TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020

MOVING TO OREGON!!

This part of the story doesn’t get told much.  It was worthwhile, but I felt like a foreigner.

In late August 1980, I interviewed at Mount Hood Community College.  As the name would indicate it was in Oregon and looked at Mount Hood.  Technically, it was in Gresham, Oregon an eastern suburb of Portland.  (Aside, on the day I flew in to interview, there was a minor eruption on Mount St. Helens!!  And, when we lived there, we felt some minor earthquakes!!!)

It was a great place to experience for two years.  On weekends, we could drive about two hours to the ocean; or an hour to Mount Hood.  We picked blueberries, strawberries, peaches, apples, and more.

I was hired to be an instructor of computing classes - and the system administrator of the campus instructional mini-computer - an HP 3000 workhorse!!

My wife and family remained in Winona - trying to sell our house that we optimistically bought after moving from Keokuk.  It didn’t sell.  We had some friends from our little Pentecostal Church that watched our house for us.  While I was teaching at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, I didn’t have a place to live.  My mother’s good friend from Iowa, Virginia took me in - although she lived in Vancouver Washington!!

And, prior to driving myself to Portland, my sister had gotten four tires at a great discount that would fit my car!!!  I started driving from Winona Minnesota to Oregon!!!

I was trying to save money - so everything I remotely needed was loaded into my car.  I drove west and stayed in Mitchell South Dakota in a KOA campground.  In the morning, one of my (new) tires was pretty flat.  The tire dealer said, “That tire is no good”; so I bought a tire and headed towards the Black Hills.  Almost every time I stopped, I checked the tires - now a second tire was low.  So, in Rapid City, I bought a second tire.  The tire dealer said, “That tire is no good”.  I camped again that night and made it to Rock Springs Wyoming for my third night.  There I stayed with my wife’s sister and brother-in-law (and before leaving town, bought a third tire!!).  I made it to Vancouver that evening and out in the country found Virginia and Bill’s houses.  (And, bought the fourth tire soon after!!!)

Virginia was my mother’s great friend.  After their own year of college together, Virginia and my mother took a trip west and stayed with some of Virginia’s relatives.  She welcomed me like her long lost son!!!  

Virginia was retired from Portland State University.  She and Bill had an acreage northeast of Vancouver.  She was one of the first environmentalists that I’ve known.  The acreage was a lush garden.  There were hazelnut trees and lots of fruit trees.  Virginia was drying fruits for winter storage.  The property had been in her family for some time - as well as fifty acres of mountain tree land a few miles north - and closer to Mount St. Helens.  That treed area was to be a forest preserve and never to have homes on it.  

There were two houses on the property - Virginia lived in one and Bill in the other.  The second house had been Virginia’s mother’s house.  Virginia was a night owl and her day started about noon - and she would go to bed about four a.m.  Bill was more conventional and got up in the morning and went to bed about 10:00.  So having two houses was a perfect solution.

I commuted to campus and also looked for lodging for the family.  Finally, in mid-October, I rented a duplex house in Gresham, about two miles from campus.  My wife and children packed our things and arranged for it to be moved to the duplex.  And, they flew to Portland to meet me!!  This had been the longest I had been away from my family in six years (since getting married) and it was a joyful welcoming!!!  And, my wife’s uncle (the Catholic Bishop) had been on the flight as well and gave my wife $20 - tucked in a Time Magazine article.  

*****

So started my two years at Mount Hood Community College.  It was my first time on the West Coast and we traveled - to the Pacific Ocean.  (Becky** loves the Goonies Movie and Astoria Oregon.)   We picked fruit.  It was a lush area.  

*****

Some takeaways from this move!!!

I was the system administrator for the HP 3000 Academic Computer.  (I have no idea why I became this system administrator - the campus computer coordinator didn’t want to do it, the other computer science professor didn’t want to do it - so, by default, it became my duty!!).  I knew almost nothing about this function, but in my first summer, I got sent to Santa Clara California for HP training to be a systems administrator.  The good part of that trip was driving down the Oregon Coast to California, through the Redwoods and Napa Valley to San Francisco).  My wife and children got to explore Santa Clara while I did my class.

 

The second summer, again, I was sent to an HP class in San Francisco proper so the family enjoyed all the sights of San Francisco - the cable cars, the Golden Gate Bridge, Ghirardelli chocolates.  This time Becky** declared she liked the island in San Francisco bay (aka “Alcatraz”).  It was her favorite island!!!

I became the faculty advisor for the Honors Society (it seems like I have trouble saying “no”).  I loved the environment, loved my students, and my work.  And, I was enjoying my family!!!  But, the regional meeting of the Honors Society was at Heceta Head Lighthouse; and the next year at Gray’s Landing on the ocean.  And we got to see and enjoy the Scenic Northwest!!

(Aside, our son was in Kindergarten and had to ride a bus to school.  We got him to the bus stop and then met him as he got off the bus.  One day, he wasn’t on the bus when it came through our neighborhood in the afternoon!!!  Alas, he had fallen asleep on the bus and eventually they got him home!!!)

The Portland area (like Seattle) frequently had rain in the winter and gray skies.  It generally wasn’t much - a light drizzle.  Some people got “seasonal affective disorder” and needed to go to sunshine spas to get some sunlight!!!  It didn’t snow much in our area - but we could see snow around us - on Mount Hood, on Mount St Helens, and other mountains in the area.

I took a Pascal programming course at Portland State University and taught Pascal, plus Fortran, and computer concepts.

And, an “I was used” mistake.  Introduction to Computing Courses were becoming required courses and as coordinator of that course, the textbook people tried to get me to use their textbooks.  One enterprising publisher rep took me to a great restaurant, treated me to a great meal, while he extolled “his” textbook, and I did require it for my next semester classes.  While it was an okay book, I felt used and that I was kind of a dumb course coordinator!!!  (I should have gotten more from that than just lunch!!! Later for other publishers I got on their advisory boards, reviewed textbooks, and made my textbook decisions based on content and quality)

Another great thing happened.  A student got a new Apple II computer and wanted to use something called “Visicalc” - a program on the Apple that did spreadsheets.  I got to be his instructor for a special topics course in spreadsheets - my first exposure to the world of personal computing.

During my second year at Mount Hood Community College, my father had a mild heart attack in Iowa.  I didn’t like being so far away from my family, but my wife was really unhappy at being so far away from her family.  Our house in Winona hadn’t sold, it was still just rented out.  So, I started to look for midwestern computer teaching positions!!! 

(Tomorrow, God’s hand again!!!!)

LOVE WINS!!!

HUGS!!!

Karen

** Used without permission