James J. Melloy, Jr.:  

New update at the end of this page. April 17th, 2016 Life. (March 8, 2017) This may be my last entry in Classmates. I have cancelled my automatic renewal, So I don't know when all this back and forward will end. I find it very restrictive that this website limits two way dialogues without one party paying to signup for a membership. Somehow that just does not feel right. So if everything workings correctly and you are savvy enough to figure this code out, you will still be able to reach me, if you so desire. My address is really a simple one. It is my last name followed by the number one; now you have too spell it correctly, of course. That is the tricky part. Now we all know what comes next: that little symbol that looks like and "a" with a circle around it. And lastly, who is my provider, or is it whom. Well, it starts with a "why" and ends with an "oh" and is five letters long. And, of course it has those last three letters that most everyone has. So, that's it. If you figured it out then you probably don't have Alzheimer's disease, at least not yet. What have I been up to? Not much really. I turned "70' this year. Now that sounds really old. I felt old long time ago, but now I sound old.. Who would ever have thought I would make it this far, especially after all the operations I've had and all the "could have died" things that have happened to me. I've had a good life though. I wish I had had more fun. I have led a "do the right thing" kind of life with a few side trips. Don't get me wrong, I had fun but it always seemed like everyone else broke more rules, had more fun, and never got caught. I had a great time teaching. I met a lot of really great people. I've had a number of past students write to me and thank me. I'll tell you right now that means a lot. That means more than all the money I made, awards and degrees I earned. Thank you people, you are the one's that made my career a success. This is all starting to sound like I'm on my death bed. Well I'm not. In fact, I have a golf game scheduled in two hours. I just want to say thank you to all the people that helped me enjoy the enjoyable parts of my life. According to all the fortune tellers I've gone to in Thailand, I am going to have a long and healthy life. So I'll be around for awhile. So, my hats off to you if you are around to read this little note. You are old and have made it past a lot of challenges in life. Keep up the good work and Take care Jim Life (July 10th, 2015 - Updates are at the bottom of this monster story) Wow, how does one write their own biography? As I begin, I feel like I am writing my obituary. But with all my aches and pains, I know I am still kicking. After graduating from Hudson's Bay High School, I headed off to college in Ellensburg, WA. It was Central Washington College then and it seemed like it was always under construction. I majored in Art Education and minored in Industrial Technology. I got my first job in Edmonds, WA at Woodway High School. I loved it there. The community was affluent and art and artists were well respected. I taught Arts and Crafts, Photography, Ceramics and Yearbook, along with a little Mechanical Drawing for six years. I was a bit wild and crazy in those days, but I survived all the mistakes I made and looked toward a great future. Well, if you all can remember the mid 70's brought troubled times (gas shortages and levy failures) and I left Edmonds and returned to my home town of Vancouver. That summer I toured Europe and acquired a great desire to travel to foreign countries - it was great. Upon my return I worked for my father as an accountant and bookkeeper. It was interesting work, but not that satisfying. I started substituting for a couple of school districts and then got a job teaching Art History, Ceramics, and Stained Glass at Clark College. In 1977, I quit the college for a full-time job, teaching art, at Evergreen High School. I taught Pottery, Photography, Stained Glass and Yearbook at Evergreen for 26 years. During that time, I traveled to Hong Kong, Thailand, and Japan a half dozen times. As an accomplished Stained Glass artist, I successfully acquired a contract with a Japanese company (Ikari Supermarkets) to build five stained Glass skylights. I also had my work displayed and sold in many galleries in Washington and Oregon. As the challenge of glass work diminished, I turned to computer technology and received my Master Degree in Educational Technology. I then supplemented my high school teaching by working for City University, as an instructor, teaching Educational Technology for the Master Degree program. In 1998, I was instrumental in creating the Evergreen Internet Academy (Cyber School) for the Evergreen School District. I left the classroom and became the Technical Administrator. For two and a half years I worked to create an online high school program where high school students could obtain their high school diploma totally online. The program was very successful. During one of my trips to the orient, I met a very wonderful woman from Thailand. Her name is Piyanart (she likes the name Pin better) and is a registered nurse. After more than a year of working to get her to America, we married and I also was lucky enough to be blessed with a ten year old daughter, Hyla. Our daughter married Adam, a Captain in the Marine Corp, and is living in Okinawa, Japan. Five years ago David James Ernst arrived into the family - Yep! I'm a grandpa. What a thought! And guess what, I'm a grandpa again - Nora Elizabeth arrived three years ago. They are both great kids. In 2001, and my thirtieth year in education, I retired. We were going to move to Thailand but things just did not work out. We moved to Florida instead. We love it here. We are in an adult community with golf, tennis, swimming, and just about everything a retiree could ask for. I spend most of my days golfing and puttering around the house. The retired life most definitely agrees with me. So, that is what happened to me during the last forty years. Of course, I left all the juicy stuff out. If you want to know all the good stuff you will have to contact me. UPDATE: Since this little story of my life, I got older, lost some more hair, lost and gained and lost some weight, and almost died. On April Fool's Day of 2009, I had a total right hip replacement and as a complication of that surgery, I got a leg full of blood clots. So after spending a week in the hospital, I am recovering and doing pretty well. As long as the clots stay where they are or dissolve on their own, I'll be around another day. If this history doesn't get updated, I died. UPDATE.UPDATE. I am alive. I think I have conquered the blood clots and new right hip replacement. It's been almost a year since my operation and all seems well. I'm almost normal - well, as normal as I get. I started collecting Social Security this year - YEA! - and now I'm waiting for Medicare. Boy, isn't getting old a thrill? We are heading off to Thailand this winter for a little vacation and pampering (no, I'm not wearing them yet). The US dollar still goes a long way over there, so shopping and pampering are great. I'll keep y'all posted. Oh my, I'm talking southern now. Later. JUST ANOTHER UPDATE In March I'm going under the knife again. This time it's for a microdiscectomy - fancy word for spine surgery. This has been a tough year. So, in March I should be getting my ruptured disc fixed. Wow, is getting old fun or what? The story continues - I hope...... UPDATE So, not to be outdone by back surgery, I got cancer - thrills. Bladder cancer actually. The Urologist cut that out - not a pretty picture or procedure and now I have to be "scoped" for the next five years. Probably the most embar...Expand for more