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I probably should have some insightful, or poetic piece looking back on the life of my freshmen Chem Prof. who recently passed away, falling to a heart attack. I was my fraternity's academic advisor. I saw some four superbowls at his apartment in Shaker heights, played poker with him, hung out, and listened to him play piano - most of which involved silly songs about wanting to beat people up, and make them bleed. they were fun times.

I guess, I started the damn, thing so here it comes. While I can understand how my fraternity brother’s are shocked, and surprised... I don't really feel that. My world hasn't been turned upside down. Time and distance have moved me from cleveland, and I've already had to deal with the untimely death of a younger, and more influential professor.

people come and people go.
winds blow high and winds blow low
time and time and time again
Circles break and lines they bend
You've got to let them go.

Poetry and meaning in strangefolk lyrics. I probably botched them, but the gist and the idea is there. I've gotten to the point were I'm more at peace with death, and passing. I know that people will come into and out of my life... What saddens me are things that people may leave un done in their own lives. Morrison left a young family, and a promising career.

Doc's life was dedicated to teaching. He left accomplishments. Sure there were classes untaught, and freshmen names unlearned... but they'll be the task of another.

Case will be different next fall. The freshmen will be less united, because they won't have one professor who loses sleep trying to memorize each of their names. I know Doc struggled with that these past few years, and he may not have succeeded 100%, but the effort was there. That was the key.

Maybe Prof. Simpson will pick up that charge. I don't know. Life will go on, and thousands of CWRU freshmen will remember Doc as a warm and energetic professor. He stood as an ideal educator for freshmen, with a charisma and accessibility that helped many students transition from high school to collegiate academics.

Doc was a good man; with a heart so big he couldn't discriminate between excellent prospective Phi Taus, and somewhat lousy recruits. Every person he met, was wonderful. Even if they were jerks that sat on his couch, and made jokes at his expense when they thought he wasn't listening.

I can't believe I'm writing this eulogy. I was never really in the cult of Doc that was so prevalent at case, but I recognize his many gifts, and his strength as a symbol. He was a great friend and advisor to our chapter, and a noble professor.

I'm just an exhausted engineer who can't even keep himself awake through an episode of everybody loves Raymond. Roc on, Doc Oc. You'll be missed.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 9:40 PM

 

posted by Ben at (1) comments 7:14 PM

 
Here's a little update on life with a new jetta.

I got it out of service on Tuesday, and about half way home realized that one of the issues I had hoped to have corrected was not resolved.

1). The windshield wipers do not correctly park.... and now they make noise at the top of their stroke. How hard can it be to fix wipers.

2). Mysterious speaker door noise. At first I wasn't sure if they cut the gain to the bass or if they added a lot of clarity by fixing the issue. Now i'm pretty sure they found the amp and cut the gain, instead of getting a door kit and fixing the rattle.

It also seems as though the center console has shifted off center, and is taking valuable centimeters away from my knee. My guess is that the amp is accessed through there.

I have discovered that the passenger door rattles intensely when I drive on grooved pavement, such as the Lowell connector. The sunroof does the same. It's happened twice, it's a real phenomenon.

i read on VW Vortex that another individual with an unfixable rattle had his new jetta re-purchased by VW. Hopefully they can fix mine before it comes to that. Although they only have two more shots before I start crying citrus - and gross incompetence (come on, the wiper thing has to be easy).
posted by Ben at (0) comments 6:22 PM

 
Things have been crazy at work since my contarctor devided to give her notice. I was asked to train a co-worker who had been at millipore 2 months and only wrote 22 pages in his lab notebook. He has John Hancock esque handwriting and double spaces. He has no idea how to do work. The manually intense experiment that we run, and will continue to run just ticks him off - and will continue to do so. So that's amusing.

Interstingly enough there seem to be a lot of capable people throwing resumes at us with an interest in indentured servitude. I have a new contractor starting tomorrow. We'll see how she works out.

In my off time, my brain is racing with wedding and honeymoon plans. How muych of an adventure can I squeeze into a vaction, with a bduget. Roght now popluar ideas involve going on a Carribbean cruise and a cruise of the Galapagos islands.

I also don't want to blow my vacation for the whole year in one shot. I figure that I'll need at least a day for thanksgiving travel.
posted by Ben at (0) comments 8:11 PM