I arrived on the Stanford University campus in September of 1958.  The first two years there all engineering students pretty much took the same courses.   According to this historic view  of the Stanford Chemical Engineering Department, in 1960, Professor David Mason got a Ford Foundation grant to begin the program.  Those below have served as department chair: Mason was chairman of the department when in our junior year he rushed into one of our ChE classes and proudly announced that we had gained accreditation.  First, I did not know that I was in the very first class, and second, I always thought we were already accredited.  Same for the rest of my classmates.  Informally, there were 75 or so of us who had selected chemical engineering as their major in our freshman year.  When I graduated in 1962, there were only 8 of us.  Ten years later, Stanford ranked #1 in all the chemical engineering departments of the country.  For the record,  U.S. News and World Report  still has Stanford

We all have good and bad days.  I've noticed that when a monumental setback occurs, that event many times triggers a major lifestyle change, improving my life. One example was my avoiding a colonoscopy for a decade.  I finally went through the process, learned the result, which was positive, and then enjoyed a continuous state of euphoria for two years. Something like that happened this week.  I awoke one morning to sit on the toilet and got a shock to my system.  The seat was cold.  For six years now I've had the benefit of a TOTO washlet that warmed my seat and provided certain cleansing opportunities.   I could be wrong, but I think this TW 3054 cost me around $300 to have installed.  So I went back to my 15 Craigside contact and asked him to do it again.  A couple of days later he said that this would cost around a thousand dollars.  I checked Amazon, and couldn't find this specific item, but noticed that the closest number was indeed $995.  Further, went to the TOTO so

Today, I will summarize two more double-bills I saw this weekend, plus a couple of meals.  To start, from the New York Times this morning: Bill Gates pursued women who worked for him, people with direct knowledge of the matter   told The Times . Last year, he left Microsoft’s board during an inquiry into a prior affair,   The Wall Street Journal reported . “ "If you are not vaccinated, you are not safe,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the C.D.C. director,   said yesterday .   About the first statement, now you know the reason for the divorce.  That photo is with Ann Winblad as just one.   The second?  The CDC again confused the nation.  Suggesting that those who got safely vaccinated can now avoid wearing masks, just with the admonition that you are not safe if not vaccinated, has cause a turmoil.  Go to a shopping center today and you will be able to get into some stores and not in others without a mask.  The honor system of mask wearing just does not work in the USA when too many have

First, Happy Presidents Day.  It's a national holiday.  Good time to feature former PUS Donald Trump on my subject today: For me, any excuse for a good time.  I spent Valentine's Day alone.  Also Valentine's Night.  Like my extended Super Bowl series of meals, my Valentine's cuisine began earlier with a luau.  Here is what I provided to make ahi poke: 15 Craigside delivered the laulau, lomilomi salmon, chicken longrice, rice, poi and haupia: My Valentine's luau, hot sake, hot green tea and cold beer: Then my Valentine's lunch featured a low-calorie combination of a huge artichoke and sushi without rice: Then for Valentine's dinner, 15 Craigside supplied the prime rib dinner: I seared the rare meat in Miyazaki wagyu beef fat, and had the meal with a salad, beer and the remaining Cabernet Sauvignon from Super Bowl: Then, after a satisfying supper, I noticed that The Way We Were from 1973 was just starting on TCM.  I quickly checked, and Rotten Tomatoes revie