Comic Strip or Corporate Documentary?

Mike was fired from Symantec (aka Somantic) in the middle of April – absolutely blind-sided - in what appears to be a very clear-cut case of him (and at least one other person) taking the fall for some upper-level management incompetence. They were accused, tried, convicted, sentenced, & punished without opportunity for any rebuttal whatsoever. The organization he was in has a reputation for being an absolutely poisonous place to work but Mike really poured heart & soul into it to try & succeed. He was just met with resistance at every turn & was ultimately libeled.
As the shock wore off, we discovered a blessing in disguise (in several ways). We have a family life once again! No more late nights at the office for Mike or calling contractors in India at midnight. We realized the incredible stress a job with big corporate America placed on us. We realized that no amount of pay or benefits could make up for the cost to our family.
We found sufficiency in our loving Heavenly Father and in the supportive caring of family and friends. Not only did the Lord see us through the trauma of a job loss, He provided for our every need.
In June, Mike re-joined SmartCAMcnc and the group of friends who pursued a start up company following the other lay-off in our lives 3 years ago. The fledgling company is doing quite well with over 10 employees. Pay and benefits can’t begin to compete with the likes of Somantic but quality of life has improved immeasurable for all of us. We couldn’t be happier.
In November, Somantic fired Mike's former boss. Id quot circumiret, circumveniat.

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Sailing in the Nude?

In May, Mike sailed in the NOOD (not nude, however) for the first time. Oh, that's the Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design. The Seattle event provided three days of racing in Puget Sound for over 200 boats in 24 classes. Whew! In addition, the Santana 20 Class Championships were hosted by the Eugene Yacht Club over the summer. The Santanarama 2008 was great week of fun and competitive racing. Mike's frightful-looking boat finished 6 th out of 39. Apparently, ugly is fast. On a smaller scale, but no less enjoyable, Mike loves racing our 14' Lido with Trevor. They make a pretty good team and managed to take 2 nd and 3 rd place in the Summer and Fall Wednesday Night Series respectively. Trevor was recognized as the “Junior All-Star” in the Lido fleet . After Trevor masters the Zuma, Mike hopes he's ready to take the helm on the Lido.

A Sailing Adventure

No, it's nothing close to the Barcelona World Race (as those sailors spend Christmas in the Southern Ocean). Heck, this wasn't even a race. But it was an adventure. Perhaps inspired by the story of Grandpa Herc sleeping on the Flying Dutchman on Cayuga Lake , Trevor became interested in his own nautical adventure last year. With the realization that Mr. T would become a teenager at the end of the summer, Mike was determined to share the experience with Trevor before another summer slipped by. The plan was modest. They would simply spend the night sleeping on the Lido on Fern Ridge Lake and meet up with the rest of the family the next day for a picnic. The two adventures pushed off from the dock in the early evening. The north wind was fairly strong and refused to die as the sun went down . We found shelter in the lee of a small island and prepared the boat for the night . Although it took a while for the wind to die and the boat to stop rocking, Trevor and Mike mana...

Trev's Tracks

With Trevor's move from a middle school with 80 students to one with over 600, it took a little bit of getting used to and has had its ups and downs. It also meant switching to a rival Ultimate Frisbee team! Unfortunately his new team lost all but one match to his former team in the Fall Series, but it was fun anyway. Sailing (and racing) our boat with Dad continued to be a lot of fun for Trevor over the summer. Trevor enjoys the speed and hopes to learn how to sail a boat on his own next Summer. Lacrosse also interests Trevor, and he likes to experiment with his lacrosse stick by stringing it and restringing it and restringing it. He recently decked out his new stick with a custom strung pocket and his future high school colors. Trevor looks forward to Spring so he can play and watch lacrosse to prepare for the high school team. Finally, Trevor did Crux rock climbing camp again last summer and got to join the advanced, older group which did much more climbing on Skinner Bu...

Merrifield Times

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