John Toews:  

ME First, the "Now" pic of me is from 2004, in a tiny Persian cafe; good pics of me are infrequent at best … WAHI I was a nerdy kid who liked things like Physics and Chemistry, etc. I played mediocre baritone in the band & have some memories of a Guys Glee Club or some such ('If I were a Rich Man', etc.) A WAHI MEMORY I only ever remember skipping ONE class (TOLD you I was nerdy - or maybe just forgetful). I was taking "Humanities", I believe it was called. Overall, one of my favorite courses. Anyway, got to class and Prof XYZ from Whitman was speaking again. Nope, couldn't handle it & took off (from the Music Bldg) toward the Science building, with Kieth Myers, think it was. Anyway, we run into Chuck Patterson (one of the 3 team teachers). He says to us, "Gentlemen, class is behind you, you're going the wrong way!" To which I said, "Prof XYZ is there, YOU'RE going the wrong way!" He just grinned his impish Chuck Patterson grin. He was MUCH too honest to argue, so we each carried on our respective diametrically opposed ways. I never heard anything more about it - no repercussions. COLLEGE But I digress (as usual). I was a prof's brat so I went to Whitman, in Physics. One of my fav courses was from Paul Dewey (I think), an Art Dept. prof. Another tale: Whitman. Pre-registration mini classes (20 min adverts by the Profs. I had dragged John Gallagher to a bunch of geeky (current term) Science ads , so I owed him. He wanted to check out Dewey's Art History class; whatever. Fascinating! Literally ran right out and signed right up for it. Loved it. 3 years later brother Jim (still of WW), took it. My mom even took it! Come to think of it, 'bout 5 years ago, my daughter was quite taken with Art History in college for a while - I see her massive A.H. tome (Gardener's) on the shelf right beside me. My old Jansen (Jensen?) is nowhere to be seen. Hmmmm. CAREER After grad ('74) I moved back to Canada. There I took Education (University of British Columbia = UBC) and taught Physics & Computer Science in Terrace, BC for a dozen years. Terrace: think southern tip of the Alaskan pan handle but inland (east), oh, 50 miles. There I met my wife & eventually had 2.8 kids there. 2 daughters. CAREER AND … ( PART 2) We then moved here, 20 miles WNW of Vancouver, BC, where my son was born within 2 months - finishing out the 0.8 of a kid above. Taught Computers, Math, Chemistry & Physics for another 20 years before Parkinson's cut my teaching career a bit (3 yrs) short. While I don't recommend it, there are MUCH worse diseases to acquire. As I experience it ('mileage may vary'), it is very FRUSTRATING! Frustration beats pain, hands down!! Alas, some of my former activities are no longer doable, but others are (see below). KIDS The aforementioned kids are all in their 20s. I lucked out - in spite of my contribution of half their genes, they are great kids and I have enjoyed at least 95% of my fatherhood to date (its hard when they are going thru hard things). Oldest daughter (UBC) and son (SFU = Simon Fraser University) are both studying Psychology. Middle daughter Cathy just completed a Bachelors in Sociology (SFU) and has been living in Taiwan for most of the past 3 years. WIFE I met my wife 35 years ago (almost to the day - mid Nov.). She retires from Lab technology at the end of the month! She will be taking classes toward doing volunteer work teaching immigrants English & reading. She loves to walk/hike - something I can't do with her anymore due to the aforementioned PD. She has just found a MeetUp group that walk/hike at her level. They just did a very wet 4 hr hike to a viewpoint - without the view in the rain. CURRENT ANTICS - PART 1 (TRIKIN MY BLUES AWAY…) I ride a trike. In fact I have 4, so if you drop by, we can go for a ride together. These trikes may not be what you are envisioning - neither in design nor cost. When Life hands you lemons, make LemonAde, and that is the name of my first trike (some believe that trikes must be named …): LemonAde is a yellow HP Velotechnik Scorpion FX (folding). One sweet ride! It is a tadpole design, meaning 2 wheels in front (steered) and one in the rear (drive). German manufacture. 5+k new LemonBead is a yellow Sidewinder Cruiser Pro. Also a tadpole but the 2 front wheels are driven (w/ differential) and the rear wheel steers. I have an electric battery/motor kit for it somewhere, but I removed it due to its weight and the fact that I am still perfectly capable of providing the requisite power. It also folds. US manufacture. 2k used LemonSeed is a black and silver SUN UX3 (or somesuch). It is a delta design with 2 rear wheels (one driven; no diff) and one front steered wheel. You sit both higher and more upright on it with some loss of cornering stability as a result. It i...Expand for more