AMuzi
2015-05-07 12:34:01 UTC
From Pardo this morning:
A little over 4 years ago, Jobst had a brain injury while
riding his
bicycle -- Stroke then crash? Crash then stroke? The
details are
unclear. He has been in a decline ever since. Recently, he
stopped
eating, then drinking; last night he died at home, which is
where he
wanted to be.
A lot of cyclists know of Jobst mainly through rec.bicycle
posts, where
he developed a reputation of "self-important jerk". He was
also often
abrasive in person. And: also generous, enthusiastic, and
tirelessly
encouraging of everybody to aim higher and do more.
I have been thinking about "why I liked Jobst", and here are
a few
thoughts:
* He was one of the engineering-smartest people I have met.
Illustration: I ran in to one of his co-workers (we were
both riding
with Carradice bags), somebody who worked with Jobst at
HP (Agilent)
labs for 20-ish years; we got to talking about Jobst.
We agreed
Jobst had a difficult user interface. When I said Jobst was
"usually" right about technical matters, his co-worker's
face flushed
and he demanded "Tell me _once_ when Jobst has been wrong!"
* He was enthusiastic to share. Illustration: at some
point he was
lamenting idiots on rec.bicycles -- I asked "Why do you
even bother?"
His response was, basically "There's people who want to
know, I can't
let the idiots be the only ones to speak!" Further, he
expected
_everybody_ was capable of understanding answers to
their questions.
More, he understood clearly that for every issue or
problem, there's
a "first time" a person will see it. In a little more
detail, he
spent countless hours describing stuff to me just
because I asked and
was willing to listen.
* Life does not stop at engineering. Illustrations: The
purpose of
bicycles is to _see the world_. "We need the
environment. I give to
the Open Space trust; everybody should." "I do not
understand why
anybody wants to be gay [homosexual], but there's no
reason anybody
should stop them." A seemingly-endless supply of
chanterelle
mushrooms -- "nobody understands how to cultivate them,
we keep
learing more, yet it is a mystery where they choose to
grow."
* Do what you can do, and there's always more to do.
Illustrations:
Jobst's heart valve was damaged a child, and he had
cancer later in
life. Yet his main complaint was the poor accuracy of
testing
anti-coagulants and time it took to deal with
complications from
surgery. "The locomotives had been moved to Vietnam,
and were
eventually retired as stationary engines. With some
help, they were
moved out of the jungle and rebuilt from original plans
somebody
managed to find. Today you can go for a ride."
Caption: "Many riders can climb steeper than they believe.
Filbert
Street, San Francisco, 1979. About 30% grade."
Loading Image...
I've been here, but in 38/23 not 50/23!
;-D on ( so long and thanks for all the chanterelles )
Pardo
A little over 4 years ago, Jobst had a brain injury while
riding his
bicycle -- Stroke then crash? Crash then stroke? The
details are
unclear. He has been in a decline ever since. Recently, he
stopped
eating, then drinking; last night he died at home, which is
where he
wanted to be.
A lot of cyclists know of Jobst mainly through rec.bicycle
posts, where
he developed a reputation of "self-important jerk". He was
also often
abrasive in person. And: also generous, enthusiastic, and
tirelessly
encouraging of everybody to aim higher and do more.
I have been thinking about "why I liked Jobst", and here are
a few
thoughts:
* He was one of the engineering-smartest people I have met.
Illustration: I ran in to one of his co-workers (we were
both riding
with Carradice bags), somebody who worked with Jobst at
HP (Agilent)
labs for 20-ish years; we got to talking about Jobst.
We agreed
Jobst had a difficult user interface. When I said Jobst was
"usually" right about technical matters, his co-worker's
face flushed
and he demanded "Tell me _once_ when Jobst has been wrong!"
* He was enthusiastic to share. Illustration: at some
point he was
lamenting idiots on rec.bicycles -- I asked "Why do you
even bother?"
His response was, basically "There's people who want to
know, I can't
let the idiots be the only ones to speak!" Further, he
expected
_everybody_ was capable of understanding answers to
their questions.
More, he understood clearly that for every issue or
problem, there's
a "first time" a person will see it. In a little more
detail, he
spent countless hours describing stuff to me just
because I asked and
was willing to listen.
* Life does not stop at engineering. Illustrations: The
purpose of
bicycles is to _see the world_. "We need the
environment. I give to
the Open Space trust; everybody should." "I do not
understand why
anybody wants to be gay [homosexual], but there's no
reason anybody
should stop them." A seemingly-endless supply of
chanterelle
mushrooms -- "nobody understands how to cultivate them,
we keep
learing more, yet it is a mystery where they choose to
grow."
* Do what you can do, and there's always more to do.
Illustrations:
Jobst's heart valve was damaged a child, and he had
cancer later in
life. Yet his main complaint was the poor accuracy of
testing
anti-coagulants and time it took to deal with
complications from
surgery. "The locomotives had been moved to Vietnam,
and were
eventually retired as stationary engines. With some
help, they were
moved out of the jungle and rebuilt from original plans
somebody
managed to find. Today you can go for a ride."
Caption: "Many riders can climb steeper than they believe.
Filbert
Street, San Francisco, 1979. About 30% grade."
Loading Image...
I've been here, but in 38/23 not 50/23!
;-D on ( so long and thanks for all the chanterelles )
Pardo
--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971