Jane (Mechanical Engineering, 1993) and Gus (Electronics Engineering, 1993) Olson took a wine country cruise in early October with Cruise West. They met in a hotel at Fisherman’s Warf at 2:00 p.m. on a Friday and were then bused to Redwood City where the vessel was docked (Cruise West would not say if it was a boat or a ship but said to refer to it as a "vessel"). They cruised through the Bay and some time during the night went up the Napa River where vessel docked out in the boonies. A "wine expert" gave a talk in the lounge before dinner on how to taste wine, with red and white wines distributed to everyone. The following morning after breakfast they were bussed to Alpha Omega Winery for a two hour tour and tasting. Lunch was at the Culinary Institute of America in Calistoga - two hours long and absolutely delicious. Then they were bussed to the Merryvale Winery for a two hour tour and tasting. That evening they had another wine talk with wine tasting and dinner on board while cruising the Bay. Next morning after the vessel docked, they were bussed to the Benziger Family Winery for a very special tour of the vineyards via a tractor-pulled tram. It is located in an absolutely beautiful valley with contoured hills of vineyards. Lunch was back on the vessel and then they were bussed to Domaine Carneros which is a beautiful winery specializing in sparkling wines. It was the "classiest" tour of them all with a commemorative Champaign glass. The ship Captain's dinner was that evening, and then the vessel sailed through the Bay during the night. They woke up at the dock in Redwood City and were bussed back to the hotel. It was a marvelous four days spent totally away from the news of the day. They would highly recommend it.

There is a need for volunteers to help middle and low income people with their income taxes.  These folks are generally those who never could or are no longer able to do their own, and the cost of a paid preparer is too high.  Training is provided in January and then they assist others (about 4 hours per week) until April 15.  The help is provided at Libraries and Senior Centers here in the valley.  Last year they turned away some people due to a lack of Counselors.  In addition, there is a need for greeters, e-file transmitters, and computer coordinators. If you would like to help, contact Bob Hickman at Bob@LLNLretirees.org.

There is no Retiree luncheon in December due to all of the holiday celebrations and travel of the retirees. Luncheons will start again on January 21st at the Elk’s Lodge, 940 Larkspur Dr., Livermore. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and lunch is served at 12:00 noon. RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE BY FRIDAY, January 16, 2009, at the LLNL Retirees website. Be sure to check the web-site for information on the January speaker and on all upcoming and past Retiree Association events.

Everyone should have received a letter from Frank Russo, Principal Associate Director of Operations & Business at LLNL. Among other things, it announces some further meetings for additional information on your health care options for 2009. These meetings will take place on Wednesday, December 3, at the Robert Livermore Community Center, 4444 East Avenue, Livermore. Meetings are 10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. These are for Medicare-eligible retirees only. Due to the problems with handling all of the retirees, Extend Health has extended the Open Enrollment period to December 31, 2008. Once again, if you have and want to keep Kaiser, you do not have to do anything.

The Retirees’ Corner needs some more travel input, so please send any input to Gus or Jane Olson (please include the date and department from which you retired). E-Mail: Jane@LLNLRetirees.org or Gus@LLNLRetirees.org.