Family
My Wife Beth, with Mia and Elijah -- Feb 2002 Elijah James, born Nov. 15th, 2001 -- Pic taken Feb 2002
WARNING: This is the typical boring stuff on families, that might not interest you unless you are a part of the family. However, there are some interesting stories involving my Dad given below. Dad had a rather extensive military career and served in Patton's 5th Army during WWII. Carry on at your own risk.
Index of Entries
Full Name: James Robert McElroy
Birthdate: 10/10/1954
Birth Place: El Paso, Texas (Actually Bliss Air Force Base, just outside of El Paso)
After being born in Texas, and a brief stint in Kansas, I lived most of my life in Silicon Valley (Cupertino), about 1 mile from where Apple computers was started. This is purely coincidental, and to prove it, I've always used IBM clones.
I got a late start on my college education due to various reasons, but first started attending De Anza Community College in Cupertino in 1980. De Anza had an excellent math and chemistry department, so I took most of my math, chemistry, and general education courses there. I also worked as a lab assistant in the chemistry department and as an usher / ticket seller in the planetarium. De Anza has a 169 seat planetarium (4th largest on the west coast) and we used to present both educational shows (during the day) and laser light shows (at night) there. It was a lot of fun.
I then attended San Jose State University and received a BS in Computer Engineering in 1989. From 1986 to 1989 I also worked at the IBM Scientific Center on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, CA. The Scientific Center staffed a wide variety of PhD's in various scientific areas, including physics, chemistry, meteorology, seismology, biology, and other fields. These scientists were allowed to do research on their own, with the caveat that they had to devote a certain amount of time helping IBM sell mainframes to universities and government organizations. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to work with a group of extremely intelligent people there.
On October 17th, 1989, I was working in the Scientific Center with my boss. I was rather angry at the time, because my favorite baseball team, the Giants, was in the World Series, and my boss, who knew I was a big Giants fan, was keeping me late at work. At around 5:17 PM, the whole building began shaking. My boss and I realized that an earthquake was in progress, and we immediately headed for a doorway. The shaking continued, and became very violent. It finally subsided after about 30 seconds (which seemed like an hour to me), and we headed out of the building, along with the rest of the employees. Upon turning on our car radios, we realized that not a single radio station was on the air. This was when we realized that this was, indeed, a rather serious earthquake. The only employee who wasn't shaken up (psychologically) by the earthquake was the seismologist who worked across the hall, who was very excited at all the data he would collect. Eventually the radio stations got their emergency generators online, and we began hearing the reports of the damage done to the Bay Area. This was the Loma Prieta quake of 1989, which measured about 6.9 on the Richter scale. (It was originally reported as a 7.2 earthquake, and it sure felt stronger than 6.9 to me.) The seismologist almost did not get his data -- he forgot to earthquake-proof his earthquake-detecting computer equipment, which was destroyed in the earthquake. Fortunately, we were able to pay $400 and have most of the data from the hard drive recovered.
From 1990 through 1992 I worked with a small start-up company which was attempting to get outsourcing contracts for microprocessor design. This company was owned and operated by Nick Tredennick, who was the primary (90%) developer of the Motorola 68000 microprocessor. He was/is a brilliant man, but very down to earth. Even though he was the president of his own company and a millionaire, he joined the Navy Reserves and did his duty for his country. I was the only programmer there, among 10 --12 electrical engineers. My main job was to create software tools for the hardware designers.
The company eventually went on to do patent consulting on a contract basis for large microprocessor companies involved in patent disputes. We were involved in the infamous Motorola / Hitachi patent lawsuit of 1990. Motorola had sued Hitachi for patent infringement, and Hitachi took a round-about approach to the lawsuit by systematically invalidating Motorola patents until Motorola cried "uncle" and dropped the lawsuit. Motorola's patents were invalidated by proving that there was ample "prior art" that was not disclosed at the time of patent application by Motorola. If publicly available prior art exists at least one year prior to a patent application, then the knowledge is considered "public domain" and a patent will not be granted. It is up to the applicant to supply prior art references, and if the applicant fails to do so, then a patent may be granted, but then revoked if the patent is successfully challenged. This is what Hitachi did to several Motorola patents.
Nick never made much money from the 68000 chip, but he finally earned what he deserved when the NextGen company went public. Nick has several hundred-thousand shares in the company given to him when he worked there as a chief scientist. He considered these worthless, but he fortunately hung on to them, and NextGen went public before it eventually collapsed, making Nick a millionaire. If anyone deserves to be a millionaire, Nick does.
By 1992 I got very frustrated with Silicon Valley (cost of living, congestion, lack of beauty and nature) and moved to Chico to get my M.S. in Computer Science, and have lived in this area ever since. I love it here. And... I can afford to live here too. I am now married with two children -- Mia Joy, and Elijah James, shown above.
I completed my coursework for my MS in Computer Science by 1994, but left the thesis hanging for a bit in favor of making some money, paying off student loans, and putting food in my tummy. I taught at CSU Chico in the Fall of 1994 and the Spring of 1995, then joined Vayda Consulting in August, 1995, where I became sort of a process guru and trainer. Tom Vayda, who used to be a professor at CSU Chico, started his own consulting company, based right here in Chico. I helped develop CLIPP (Complete Lifecycle Incremental Parallel Process) and did trainings for Tom. I was fortunate enough to do a lot of traveling on that job, including trips to Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, and even more exotic places, such as New Jersey, Texas, and Colorado. Tom's company was eventually bought by Platinum Technologies, based in Chicago (Chico with an AG). I continued the same duties for Tom after the purchase by Platinum.
Platinum was then bought out by their arch-rival, Computer Associates, at which time the entire Vayda "wing" was let go. I did some independent work for awhile, then joined SSGI in Chico as a Process Developer / Project Manager. That job lasted a year, until I rejoined Tom Vayda in his new company, Vayda & Herzum. Tom teamed up with Peter Herzum, an expert on component development, and they (we) started doing consulting work for various companies including Rockwell-Collins International in Iowa. But Tom and Peter did not get along, and eventually parted ways, with Tom retiring. Peter carried on with me as an employee, but was hit hard by the economic recession and the 9/11 disaster. I was released on January 11th, 2002, at which time I started teaching at CSU Chico.
Note: I eventually got my thesis done (and my Master's Degree) in the Summer of 2000. My thesis is titled "A Scalable Approach to Component Modeling". It may be the fattest and most wordy thesis in the history of Computer Science at Chico State.
Outside of computers, I love to hike in the woods, backpack, fish, and contemplate the meaning of our existence. (Haven't figured it out yet.) I also love good old fashioned rock and roll music from the time period 1967 -- 1975, the kind the hippies used to make and listen to (e.g., the Doors, Hendrix, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Stones, Neil Young, Who, Santana, some Grateful Dead, etc.) (note: this is not the garbage that was played on the AM top 40 stations during that time). I include in that group any newer (or older for that matter) music that sounds like it came from that period. I don't care much for disco, rap, or post 1950's country music. I do like reggae, and some classical music, especially music made by the composers of the 20th century.
I also have a great interest in philosophy, psychology, and the religions of the world, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. I do not necessarily subscribe to any one specific religious belief or organization. I ended up one class short of being able to get a minor in Religious Studies at San Jose State. My Meyers-Briggs profile is INFP, if that means anything to you. INFP's are supposed to make great priests, psychologists, and social workers... but not necessarily computer programmers. So I find myself in the "religious field" of computers -- software engineering, methodologies and processes. And I find myself practicing the psychology of system design (systems analysis, especially the requirements gathering activities -- trying to figure out what the customer really wants). And I find myself loving the "social work" of the computer field -- teaching.
Wife: Beth Noelle McElroy
Two children: Mia Joy (born 1999) and Elijah James (born 2001).
Two sisters: Ann and Donna
Our Philosophy on Raising Children
(From an old Zen story):
Although very short, a duck's legs cannot be lengthened without great discomfort to the duck. Although very long, crane's legs cannot be shortened without great discomfort to the crane. It is better to let the duck be a duck and the crane be a crane.
(From the Bible):
"Spare the rod and spoil the child" -- people who use this quote from the Bible usually do not understand its true meaning. The "rod" in the quotation is the shepard's staff. Shepards DID NOT HIT the sheep with the staff. Instead, they guided the sheep with it -- directing them gently, nudging them in the right direction, and keeping them from danger.
Beth Noelle (wife): Beth was born and raised near San Antonio, Texas, making us both born in Texas, and having Texan relatives. But I don't feel much like a Texan, and I don't think Beth does either. Beth is currently working very hard raising our two children and running the household. She has a strong interest in midwifery, and hopes one day to become a midwife. She is currently a registered Doula (birthing assistant) but is not practicing due to the strange hours this occupation can entail, and the problems this can cause when you have two small children.
Mia Joy (Daughter): Mia was born April 23rd, 1999. She is quite a character, stubborn and independent, yet sweet and caring at the same time. She loves dancing, ice skating (has just watched it so far), and animals of all types. She doesn't like television, and will only watch it if there is a show on about animals, ice skating, or dancing. In the company of strangers, she is very quiet and reserved, but at home she can be a regular chatter box, and loves to laugh and joke around.
Elijah James (Son): The only son of an only son of an only son, Elijah has to carry on my branch of the McElroys, at least in name. (Actually, this is not a big deal to me...) He's just a wee toddler now, so it is hard to tell what he is really like. However, so far he seems to be very mellow, observant, and intelligent. He tries to talk a lot, but we don't quite understand him yet. He smiles and laughs a lot, and expresses himself regularly with various sounds. Unlike his sister, he seems to like television a lot, and seems to get very excited about sports on TV, such as football, baseball, auto racing, etc... This means we will probably have to put a lock on the TV when he gets older -- we both agree (Mom and Dad) that too much television turns the brain to mush.
Ann McElroy-Glasgow (sister) is currently a full professor of Anthropology at SUNY Buffalo. Her specialty is Medical Anthropology -- the study of how health and disease affect cultures. She has written two textbooks to date on Anthropology, and numerous papers. She is considered an expert on the culture of the American Indians around Frobisher Bay in Eastern Canada, and takes yearly trips to that area.
Donna McElroy (sister) currently lives in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, where she works as a nurse. Donna served 4 years in the Peace Corps in Brazil, then later worked for Project Hope in the same country. She is also raising her son (my nephew) Gabriel. After Gabriel gets on with his own life, Donna wants to "retire" by working 6 months out of the year with a team of doctors in Central America, trying to help the incredibly poor people in those countries.
Parents:
Born (1917) and raised in Southern Texas. One older sister (Armor Lee) and two younger sisters (Madelline and Patricia). One older brother who died at age 21. (Frank). Dad's family was involved in agriculture and dairy farming, as well as raising Palomino horses. He was always given the choice to either work on the farm or attend school, and so he went to school as much as he could.
At age 4, he was bitten by a rattlesnake while following his father, who was plowing a field with a tractor. The snake was quite large, and the bite was quite serious, and he almost died. However, he survived, although his leg swelled to the size of his torso shortly after the bite. During his recovery, he was given a pet goat to take care of, and ended up with the nickname of "Billy" (from Billy Goat). For the rest of his life, most people knew him as "Bill", even though this was not his legal name. Dad found out years later that his pet goat, who disappeared one day, ended up on the dinner table, but such was the nature of life in Southern Texas during the Depression.
He applied for, and was accepted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1937. This was quite an achievement for a poor farmer's boy from Southern Texas. He became the editor of the West Point Paper, "The Pointer". He graduated in June, 1941, at which time he married my Mother, Ann. However, on December 7th, 1941, the U.S. was thrown into war, and as my father was an Army Officer, he was very quickly sent into combat.
Dad served under Patton's 5th Army as an artillery officer, and he was quickly placed into combat in North Africa in 1942. Then Patton's Army (and my Father) went into Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. In Southern Germany, the troops he was with came across the Nazi death camp Dachau (I think it was that one). This experience was so horrible to him that it profoundly affected him for the rest of his life, and he rarely talked about his war experiences. As a little boy, I used to say to him (as many little boys do) "Daddy, what did you do in the war?" He would usually refuse to talk about it. Most of the things I have learned about his Army career, I learned from other people.
Dad also served with the Army of Occupation in Europe, then in Korea, both during the Korean War, and afterwards. He loved photography, and made good friends with the local Koreans wherever he was stationed by taking their pictures then giving them the pictures after they were developed.
Dad finally retired from the Army in 1961 as a Lieutenant Colonel. He had a hard time adjusting to civilian life, and worked for quite awhile with Litton Industries developing weapons for the Army, where he was able to keep contact with the military style of life and way of doing things. He then worked for Food Machinery Corporation (FMC) in San Jose as a Systems Analyst. Dad also suffered significant hearing loss from his 23 years of working with artillery, which affected his ability to interact with other people. Dad died in 1977 on April 9th (Good Friday that year), the same date his father died on. His bones had stopped producing as many red blood cells as they should have, possibly due to radiation he was exposed to while testing nuclear artillery weapons in the Army. Experimental drugs given to him had some bad interactions, which may have caused the cerebral hemorrhage which took his life.
My Mother was born (1923) in upstate New York, to a relatively wealthy family who managed to pretty much avoid the Great Depression. My Mother's father was quite a capitalist, owning (at different times) several small companies, including an Indian (brand) motorcycle shop and the Dutchess Motors automobile dealership. He also invested in the stock market, and in commodities such as heating oil. He was moderately successful in these ventures, and at one time was worth around a million dollars. He and my Grandmother retired to Palm Beach, Florida, but by the time of his death, Grandfather's net worth had dropped to around $500,000 or so. Grandfather was a staunch Republican, and until the day he died, thought Franklin D. Roosevelt was a terrible president.
This history is being given because it shows what radically different backgrounds my parents came from. My Mom met my Dad while he was attending West Point, and they were married just after my Dad graduated in 1941. They were an interesting pair -- a (relatively) rich girl from upstate New York, and a (relatively) poor farmer's son from Southern Texas, who ended up being an officer and a professional soldier. I don't think they saw the world through the same glasses, so to speak. However, they did manage to stay together until my Father passed away in 1977.
For example... One day my Mother's church had a fair to try to raise money for the church. At the time we had an acre of land with horses, dogs, cats, and chickens -- a whole bunch of chickens. We had acquired two bantam roosters and two bantam hens, and the hens kept hiding their nests and hatching little chickens until we had many many more than 4 chickens. So my Dad decided that well, by golly, chickens would be an excellent "prize" to give away at the church fair (never mind that most of the people at the church lived in suburbia and couldn't keep chickens). So he loaded up a bunch of chickens into boxes, put them in our station wagon, and drove off for the church. Somewhere between our house and the church, most of the chickens got out of their boxes. This didn't seem to bother my Dad too much, who kept driving down the road with chickens hopping all around the inside of the car. He then drove into the church parking lot with our station wagon filled with chickens -- some perched on the seat-tops, some looking out the windows, probably 30 or 40 chickens all told doing chicken sorts of things in OUR car, with half the church congregation looking on. I am surprised my Mom didn't die from embarrassment on the spot.
More to be added...