Drifted away from NG (I really don't remember why...), and ended up in college studying electrical engineering and data processing.  (There were too many engineers back then!)  I worked in electronics for a while, then went to work for a company called The Penny Arcade, Inc.   They sold (through franchise stores) toys for rich people!  Things like Tiffany lamps, reconditioned pinball machines, and antique gumball machines for the den... When they heard the company they bought gumballs from was up for sale, they bought it.  United States Chewing Gum Manufacturing Company, Inc. of Oakland, CA.  They moved me up to the Bay area to manage the plant.  (Yeah, I actually managed a chewing gum factory!  Cool, huh?)

I met my future (and now, former) wife, and we married.  We decided we wanted to escape the rat race, and move up north where the air was clean and the trees were green (yeah, I know, I was pretty stupid back then!)  We ended up in Yakima, Washington...  About 50,000 population back then -- apple capital of the world.  Also they grow most of the hops grown in the US.  After some years, my marriage went bad, and we divorced after 19 years (ouch!)   My son Jacob stayed with me (he's 16 now)

(Ok, here's where the name-change thing starts)  I had been thinking about my name for a long time...  In addition to being long and unwieldy, it had caused me some trouble over the years... (a lot of racism is not aimed at skin color)  My dad had considered changing it for many years, also.  You see, my great grandfather took his family from Romania to Canada, and when they arrived, changed the family name from Sani (Italian ancestry) to Abramovitch (a good Slavic name, but no other clues!)  No one knew why he changed it, and no one bothered to ask him!  So my dad wanted to change the name back to the original family name for many years, but never did.  (he's gone now...)  With all the changes in my life I started thinking about the name change again, but when I talked to Jacob about it, he was  horrified!

("Dad, we can't change our NAME!")  I tried to convince him, but he wouldn't budge...  So I figured it really wasn't that important, and dropped it.

About a year later, my employer decided I was transferring to Spokane, Washington (the home office).  All of a sudden, out of the blue, Jacob said, "You know, Dad, if we were going to change our name, this would be a really good time to do it".  After I picked up my jaw off the floor, I checked into the process, and it turned out to be so easy it was scary!  I called the court on a Friday.  The clerk said she had an opening on Monday morning.  I arrived at the court, filled in the form (handwritten acceptable!) paid the $50, talked to the Judge for about a minute or two, and it was done!  (After all those years..........)   As for my first name, I actually didn't change it....  I had considered using Elliot Sani, but it really didn't flow, you know?  And since this was sort of designer names, I figured I could do whatever I wanted...  I ended up using my first initial, and my middle name (which was David all along)  So I went from Elliot D. Abramovitch to E. David Sani.  I thought the first initial was pretty cool -- sort of literary, you know?  And besides, it was pretty much like thumbing my nose at the computer world, since most computer systems don't deal with first initials very well!  (yes, I do still work in the computer industry!)

So now I live and work in Spokane, Washington, which is gorgeous!  There is a river and waterfall (!!) running through the downtown, in the former location of Expo 74, which is now a big park.  I live two houses from the river, there's a beach just down the road, and across the street from my house is a pine forest, with a Boy Scout camp about a mile up the hill... (I know, pretty rough!)  (Hey, home prices are CHEAP up here!)

I'm still a propeller head, working with computers and the internet these days.  It's pretty amazing, I get to play with toys all day, and they pay me!  I have really enjoyed seeing the pictures and reading the e-mail from the NG'ers -- I really wish I could come to the reunion, but distance and commitments at work prevent....   I would really like to keep in touch with e-mail, though.  NG was a wonderful experience I will never forget.

Elliot   (E. David Sani)