I'M BLESSED

It is Sunday, and my story today will be on how blessed I am.  Not really spiritually, but just the reality of how I became what I am today.  Then again, maybe there was an occasional divine intervention.  Either that or pure luck, again and again.

As I reflect on my past, my major goal has been achieved.  I lived into the Year 2020, which means I am 80 years old.  Alas, the pandemic made it a disappointing year.  Yet, relatively, I did well.  

2020 began with a trip to Thailand last February when it was #2 to China in COVID-19 (although that term only became official when I was on that trip).  

• Today, Thailand is #113 in total number of cases.  

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  With a population fifty times larger than Hawaii, the number of these coronavirus infections is just about the same at 30,500.  
• And, by the way, the USA is not looking good at all, with 66,780 new cases yesterday. 
•  India jumped to 152,682 new cases yesterday, which means something terrible is beginning to happen.
• The Philippines is now into five digits.
• Thailand had 789 new cases and one new death.
• China had 14 new cases and no new death.

Typical of my life was how I survived those still pre-pandemic days.  Here I was, not unlike Donald Trump, walking around Thai malls where just about everyone was wearing a mask...but me.  We had to catch a couple of local flights, and on one, I might have been the only person not wearing a mask on the plane, and the person next to me, we learned, had snuck into Thailand from an obscure airport in China...and was coughing.  I was the only person who ate anything, for I ordered a beer and had some macadamia nuts.  To be dumb and stupid and survive was amazingly lucky or a blessing. I did became very wise when I returned to Hawaii till today.

And how's this for pre-luck?  Two months before that Thai visit, we were on the Diamond Princess in December before that fateful day in January when a man from Hong Kong boarded and infected 712 passengers, killing 13, effectively leading to what happened.

So to get on with this posting, I've lived a remarkable life, considering that I grew up in a downtrodden village known as Kakaako in Honolulu and was not particularly inspired to accomplish any greater goal through most of my youth than to live on.  Then, in my sophomore year of high school, Bishop Estate kicked my family and all our neighbors out of our homes to begin building what has now developed into the Ward complex of buildings.  Thus began a series of sudden transitions that continued to change my life, better and better.

I don't remember why this first transition so fundamentally altered my attitude and initiative.  Maybe my older brother, who was then at the University of Michigan, was the inspiration.  Or perhaps it was the urgings of my school teachers.  With no distinguishing academic record prior to high school, after moving from Kakaako to Kalihi, I made a truly thoughtless and impudent decision to skip the University of Hawaii, and go on to either Cal Tech or Stanford.  How I actually got into Stanford has been the subject of several postings you can try to find (here is one), which bordered on a miracle or unbelievable luck or a combination of both or a blessing.

In any case, in 1958 I found myself in another transition, a freshman in a brand new Arroyo freshman dormitory away from home for the first time in my life.  I have on occasion stipulated what I got most out of Stanford...confidence.

I've recently thought about that, and came to a conclusion that it was more than that simple feeling.  Here, I was tossed into a mix of students who were mostly smarter, richer, socially experienced and clearly superior.  I might have been the only person of Japanese extraction in my entire class.  There were no African Americans and I'm not sure what a Hispanic was.

What I most learned was how to face adversity and somehow overcome, if not prevail.  Time and again I  survived.  As I think back, what made it easier was that there was no particular pressure to study hard and no prevailing sense of class or intelligence.  I only much later realized that virtually everyone was going through the same challenges as me, and no one talked about it.

The attitude of the administration was a calculated and proven formula that if you were good enough to get accepted, you deserved to graduate.  Grades were therefore not a concern, and you were encouraged to expand your interests.  The learning environment stimulated your curiosity.  You became a whole person with imagination.  I ended up taking more courses in art  than chemical engineering, my major.  

What happened to most is that one tended to have more difficulty in the sciences/engineering/mathematics than social sciences, humanities and economics.  The 75 or so potential ChE students in my freshman class got whittled down to only 8 of us graduating 3.75 years later.  But few flunked out.  They changed majors into other fields, and perhaps ended up over time earning more money that those who stuck it out in the tough fields.

Stanford itself was then also in transition, for the ChE program was in the Chemistry Department and there was no Silicon Valley yet.  I recall our chairman David Mason rushing into one of our junior year classes to announce that the department got accredited.  We were astounded to learn so, for we just assumed we already were.  Only a very few years later, Stanford became the #1 Chemical Engineering Department in the nation.

So as I now reflect on my life, I can pinpoint every transition as an opportunity to use what you previously learned to become better.

• For example, my first job in 1962 was as a factory engineer in the sugar industry on the Big Island of Hawaii.  It was a class structure.  The factory workers, many who immigrated from the Philippines, dominated the rank and file.  The supervisors were mostly older Japanese.  The upper administration was all Caucasian.  The Stanford experience was advantageous, for I could relate well to those above, while my Kakaako upbringing made it easy with the supervisors and union men.  Of all the work experiences I have had, though, this was far and away the most difficult, which prepared me well for the rest of my life.
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  When I joined the University of Hawaii, there was also a low percentage of non-whites, all with degrees from the best universities.  Again, I could relate well from my college days.
• Sometimes you need to create your own opportunity, and at that point in my growth, had the confidence to seek greater goals.  Most faculty members just teach or do mundane research.  I reached out into the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, fusion and politics.
• This confidence, combined with an ability to overcome, worked to develop new pathways.  I do also have perseverance, which is almost necessary when you try something different, for hurdles are everywhere.  Fortunately, the State Legislative was run by local people who went far out of their way to help me succeed.  While it seemed uncomfortably unfair, I convinced myself, don't bite the hand that is trying to feed you.
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  Getting such a position was another series of fortunate coincidencies, for spending three years working for the U.S. Senate was a difference maker.  I picked targets of opportunity that could be developed for the benefit of Humanity and Planet Earth, but especially those with a potential for Hawaii leadership.  These topics like ocean thermal energy conversion, wind power and hydrogen became steeples of excellence when I returned to the University of Hawaii.  It also helped that everyone thought I was connected, which might not have been totally true, but opened doors.

• Over time I also learned to be nice and considerate, which I think is more learned than natural.  It just occurred to me quite late in life that nicer people tended to be more successful.
• All the above positioned me to bring together interdisciplinary teams to become national leaders in marine bioproducts, hydrogen and technology transfer.

So that led to a fruitful professional career.  However, a few years ago, my life changed again.  I took early retirement in 1999, wrote a few books, traveled the world, then moved into a seniors' community, which this time was more a retrogression, for I decided I had given enough, and now would just enjoy life to maximize pleasure for my short remaining years.  I still try to be thoughtful, but only if the effort does not clash with my current needs.  A plus is that I had an opportunity for new relationships.  The past few years have been almost euphoric, so clearly the transition has been beneficial.

I do have one remaining professional passion, which is the Blue Revolution, but not at the expense of my happiness.  Some of my other dreams, like hydrogen, search for extraterrestrial intelligence, fusion and world peace will someday reach prominence, but I think the first to attain global significance will be the Blue Revolution.  There is only one task here:  to find an imaginative billionaire to lead the effort.

There are other areas of my interest I'm only too willing to pass on to anyone who might want to become rich or famous, like rainbow pearls, Hawaiian geo-spas (onsens), the ultimate ocean ranch and marine biomass plantations.  Some of them will be part of the eventual Blue Revolution.

Who knows, my life is not over, and there could well be one more transition before the final and ultimate one.  I don't believe in an afterlife, so that does not leave much time.

Seven years ago I had, over a three month period, 24 different postings on transitions, beginning with Part 1.  It's taken me that long to crystalize and integrate them into this posting today.  As you go from kindergarten to first grade and eventually through high school and maybe college, plus your life working followed by retirement, you apply your learned knowledge at the next stage. Remember that every new one provides another opportunity for betterment.  Everything is easier if you are also blessed.

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