2000 in Review!


	Quack, quack! I remember as a kid when we'd go feed the ducks by the river. I'm sure they're happy to see us in the winter. I enjoyed this picture so I thought I'd include it.
	Who is this and why is he tearing my sink apart? A friend of mine from work, Dan Wiley, was helping make dinner one evening when he learned a very important lesson: you can't take the peelings from 15 potatoes, cram them all in the disposal, and then expect it to work when you flip the switch! We had some good laughs trying to fix it.
	What a bad uncle I'd be if I didn't include a photo of Mark! He's just an adorable little boy, isn't he? Up to this point, I've still managed to avoid changing his diaper! Phew!
	I has the opportunity to go to the The Greenbrier with my Grandmother, Ernestine Handel, and two of her friends. I was their tour guide and activity planner. We all thoroughly enjoyed out stay and had a great time. In the photo from left to right is myself, Elizabeth Neisius, my Grandma, and Martha Yost. Our trip is even more special because Martha Yost passed away six months later.
	Strawberries anyone? Pictured here is my Uncle Skip and Aunt Nancy at the Troy, Strawberry Festival. The parade was 2.5 hours long! Mom and Dad also came over for the event.
	I figured I'd throw in a sample picture of my usual home-cooked meal. In reality, after work one day myself and three others bought our own lobsters and cooked up quite a feast. Yummy! The claws were so huge I had to break them open with a vice in the garage!
	Say cheese! Pictured are my mother, Brenda Handel, and Grandmas Pavlik and Handel. This picture was taken at the Inn at Honey Run during our annual "Grandma Day's" trip. This year we went to Amish country and a tour of the Longaberger Basket Company.
	Anyone know how long it takes to drive to Massena, NY, and back? How about 26 hours! I cajoled Jim Leonard, a friend from school, into traveling with me to visit my Uncle Dave and Aunt Kathy. As expected, we had a great time visiting and playing cards, riding the Sea-Doo, the four-wheeler, and a host of other activities. Sure, the glasses we're wearing in the picture look funny but boy did they work nicely! We had a great trip!
	Four friends from my schooldays came over for a feast on my back deck. It was good to see them again - and the food was yummy too! Left to right: Lori Anderson, Susan West, Ryan Dyer, and Josh Berrus.
	Ooo, who are these lovely ladies? On yet another spur of the moment activity, I met up with friends from school, Alisa Whitt and Lori Anderson, in Cincinnati to catch up on old times. Activities included a carriage ride and dinner on the square.
	This past Fall, I visited my college roommate, Tom Wright, in Holland, Michigan. We rented Jeeps and drove around on some giant sand dunes North of his place. What a blast! Definitely a new tradition whenever I visit.

Merry Christmas!!

December 20, 2000

It’s hard to believe “The Year 2000” is coming to a close! It’s been a good year for me: I’ve made lots of new friends, taken a new position at work, and done my fair share of travel. I started last year’s Christmas letter by talking about school - but not this year! Once again I have created an online portion with pictures from this year’s events (you can view last year's too!). Point your browsers to http://www.stevehandel.com. Now, let’s start by talking about work.

Work. January 2000 found me continuing on the trainee program at BFGoodrich Aerospace (BFG). I spent three months in different groups including our commercial design group, our technologies/ stress/ thermal group, and last a requested stint in marketing. During my time in marketing, the director of commercial engineering approached me with a job offer as a project engineer in the Boeing commercial design group. This was now my third internal job offer, but I still wanted to continue the trainee program so I could rotate through the product support group. Anyway, I was in the middle of politely turning down the offer when he interrupted me and kept going anyway. I decided to sleep on it and the next thing I knew I was taking a job as a project engineer!

I now work in the Boeing wide-body commercial design group. Actually, I have a surprising amount of responsibility as I’m in charge of the main wheel and nose wheel of the next-generation 777 aircraft. (Remember, BFG in Troy only produces aircraft wheels and brakes.) So basically, in 2004 when your flying on a 777-300LR you can tell everyone around you that you know who was responsible for the wheels! Well, enough about work.

Travel. I have yet to travel for business, but I’ve done my share of traveling for fun! I was afforded the opportunity to start my traveling for the year with a visit The Greenbrier with my grandma and two of her friends. We had a great time! Then in the summer a friend and I went to my Uncle and Aunt’s house in New York for a few days and had a blast up there with them. Later, I went to Michigan to visit a college roommate, Indiana to visit another college friend, Cincinnati with some friends, Eastern Ohio to visit Grandma Pavlik, Northeastern Ohio for a family vacation, and Pennsylvania with a friend from work. Needless to say, I wasn’t home for too many weekends this summer!

Friends. I have a super group of friends from work who all started about the same time I did. I’ve also met many great people from Troy and the surrounding areas. I always seem to be out eating dinner and playing games at someone’s house, out running around somewhere, or, well, traveling the world! The world? Yep, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, our group of friends from work decided we’d go to Europe for an extended weekend in January. Munich, Germany, in case you’re curious. Should be quite an experience!

2001? The new year is just around the corner. Are you ready for it!? I guess we don’t have a choice. Well, I close by wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Make sure you go to http://www.stevehandel.com! Take a moment out of your holiday activities to remember that Jesus’ birth is the true reason why we celebrate Christmas. Merry Christmas!