2018-12-27T23:36:04Z

Lorensen: Lorensen moved page I Love Hin and He Loves Me to I Love Him and He Loves Me

2018-12-18T23:36:36Z

Lorensen:

Good Morning Eleanor

2018-12-18T23:16:58Z

Lorensen: Created page with "I never met Eleanor, but I grew close to her over the years. In 2007, I retired after 40 years as a Computer Scientist. My wife and I lived our entire lives in Upstate New Yo..."

I never met Eleanor, but I grew close to her over the years.

In 2007, I retired after 40 years as a Computer Scientist. My wife and I lived our entire lives in Upstate New York, just south of Saratoga Springs. In 1865, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saratoga,_California Saratoga California] was named after our [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saratoga_Springs,_New_York#History New York Saratoga Springs] because its mineral springs were similar to those in New York.

After retirement, we started to regularly visit our daughter who has lived in Santa Cruz for over twenty years. We rented homes on [https://www.santacruz.org/things-to-do/things-to-do-details/thinggid/85952 West Cliff Drive]for 4-6 weeks each March/April, shortening the cruel winters we had back east. For special occasions, we would return in September/October for a short stay. One September our son-in-law's band played at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Californians are fortunate because their shoreline is more accessible to the ordinary citizen than the coast in the North East. The [https://www.coastal.ca.gov/ California Coastal Commision] regulates private development near the ocean whereas, in the North East, homes and hotels can be built adjacent to the ocean, limiting public access to the shorelines. West Cliff Drive offers a three-mile walk from the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf to [http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541 Natural Bridges State Beach] sharing its interesting formations and vistas with anyone, regardless of social status. Parking, although a challenge, is free.

My Santa Cruz mornings followed a routine that started around 7:30 am. I picked up the brew of the day at Coffeetopia on Mission Street, a Mercury News at the U Liquor Store, then off to my meeting with Eleanor on West Cliff.

Many of the wooden benches on West Cliff are dedicated to individuals, A brief dedication statement and the honoree's name are carved into the back seat of the wooden bench. Eleanor's friends and relatives chose a bench across from the first place we rented in 2007. I imagine this bench was special to her and her friends. In subsequent years we stayed at four different homes, all a short distance from Eleanor's bench.

Eleanor's relatives picked a beautiful location. Her bench is close enough to the busy sidewalk to enjoy the passing walkers, talkers, runners, dogs, and folks that keep Santa Cruz weird. Near enough to the ocean to experience the unique vistas of Monterey Bay. Over the years I recognized the regulars, and they sometimes recognized me, the seasonal regular. Some days folks would join me on Eleanor's bench for a quick chat, mostly about the view, the weather and the occasional whale spouts we could see in the distance. No politics, religion or complaining here.

I met one couple who visited their aunt on West Cliff each March. They also had a West Cliff routine, passing Eleanor around 8:00 each morning. On their walk back home they would stop at our bench around 8:30 and talk about the weather, family, our backgrounds and, of course, the views of the ocean we shared.

I would read the Mercury News and then sit and enjoy the smells, the views of Monterey Bay and the sounds of the crashing waves on the rocky shore. Each morning the seagulls would glide above the waves on their way to Natural Bridges Beach. The occasional California sea otter would drift on its back above the kelp beds just a few yards from shore. On clear days, I could see the looming towers of the Moss Landing Power Plant. At the far end of the crescent that defines Monterey Bay, I could make out the outline of Pacific Grove, 46 miles away by car, but a mere 25 miles as the seagull flies. I usually stayed at the bench an hour or so, just gazing at the ocean, sometimes as calm as a lake and other times with waves interesting enough to attract the early morning surfers. I imagined the surfers checked the morning surf reports on KPIG and then decide if work would have to wait an hour or two.

As I grew older, I sat on the bench wondering if I would return the next year to visit with Eleanor and the peaceful, idyllic place that West Cliff offered in the morning. Did Eleanor had similar thoughts, as she gazed across the Bay from her favorite bench?

In January 2018 we made the big move from our home of 47 years in New York to Aptos. The temperature was 5F when we left Albany and 61F when we arrived in San Jose. I haven't worked out my daily routine yet. Living in Aptos is like living in paradise. Although I'm ten minutes from Rio Del Mar Beach, I never go there in the mornings. I do stop at Pacific Roasting Company for a coffee and muffin. My Mercury News is delivered to my driveway each morning. Occasionally I've returned to visit Eleanor, but travel time during rush hour is just too long to keep up my old routine.

Thank you, Eleanor, for sharing your bench with me. Perhaps we'll meet someday and share our love for her bench, West Cliff and Santa Cruz.

Stories

2018-12-18T22:56:50Z

Lorensen:

Anyone who knows me has listened to my stories. These are my recollections of events in my life, professional and personal. Recently (2012), on Facebook, a number of my friends from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lansingburgh,_New_York Lansingburgh, NY] collected their stories in a book. I contributed three of my stories to this book. My family seemed to enjoy the stories and story telling gives me a chance to reflect on the past. This book motivated me to write other stories I've been telling for years, into words.

Here are the three stories I contributed to the book:
* [[A Boy and His Dogs|A Boy and His Dogs]]
* [[First Steps Outside My Comfort Zone|First Steps Outside My Comfort Zone]]
* [[Home of the Silo Sandwich|Home of the Silo Sandwich]]
And here are some more stories
* [[Sink or Swim|Sink or Swim]]
* [[How I lost the Nobel Prize|How I lost the Nobel Prize]]
* [[Stories/LHS64Validictory|LHS Valedictory Address]]
* [[Gift of the Magi|Gift of the Magi]]
* [[Good Morning Eleanor|Good Morning Eleanor]]
And some more to do sometime
* [[How the Draft Affected My Life|How the Draft Affected My Life]]
* [[Working for Your Friend|Working for Your Friend]]
* [[The Wall|The Wall]]
* [[Open Bill|Open Bill]]
* [[World Domination|World Domination]]
* [[Is it in the hole?|Is it in the hole?]]

Reflections

2017-02-09T20:02:31Z

Lorensen:

A collection of reflections...

* [[Computer_Science_at_GE_Research| Computer Science at GE Research]]
* [[The_future_ain't_what_it_used_to_be| The future ain't what it used to be]]

2016-06-29T15:09:13Z

Lorensen: Lorensen uploaded a new version of "File:GolfGreenVisualization.pdf"

Is it on the hole?

2016-06-21T21:43:53Z

Lorensen: Lorensen moved page Is it on the hole? to Is it nn the hole?

#REDIRECT [[Is it nn the hole?]]

Is it nn the hole?

2016-06-21T21:43:53Z

Lorensen: Lorensen moved page Is it on the hole? to Is it nn the hole?

In 1985 GE bought RCA who owned NBC. That same year, my group at GE Research was moved from an ovehead conputer group to a research group.

Stories

2016-06-21T21:43:22Z

Lorensen:

Is it nn the hole?

2016-06-21T21:41:29Z

Lorensen: Created page with "In 1985 GE bought RCA who owned NBC. That same year, my group at GE Research was moved from an ovehead conputer group to a research group."

In 1985 GE bought RCA who owned NBC. That same year, my group at GE Research was moved from an ovehead conputer group to a research group.

Stories

2016-06-21T21:37:35Z

Lorensen: