Walter Hargis:  

Life US Navy, 70-76, got out early to go to NOVA for a quarter, traveled around for a while, went to Montgomery College for 3 years full time and part time, tutored math, worked in the electronics lab, and picked up a couple of AA's. That's where I became reaquainted with Patrick Shadoan. He came into the math lab for some help with his Calculus. We've been friends ever since. He has since passed away from lung cancer and I miss him dearly. Worked as an electronics technician at Weinschel Engineering in Gaithersburg from 78-80. Went to Colorado State University from 80-83, did some skiing and got a BSEE. Worked for Watkins Johnson Company in G'burg from 83-86; worked in Yugoslavia just after Tito died, testing Electronic Warfare systems that I helped design at WJ. Interesting time! Went back to Weinschel Engineering from 86-91. Got a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, 1990. Went to work for TTC in Germantown, 1992; it then became ACTERNA and now JDSU and I'm still there as a Senior Electrical Engineer. Bought a home with my future wife, Patty, in Nov. 93. Bicycled across Spain for a month from Dec 93 to Jan 94. My first daughter, Erin, was born in Dec 94. In July of 96, owning a townhouse, our new home, three cars, a kid, a dog, a pile of bicycles, a hot tub and a lawn mower, Patty and I got married! Kara was born in Feb 98. We're basically settled now. The girls go to Christ Episcopal School in Rockville. The Head Mistress, Jane Pontious, went to RMHS, in 65, I think. Small world. Patty has a Masters in accounting and works as a senior corporate accountant filing SEC reports for the WRIT in Rockville. Buy some shares! After family and work I spend my time reading on a wide range of subjects, mountain biking with my buddies in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Utah, and soon to be Washington State; I play basketball once a week, lift several times a week, and ski in Utah and sometimes Colorado every year, and drink lots of Single Malt Scotch. Did I miss anything? Erin won a state writing contest in 5th grade for the DAR. This kid writes better than most high school grads. She knocks out two to three books a week besides the load she gets from CES. I hope she doesn't fizzle like I did. Kara plays basketball, LaCrosse, walks the dog every morning and enjoys beating me up. She's a lot of fun. 2008 Was the best year of skiing I've ever had. Did 8 days at Snowbird, UT; steep(40 deg pitch off Silver Fox and the Cirque), deep (170" base), and cold enough(4 deg at the top) to keep the fair weather skiiers off the mountain. And another 4 days at Steamboat, CO. Thigh high champaign powder, cold and sunny. Dining on good wine, fresh elk, and The Glenlivet, 15yr, French Oak. Try it! I'd have done more but work and family... Update 9/09/011...My mother-in-law plied me with a bottle of Basil Hayden. I didn't know bourbon could taste that good. Now I've got another vice to support. Poured a new slab and wired up a new hot tub this summer just in time for fall mountainbiking. Still playing basketball a couple of times a week, lifting two or three times and mountainbiking as often as I can. Erin is a junior at St. John's in Frederick and doing very well. She's an excellent writer and avid reader and has had a number of accolades for her work. Kara is at St. Elizabeth's on Montrose. She's doing well and is in English honors and plays basketball. I hope she makes a high school basketball team. Patty is an AVP at WRIT, buying and selling properties and doing SEC filings. I'm not sure what that is but it sure sounds impressive. Still working at JDSU in Germantown designing instruments for the telecom market. Also developing a sidescan sonar system on the side with a business partner. I have been working on this for some time now with plenty left to do. I hope to have a marketable product at some point to see me through my retirement years. Going out to Big Bear Lake in WV this month to MTB for a few days. I sure hope it stops raining... My father died last year, Feb 27, 2011. He had a bad but not uncommon end. Advanced dimentia, the lungs didn't work anymore and the heart finally gave out. He was 89 and I miss him. I changed my life for the better. I started dabling in this Paleo diet. Mainly I stopped eating grains; no more pizza, pasta, bagels, doughnuts, breakfast cereal, etc. I didn't realize all these years I had a gluten intolerance, perpetual heartburn and indigestion as ...Expand for more