In no particular order, some reminiscing… Hoppy took John Chlupsa and me out to the race on Long Island Sound. As we approached the wall of water Hoppy said the boat would “shoot right over.” Instead we shot right through taking quite a bath. Ever since, we would kid Hoppy about the time he took us out on his submarine. Out on some of the earlier sea tests for the lab we would often have problems with these tiny electrical connectors that mated one sonar module to the next. No matter how many times any of us would plug them together they refused to work until Hoppy showed up - sometimes from a dead sleep - to seeming do exactly what we had been doing and it would work. This happened so many times we got used to saying “this one needs Hoppy’s magic touch - go wake him.” While in Fort Lauderdale staging equipment for a sea test we would always hit the local restaurants. We were scheduled to depart the next morning and Hoppy had performed some marvelous feat that saved the day and everyone was so happy that each and every one of us bought him a margarita. He managed to get on board that night but fell out of his bunk and cracked his ribs. To save face (his) we all agreed to claim he was injured fighting for the honor of a fair maiden. Hoppy had the ability to explain to a lab project sponsor how much we learned from a failed experiment and how it was really worth the effort expended and the money spent. Hoppy did this so well the sponsor would reportedly glow with pleasure for weeks. Hoppy’s bread making ability was fantastic. He made such great looking and great tasting breads you could be content to have nothing more for dinner than his bread with, of course, some box wine. In 2002, Hoppy and John Chlupsa came to Encinitas and the three of us spent a week exploring Southern California. We went up the scenic coast highway, over to Yosemite, on to Death Valley and even stopped in Las Vegas. One memory I’ll never forget was Hoppy handing his camera to a fellow tourist so the fellow could take a picture of us in front of Yosemite Falls. The look on the guys face was priceless when Hoppy also handed him a toothpick to use to depress the shutter button - the actual button had been lost. When he stopped for an ice cream cone at Buttonwood Farm Hoppy would always have the scoop of ice cream put in one of the large waffle cones. The reason, he explained, was “I figure I’ll get more ice cream for the money because they have to make the scoop a bit larger than normal to make it look right.” If you had to leave the hotel at 7 am Hoppy could get up at 6:50. Who else can do that?! And who can pack a small duffle only about a third full for a 3 week trip? Hoppy joined Jan and me for “A Taste of Encinitas”, where you walk up and down the main street eating samples of food provided by the many local restaurants. I think he is the only person ever to actually eat every single sample and they were not small. At the end of the evening it was “Holy crow, I don’t think I can make it to the car!” When the girls were still fairly young I remember being out on Bob’s boat with him and Marylou and at least one of the girls - let’s say it was Anna. Well, as we neared the dock Anna asked her Dad if she could take the boat out with a few friends the next day. Bob was never quick to say no, and Marylou piped up with “Bob, you’re not really thinking of letting her take this boat out by herself!” Bob paused and then asked Anna to take over control of the boat. It didn’t take too long before Anna admitted “It’s harder than it looks. Maybe you can take us out tomorrow.”