student again

I signed up for courses at Stony Brook. I failed the calculus the first semester and knew I would not be a graduate engineer. I had a good time with history and finite math. Took Quantum mechanics. I think I passed. I fell in with the S. F. Forum. I am a long-time fan. The group read. The president flirted with me for a book contribution. I liked that and eventually presented a cubic yard of paperbacks. We formed a steady relationship. About a third of the time for the next three years. We still talk. She has a husband and two half grown girls. That spring I was broke again. I found a job-shop position at BNL on a heat pump project. Learned a lot about refrigeration. Regan was elected and the project was defunded. Out again. I spent more time correcting Edwardian construction.
The S. F. Forum was an eclectic group. There was a perennial grad student who was moving from doing wet chem on eel grass toward running the electronics shop and instrument pool. more on TCW later. Marla graduated and I needed a job.