catalog only sold them in pairs.

I used those things for a couple of days and couldn't see any difference, except that I got blisters in the palms of my hands, and my arm muscles got so tired I could hardly hold a bottle of pop.

By the time I reached my early twenties, I was still committed to having a body like Charles Atlas. (Isn't it a happy coincidence that his name just happened to be "Atlas?" I wonder if there was a Mrs. Atlas).

I sent away for a bodybuilding program that involved no equipment. Just exercise. I was faithful to the program, too. I kept at it for three, maybe four days. Not consecutive, of course, but spread out over a two-week period.

Well, I just couldn't see that it was doing any good. All that was happening was that it was making me tired, and since I was born tired, I didn't need that!

Many years have passed since those body building days. I had sort of forgotten about it until, as I mentioned, I glanced in the full-length mirror, (Something I generally avoid if at all possible). I'm afraid it's too late for Charles Atlas to do anything for me. I just have to accept the fact that I am not going to beat up that beach bully with the sand and all.

But over the years, I developed a much simpler solution to the problem.

I quit going to the beach!

Juno Hints
by Your Friendly Neighborhood Editor/Publisher

Several CANDOERs are either using JUNO as a primary or secondary E-mail provider. With its quickness in freeing up your telephone line, Juno offers a good service. But it will, after a while, add a few million bytes to your hard drive. Each time you sign on, new advertisements upload, and as far as I can tell, old ones are never erased.

After signing on several times, I noticed my hard drive was filling up. In less than 30 days, more than five million bytes had been added to my hard drive. I started looking for a way to recover this area and discovered that if you delete the advertisements it does not affect the operation of the program. In fact, it runs a little faster because you do not have to wait for the advertisements to load and display.

If you want to get back your hard drive space, the following actions will work on Windows 3.1, Windows for Work Groups (3.11), and Windows 95.

Go to the DOS prompt.

At the DOS prompt, change to the JUNO directories: CD JUNO\ADS. This assumes that you put JUNO on your C drive and used the default directory. If you did not, change to the drive you put JUNO on; then change to the JUNO directory; and, then change to the ADS directory.

Type DIR/W. You will see, along with some other files and directories, a list of Directories starting with 0 (zero), these are the advertisement directories.

Type DELTREE 0* - This is extremely important. You must type 0* (zero asterisk). DO NOT MAKE A MISTAKE AND TYPE *0 ---- The number zero must be first.

ENTER

The following question should display: DELETE DIRECTORY "NNNNNNNN" AND ALL ITS SUBDIRECTORIES? [Y/N]

Answer by typing Y, for each time you are asked this question. This action will delete each of the advertisement directories and their related files.

If by mistake you did not put the ZERO first, it will come up and ask you to DELETE DIRECTORY, etc., that does not begin with a zero (0). Just say N and continue to say N until you get to the directory(s) that start with Zero (0).

WARNING: Be sure you are in the JUNO/ADS directories. This Action Entry, "DELTREE" will delete ANY directory and ALL FILES related to that directory.

FEGLI

Recently, in separate legislation, federal retirees received a benefit option. The Federal Employees Life Insurance Improvement Act, sent to the President for signature, would change the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance program by allowing retirees who carry additional option life insurance to continue paying premiums after turning 65 and avoid having coverage phased out.

This change was one of several that were included in the Federal Employees Life Insurance Improvement Act, when it was enacted on October 30, 1998.

In addition, there will be an open season from April 1 through May 31. 1999.

This information and continual updates of information affecting Federal employees and retirees may be obtained by subscribing to a FREE FEDWEEK E-mail newsletter. You can subscribe by going to their Web site at: www.fedweek.com.

FEGLI and other retiree related information may also be found on the opm.gov Web site. For the FEGLI information, look for Benefits Administration Letter Number 98-208, dated November 9, 1998, Subject: Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance: New FEGLI Legislation.

ENJOY!

See you next month.

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