After our Rhet year, I went east to Catholic U., along with Gary Passarino and Dave Valtierra.  Two years later, I found myself saying to a classmate that I had been uncertain about my calling for a long time and that maybe “It might look clearer from the other side of the fence.” I left, and it did get very clear: I gradually realized that I was not cut out to be a spokesman for any large organization. Anything I really can’t agree with becomes a pebble in my shoe, and I can’t ignore it.

I spent the next 7 years in jobs compatible with a BA in Philosophy.  I taught high school math in an inner-city girls high school (what a change from the seminary!) and then ran a photo store for Colorfax Labs, both in Washington DC. Then I came home and worked for several years as a traveling baby photographer. An interest in solar energy led me to stumble into my calling as an R&D engineer. I first worked for a small company in Santa Cruz. That led to the California Energy Commission, and then to UC San Diego in 1979. I’ve lived in San Diego since then.
 
In 1982 I started going to talks about space technology.  I was invited to give a talk myself, about what one can do with long ropes in space. (I had read about this in science fiction and analyzed it as a hobby.)  I learned that an Italian scientist had talked NASA into taking this seriously, and I later proposed a simpler concept. It was funded, and led to 4 successful space experiments from 1993 through 1996, vs 2 failures of the more complex system. After that second failure, NASA’s overall interest in space tethers decreased. But the Naval Research Lab and several companies remain interested. I am working with them on concepts that may allow affordable collection of most of the 2000 tons of debris now in low earth orbit. In short, after decades of being called a space cadet, it finally sunk in that my friends had been giving me good career advice...

I've been married 25 years. My wife Kathy is a social worker/counsellor for Kaiser Permanente. (That name does come from the creek near Saint Joe’s.)  In 1993 we adopted 15-month old twins named Heather and Jenny.  They are now 23, living at home after a year at Humboldt State, and working and studying part time.  Heather plans to be an RN, and Jenny a teacher.      

I had a minor heart attack in 2002.  They put 3 stents in the next day, and another 4 in 2009.  In 2008 I was also diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, which an ablation plus meds have controlled.  Other than that, my health is fairly good. My main exercise is hiking. Last summer I visited the grounds of St. Joe’s and did several 2-hour hikes in the hills. It’s great hiking! In the last month, Kathy and I have done 2 short day-hikes on the Pacific Crest Trail, north and south from Mount Laguna. That may be the prettiest in Southern California.  tether@cox.net     entered: 4/19/2015