by a JPL Mathematician
with fond remembrance.
Ten years ago,
--that is --
Three thousand, Six hundred,
Fifty-Two days and some change,
A math professor (me) decided to rearrange
his life, his goals, his mind and heart,
And from those ivory halls depart
to worlds unknown, yet new, and fair,
where his chalk-parched soul would not despair:
That his words, his thoughts, and all
that he has said,
would not to Naught come,
and die, left unread.
And so to the 'Lab he came
where Jet Propulsion was its fame
(though oxymoron it is, I fear:
I've not plume one seen, since I've been here)
Meet Nevin Bryant, the boss, Geographer extraordinaire
who could to the Eskimos sell Frigidaire
A raconteur, great heart and wit,
who at times has been known to slip
into the conversations around the lunch table,
when the topic clearly was only Clark Gable:
"Why that reminds me back of the time,
when I was in Malaysia, 1959...
or Philippines, China, Bombay, or Peru,
and wrestling tigers in Katmandu"
Mild mannered Cartographer by day
but just as well would he might,
floorboard his old Mustang, and be flying
through the darkness of Night.
The Lab, I soon found, was full of intrigues,
Frank Evans airbrushing the swimsuit
off Cheryl Tiegs.
(others will argue, but I can envisage,
this was the real reason Frank wrote EDIMAGE)
My new job (mathematician?)
Neural Nets I must train,
go to Caltech --and--
dissect Monkey Brain,
Pardon my pun, if you please, but 'Tis True, I swear:
That this was the first time I worked with "Software".
Not just Theory, but now Practice,
thoughts take shape and form,
Compile, Link and Run:
a new Program is Born,
And unlike my old Life,
so unsure of my Worth,
people now Needed me:
I had value, here, on Earth.
(Now, before I go on, may I say as an aside,
This alone made it worth it,
and thanks for the ride,
But let me continue, if you please, and finish this Tome,
Before you all get too edgy,
and want to go home.)
Hail Tom Logan, Office Mate,
A true-blue friend through it all,
At the drop of a hat he could tell you
Sudan's yearly rainfall.
Ask Rich Fretz and maybe
he will tell you the Tale
of how we forced Logan to watch
M Python's Holy Grail
So many friends I have made here
some today now I can see,
Rich, Tom, and of course Nevin,
and Barbara McGuffie,
Honchos Ray Wall and Bill Green,
Jean Lorre and Bidushi,
Raphael, Lamark Johnson,
and even Mike Tschudi
Other friends I have not named here
flood the years like a fountain
Would that name them I could,
But I can't even count 'em.
How the world has changed since
In '87 was The Bomb,
and we went out to Germany, to help US EUCOM,
watch for Soviet invasions,
from East Germany, back by Poles,
Now we call them all Russians, and sell them coca-coles.
With Neptune Encounter I came here
Now Mars Pathfinder finds me leaving,
But the Wheels of Life turn for Good,
So don't, on my passing, be Grieving
and so, too, I raise my glass to the Lab,
may it survive all budgetary attack,
my choice to leave is not
the choosing of the Beggar,
but let me close with a quote
of Arnold Schwarzenegger,
and allow me to say,
perhaps, someday,
I will be back.
---
Dr. Niles David Ritter,
Jet Propulsion Labs
28th day of May, 1997
email: ndr@alum.mit.edu