Don's Life List

Ron wrote a list of his life's accomplishments about 2001, and after seeing his, it inspired me to create my own. I update it about every year, or after some significant milestone. Maybe it will be read at my funeral, to show how full and fortunate my life has been.

Updated November 2007

The things I've done over the years helped to keep me busy, for learning, and simply for fun.

I married a beautiful, intelligent, challenging woman, and celebrated over 27 years of happy marriage.

I have listened to President Kennedy give a speech, Jean-Pierre Rampal play the flute, Carl Sagan give a lecture, Carole King sing in Central Park, and Red Skelton tell jokes.

I’ve gambled in Las Vegas and seen some of their musical shows.

I listened to all six Brandenburg Concertos in one concert, and all of the Four Seasons in another. I’ve hired a chamber music quartet to celebrate my birthday.

I’ve tried to get on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Jeopardy" (twice).

I've climbed Pikes Peak, crawled into the depths of the Great Pyramid, hiked down the Grand Canyon, walked under the Thames River, entered the catacombs of Paris and Rome, hiked down the cliff trail to Black‘s Beach and up the path to the Acropolis.

I’ve been up the Eiffel Tower, St. Mark’s Tower, the Sears Tower, the Space Needle, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and the cathedral of Cologne.

I've collected mineral specimens from rock shops and mineral dealers around the world.

I’ve marveled at 13th century stained glass windows, and listened to concerts in gothic cathedrals. I’ve witnessed ceremonies at ancient Shinto shrines in Tokyo. I've sat in the balcony and listened to the Vienna Philharmonic. I've listened to Mozart being played while eating dinner in a restaurant over 1200 years old.

I've snorkeled in Hawaii, snowshoed in the Rockies, and bartered in Africa. I’ve been trapped in thunderstorms above timberline and in Illinois farms. I’ve walked from my home to the Pacific Ocean, and back.

I’ve walked along the crowded Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem and sat alone at the Bethlehem manger. I’ve boated across the Sea of Galilee and touched the waters of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. I’ve prayed at the Wailing Wall and in the Garden of Gethsemane. I’ve prayed at the same German churches used by my ancestors.

I’ve seen Galileo’s finger, Newton’s telescope, Fraunhofer’s prisms, and the first laser. I’ve toured the homes of Copernicus, Galileo, and Johannes Kepler, and gone inside Tycho Brahe’s observatory.

I’ve visited 44 of the 50 states and four of the seven continents. I’ve driven a car in six countries.

I’ve owned a station wagon and several hatchbacks and sedans. One was designed in Japan, one in Germany. I’ve never driven during an accident. I've never had to call 9-1-1.

I've learned to communicate in German, Italian, and Polish, and write computer programs in three languages. I’ve learned algebra, trigonometry, calculus, and geometry.

I’ve never been late for an appointment, a train, or a plane.

I’ve received eleven patents and discovered a new principle in optical testing. I’ve written a hundred papers and proposals, and been published in scientific journals and popular magazines. I’ve given lectures across the US and Europe.

I started a business that sold home-manufactured items around the world and was featured in advertisements and catalogs.

I’ve attended lectures by four Nobel Prize winners.

I've seen the Hope Diamond, the Wright Brother's airplane, rocks from the Moon, giant pandas, the Sistine Chapel, and the Mona Lisa. I’ve touched the monoliths at Stonehenge, walked up the Roman Colosseum, and visited the remnants of the Berlin Wall. I’ve walked around the ruins of Pompeii and stood on the Prime Meridian. I walked on Mt. Fuji. I’ve stood in the shadow of the Parthenon, and walked where St. Paul preached in Ephesus. I've visited the homes of Beethoven and Mozart.

I've watched a session of Congress during the Watergate hearings.

I graduated at the top of my physics class in college. I received a doctorate from one of the top universities in the world in a subject that most people can’t stand. I’ve been challenged by a peer group of senior physicists- and won.

I've judged state and local science fairs. I’ve won science fairs, spelling bees, photography contests, and door prizes.

I’ve owned a fixer-upper home and designed my dream house. I've survived two wildfires that burned thousands of nearby homes.

I've seen the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, meteor showers, and comets. I’ve seen a comet hit another planet, and took its picture. I’ve marveled at the spectacle of a total eclipse of the sun. I’ve seen a comet in broad daylight with my naked eye.

I've worked with high voltages, been in the underground tunnels in the Nevada nuclear test site, and worked with HF, CO2, Nd:YAG, diode, HeNe, Argon, Krypton, N2, dye, and HeCd lasers.

I've read Tolkein’s, Adam’s, and Asimov’s trilogies, Shakespeare's plays, and the Bible.

I've ridden on monorails, worked in a M1 Abrahms tank, rode a toboggan, floated in a Venetian gondola, flown in a corporate jet, canoed in Indiana, and rode the subways in Tokyo, London, Paris, Berlin, Athens, and Vienna.

I've researched the legacy of Nikola Tesla, the solid-state character of exotic metals, and laser properties of different gases. I’ve designed telescopes for NASA and the Border Patrol, optics for the Dept. of Energy, lasers for the Army, and mirrors for the Air Force. I’ve assembled fiber optics components to sub-micron accuracy. I’ve designed telescopes that can see stars in the daytime.

I've watched live TV coverage of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, JFK's burial, Nixon's resignation, Apollo 8 astronauts read from Genesis as they circled the moon, the Berlin Wall being torn down, and a police chase a Ford Bronco.

I've operated tire-recapping machines, lathes, oscilloscopes, microscopes, and telescopes.

I’ve seen the Cubs play baseball in Chicago, the Dodgers in Los Angeles, the Padres in San Diego, and the Rockies in Denver.

I’ve attended Independence Day celebrations in Maryland, Illinois, Colorado, and California. I’ve celebrated Oktoberfest in Munich and Greek Independence in Athens.

I've replaced brakes, alternators, spark plugs, and starters. I’ve used a coat hanger to hold up a muffler that fell off on a country road and another to open a locked door.

I’ve baby-sat kids who now have their own kids. I’ve kept in touch with friends I’ve known since my first year of college, and still remember grade school friends. I’ve organized a reunion for my 8th grade classmates - 38 years after seeing most of them.

I've played tag, football, basketball, tennis, ping-pong, softball, volleyball, badminton, Frisbee, horseshoes, racquetball, handball, bowling, golf, gymnastics, and wrestled. I've gone cross-country skiing, hiking, body surfing, roller-skating, ice skating, canoeing, horseback riding, and snorkeling. All that and never a broken bone or a required a stitch.

I’ve had an appendectomy, a root canal, and a herniated disk. I finally see the need to wear bifocal glasses.

I can do-si-do, allemande left, and promenade.

I've eaten escargot and drank champagne in France, drunk ale and ate fish and chips in England, eaten enchiladas in Mexico, drunk red wine with pasta in Italy, drunk beer with sausages and apple strudel in Germany, eaten pork in Poland, and drunk Ouza and ate lamb in Greece. I’ve eaten beef in Chicago and seafood in Maryland. I’ve eaten at McDonalds in eleven countries.