Although the editor of the Heller Holiday Webletter had promised to have an all-volunteer staff of journalists, he has flip-flopped and Dan was drafted to write an article for the 2004 edition. Dan had hoped to avoid the paternal paparazzi for another year, but that is a futile hope now with the onset of the golden years of retirement and excess of time to dedicate to hobbies.
Dan started the year with a bang by going to Las Vegas for New Year's Eve. He and his friends went to a couple of shows and spent New Year's Eve on the street with tens of thousands of their closest strangers. Had they decided to stay a couple of days extra, Dan might have had a shot being Britney's first husband!
Dan also set 2 personal records by attending 6 weddings in 2004 and embarrassing himself at 3 of them (... and thus became the recipient of his new nickname, 'The Danimal'). Again, his apologies to the brides and grooms (and their families). Congratulations to all of the newlyweds.
In June of this year Dan moved into a house in central Austin. It is a great house in a great location with 2 awesome roommates and the occasional deer. Dan's roommates have learned to live with his Gregorian chant meditation and even help out with his llama breeding hobby, though they've taken Dan for about $50 (and counting) in their weekly poker games. They're also currently experimenting with homebrew beer, but the jury (and yeast) haven't delivered a verdict on that one yet.
Dan is still working at IBM, which continues to provide him with the occasional business trip to Poughkeepsie, and allows him to sneak back to NJ for a couple of days. Dan was rewarded with his first rung on the corporate ladder this year with a promotion to 'Staff Engineer'.
Dan has continued his "every day is a vaction" lifestyle in Austin, playing on several sports teams (soccer, volleyball), spending time on the lake waterskiing and wakeboarding, going to Taco Deli whenever possible, and "keeping Austin weird". Another highlight was the Austin City Limits Music Festival - listening to some great music in 90+ degree temperatures with 75,000 other hot, sweaty, tired music fans. Fortunately, the festival will be 1 week later (and 10 degrees cooler?) in 2005.
On a personal note, he would also like to pass his condolences to all Red Sox fans across the country. These poor souls have been given a short period of intense celebration and forced to give up their trump card in any "karma is out to get me" argument. His heart goes out to them as they learn to live in a post 10/27 world.
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Beach Week '04