My first cousin, Chris Coates, 61, passed away recently after boating in the Seattle area with his whole family -- wife Mary, two sons and a daughter, and two three year old grand-daughters. He suffered an aortic aneurism on the lake, was able to get to ER and a very lengthy surgery which they thought was successful. Early the next morning, he suffered a fatal heart attack while in the recovery room.
The services last weekend were solemn, but enabled family (as always) to come together again. Chris was working at Boeing, on the Dreamliner, and the story from his colleagues at the service was that he was always a quiet, reserved engineer who never spoke out unless he was really concerned about something. And then, they said, he could be counted on to raise the question that everyone else would duck.
The big one on the Dreamliner was that he raised the flag about the stresses on fiber strands in the composite material joining the fuselage to the wings -- this was seen as a heresy statement, but it also stopped the forward progress until checked. Upon checking, it turned out to be true, and the plane was delayed for a year -- but hopefully the wings will stay attached for planes they put in service. I'm voting for him and his conscience -- it is pretty tough to fly these big birds without wings. The Lockheed Electra tried that in 1959 and 1960 with disastrous results. Chris' dad, Tom Coates, led the design team that did the latch on the cargo door of the Boeing 747 that blew off over Hawaii; that plane landed safely, unbelievably. Airplanes run 'in the family'; my daughter-in-law, Laura, works in the same building that Chris was in; she is on the Avionics side of the Dreamliner team.
So, those who think my Medal of Defiance was accidental haven't gotten to know the family. Chris's brother Tom, co-founder of Trimble Navigation, also has pedigree in this "emperor has no clothes" perspective. We all got it from ancestors, including William Coat(e)s who made the history books in Stonington, CT in about 1725 as indigent, without food or heat during an awesomely cold winter, but he was too proud and refused help from the community.
Jacques Henno, Alderman from Valenciennes France got the bailiff's daughter, Mme. Pesquier, pregnant in the neighboring town of Mons, Belgium around 1500 A.D. His grandson and namesake Jacques de Hennot (himself Alderman of Valenciennes), sided with Guy de Bres, the fiery Huguenot preacher executed by the French King Louis XIV in 1567. Hennot was captured twice, escaped both times, and under threat of death from both the King of France and the Duke of Alba in Italy, fled to England.
Hennot's 7th generation grandson, Abner Enos, born in New York, was living at age 26 in Indiana when gold was found in California. Off he went, a story told in "Across the Plains in 1950" which is on file in Salt Lake City Mormon archives. He intervened to save two men from hanging in "Hangtown" (now Placerville, CA), a move he wryly notes 'could have cost me my life'. That was but one of many harrowing tales in his saga. We think Chris Coates just was "one of the family"
Facts are, we lost a good man...
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Family news
Well, as the Easter blog said, Meredith would have a baby join the twin girls in August -- she did, and Molly (short for Margaret) has joined her sisters Lizzie and Katie. Lizzie (Elizabeth) is pretty sure that this is not really a good idea; Katie (Katherine, I think) is much more receptive at this point. We have several Margarets -- Peggy Finn Semling is a Margaret, Meg Dowley is a Margaret -- but none called Molly. WELCOME, MOLLY! Molly is an August 25 b'day, following Grandma Martha's on the 19th, along with my Sharon and Shannon. Hard to imagine that Grandma Martha has now joined the SEPTUAGENARIAN club (sounds almost phallic, doesn't it); my mother was a Grandma at forty since I was so precocious (or was it just lusty???). Not sure whether it's better at one age or another, but it is great regardless.
We have been trolling for NEW NEWS of oven baking, but at the moment we have no info around the loop. We can definitely say that we're not expecting anything but a new puppy.
The other NEW NEWS though is also terrific -- CINDY and the BOYS (as in our twins, Jack and Sam, and their dad Charlie and stepson Chris) have all moved to Piedmont, next to Berkeley. They are getting settled -- the boys start school next week, and the home is a wonderful old Tudor on a quiet street. We are SO THRILLED to have them closer, lots closer. We went over for a weekend, had a great walk around the neighborhood and down for dinner in the quaint little town area. She's already involved at Berkeley, taking the boys to the Lawrence Hall of Science; Jenny thinks that is spectacular.
Love, Chuck
We have been trolling for NEW NEWS of oven baking, but at the moment we have no info around the loop. We can definitely say that we're not expecting anything but a new puppy.
The other NEW NEWS though is also terrific -- CINDY and the BOYS (as in our twins, Jack and Sam, and their dad Charlie and stepson Chris) have all moved to Piedmont, next to Berkeley. They are getting settled -- the boys start school next week, and the home is a wonderful old Tudor on a quiet street. We are SO THRILLED to have them closer, lots closer. We went over for a weekend, had a great walk around the neighborhood and down for dinner in the quaint little town area. She's already involved at Berkeley, taking the boys to the Lawrence Hall of Science; Jenny thinks that is spectacular.
Love, Chuck
transition
The day before my birthday, we had a very hard loss. Our two dogs, Zoe and Sadie, were romping and running all over our newly planted back garden, chasing squirrels and each other. And then, they weren't. This was sometime around 4pm, Jenny was home, but didn't think much about it for a while, and then she missed Zoe.
Thinking she'd gotten out, Jenny searched all over for her, but the sad discovery was that she had dropped in a corner of the yard, looking almost like she'd been running at full speed (legs akimbo) and just collapsed. Whatever, she was gone, and Sadie was distraught... in fact, we all were, as it sunk in. Heart attack? Don't know. She was but six, and it was indeed a tough six years -- she'd had surgery on both front elbows at six months, major cancer surgery and radiation two years ago, and routinely got sick from dissecting miscreant squirrels she managed to catch in the pasture. But she loved life, and she gave it everything she had in terms of enthusiasm and passion. Not unlike Jenny and me???
I couldn't write about it for awhile, and someone asked from the last posting, "one dog?", so I thought I should explain. Anyway, she was the greatest sister and littermate for Sadie. Sadie just moped around for two weeks, maybe three, and now she's got a little more spring in her walk, thankfully. But GUESS WHAT -- we all do, although Sadie doesn't know quite how good it will be, and she might not even recognize it when it happens, at first. WHAT? you might ask. Well, of course! The puppy was born last Sunday, and we pick her (or maybe him) out of the litter in early October, and she comes home later that month. This will be our seventh purebred Black Lab -- are we traditional or what? Works better to have two at a time (three is one too many, we also know)
Charger was my first Lab; he welcomed Jenny as a nearly blind, deaf but very lovable old dog of twelve who lived two more years, about as long as Labs go. We then got two seven week old puppies, Blarney and Murphy. Murphy died of a heart attack or seizure at 18 months, and Kringle replaced him (Blarney thought a little puppy was the dumbest thing we could do). When Blarney died at thirteen, we brought a rescue dog, Molly, home. Molly was a wonderfully smart dog, half yellow Lab and half Chow; unfortunately her Chow tendencies were hard to train out of her, so eventually this was a painful situation for all of us.
When Kringle died at thirteen of cancer, we brought two new pups -- Zoe and Sadie -- home at a time my parents were living with us in a three bedroom rancher in Summerland near Las Vegas (and they were not exactly dog people, whew, INDEED). Molly helped raise them, and they turned into the most wonderful Labs, affectionate and loving but also with a good bark for strangers that doesn't bother Jenny late at night at all.
Sorry for the reminisces; our dogs are really our children at this phase of our lives. Wonderful companions, loyal beyond belief, and loving always. Love to you all, Chuck
Thinking she'd gotten out, Jenny searched all over for her, but the sad discovery was that she had dropped in a corner of the yard, looking almost like she'd been running at full speed (legs akimbo) and just collapsed. Whatever, she was gone, and Sadie was distraught... in fact, we all were, as it sunk in. Heart attack? Don't know. She was but six, and it was indeed a tough six years -- she'd had surgery on both front elbows at six months, major cancer surgery and radiation two years ago, and routinely got sick from dissecting miscreant squirrels she managed to catch in the pasture. But she loved life, and she gave it everything she had in terms of enthusiasm and passion. Not unlike Jenny and me???
I couldn't write about it for awhile, and someone asked from the last posting, "one dog?", so I thought I should explain. Anyway, she was the greatest sister and littermate for Sadie. Sadie just moped around for two weeks, maybe three, and now she's got a little more spring in her walk, thankfully. But GUESS WHAT -- we all do, although Sadie doesn't know quite how good it will be, and she might not even recognize it when it happens, at first. WHAT? you might ask. Well, of course! The puppy was born last Sunday, and we pick her (or maybe him) out of the litter in early October, and she comes home later that month. This will be our seventh purebred Black Lab -- are we traditional or what? Works better to have two at a time (three is one too many, we also know)
Charger was my first Lab; he welcomed Jenny as a nearly blind, deaf but very lovable old dog of twelve who lived two more years, about as long as Labs go. We then got two seven week old puppies, Blarney and Murphy. Murphy died of a heart attack or seizure at 18 months, and Kringle replaced him (Blarney thought a little puppy was the dumbest thing we could do). When Blarney died at thirteen, we brought a rescue dog, Molly, home. Molly was a wonderfully smart dog, half yellow Lab and half Chow; unfortunately her Chow tendencies were hard to train out of her, so eventually this was a painful situation for all of us.
When Kringle died at thirteen of cancer, we brought two new pups -- Zoe and Sadie -- home at a time my parents were living with us in a three bedroom rancher in Summerland near Las Vegas (and they were not exactly dog people, whew, INDEED). Molly helped raise them, and they turned into the most wonderful Labs, affectionate and loving but also with a good bark for strangers that doesn't bother Jenny late at night at all.
Sorry for the reminisces; our dogs are really our children at this phase of our lives. Wonderful companions, loyal beyond belief, and loving always. Love to you all, Chuck
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Garden up closer
Couldn't resist one more picture, this one of the steps to the 'back forty' for which the path is barely visible at the top of the pix. This path and the retaining wall, and the plantings were all a few days in place before the party. Jenny plans things this way -- to get me to 'perform'.
Garden Party pix
Michael Roberts shared some pix of the garden. This one shows the patio in part, plus tables on the lawn. There were also four tables up on "tee boxes" behind where he is standing -- new squared off lawn areas to level out the sloping 'back forty'.
The rock work and the new plantings all held up fine; I was pleased to say the least with how well it all worked. Imagine that we ordered heaters (and used them) for the August 7 soiree! As Jim Didion said, "what is this about global warming?"
The caterers weren't too happy about running up and down all of the waterwashed bluestone steps, but our remaining Black Lab, Sadie, thought it was a nifty idea.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
the birthday party
well, as Ricky Nelson's song said, "people came from miles around, everyone was there"
It was an incredible assemblage of family and friends, seventy plus to celebrate seventy years. Held in our back garden, the evening was cool and clear and the flowers obliged by blooming profusely.
Unbelievably, the CEO of HP, the "squeaky clean" Mark Hurd so revered on Wall Street, resigned the day before in an inexplicable 'non-sexual encounter' with an associate, and the party was abuzz with conjecture and invective. This guy was probably the sleaziest duplicitous CEO of a large corporation in America -- almost the same as the crafted Tiger Woods persona.
We used nametags, since a lot of the friends came from disparate backgrounds -- folk I've met over a long time, interwoven on occasion but not that many people knew each other 'ahead of time'. The name tags had logos on them as an icebreaker -- Yenta, an airplane to signify traveling together, companies we worked at, hobbies or civic groups, family... And then Jenny told a story about each and every one of the attendees to everyone. Mesmerizing, enchanting, as was the evening
I came away feeling so blessed, so lucky in my life, with such good friends and family to nurture me. Truly magic
It was an incredible assemblage of family and friends, seventy plus to celebrate seventy years. Held in our back garden, the evening was cool and clear and the flowers obliged by blooming profusely.
Unbelievably, the CEO of HP, the "squeaky clean" Mark Hurd so revered on Wall Street, resigned the day before in an inexplicable 'non-sexual encounter' with an associate, and the party was abuzz with conjecture and invective. This guy was probably the sleaziest duplicitous CEO of a large corporation in America -- almost the same as the crafted Tiger Woods persona.
We used nametags, since a lot of the friends came from disparate backgrounds -- folk I've met over a long time, interwoven on occasion but not that many people knew each other 'ahead of time'. The name tags had logos on them as an icebreaker -- Yenta, an airplane to signify traveling together, companies we worked at, hobbies or civic groups, family... And then Jenny told a story about each and every one of the attendees to everyone. Mesmerizing, enchanting, as was the evening
I came away feeling so blessed, so lucky in my life, with such good friends and family to nurture me. Truly magic
Monday, July 12, 2010
where did the time go
My gosh, here it is almost mid-July, and nearing the "autumn" of my days, meaning that I turn seventy in eight days!
The time does fly by, especially when you're having fun. And I have been having some, indeed.
A big trip happened in May/June, traveling to Long Island, NY for a Board meeting (where I resigned as Board Chair after five years), then to London (where I gave a talk for HP Enterprise Group, a FIRST!) and HP Bristol Labs and then to Warwick Business School for a fun evening about Innovation. Then on an early morning flight to Madrid, followed by a late-evening flight to Sao Paolo, Brazil where I was part of a Monitor Group three-day workshop. On the back end, I stopped over in Lima, Peru, which turned out to be fortuitous and exciting.
There is an ancient city about 200 kilometers from Lima north along the coast, built some 5,000 years ago, with nine ceremonial pyramids, built all at once some 400 years before the Egyptians got with their program. This historic site called Caral is hardly known, and gets very few visitors. I had a car, driver, and guide to myself, as well as the assistant curator of "the dig" for several hours. Regal treatment for a truly fascinating experience. Go check out http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1269
Coming home after a whirlwind two weeks, I was glad to be back in California, but surely privileged to have had the excursion.
The time does fly by, especially when you're having fun. And I have been having some, indeed.
A big trip happened in May/June, traveling to Long Island, NY for a Board meeting (where I resigned as Board Chair after five years), then to London (where I gave a talk for HP Enterprise Group, a FIRST!) and HP Bristol Labs and then to Warwick Business School for a fun evening about Innovation. Then on an early morning flight to Madrid, followed by a late-evening flight to Sao Paolo, Brazil where I was part of a Monitor Group three-day workshop. On the back end, I stopped over in Lima, Peru, which turned out to be fortuitous and exciting.
There is an ancient city about 200 kilometers from Lima north along the coast, built some 5,000 years ago, with nine ceremonial pyramids, built all at once some 400 years before the Egyptians got with their program. This historic site called Caral is hardly known, and gets very few visitors. I had a car, driver, and guide to myself, as well as the assistant curator of "the dig" for several hours. Regal treatment for a truly fascinating experience. Go check out http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1269
Coming home after a whirlwind two weeks, I was glad to be back in California, but surely privileged to have had the excursion.
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