Astronuc, I am sorry to hear that things are going so badly. I hope things improve, but I am most concerned about your wife. I wasn't aware that she was having problems. Please keep us informed.
I wanted to post a pic of Jim. I probably knew most of his faults and weaknesses, and though I'm feeling a bit emotional right now I have said this for years: He was the best man I have ever known and the best friend I can ever hope to have. He was truly a rare gift.
http://www.chicoer.com/oroville/ci_6266738
At the funeral I met one his physics students from the class of 1957, and like most of the town of Oroville, Ca., he still called Jim, Mr. Rossas.
He had a masters in mathematics from Berkeley [later he added an education degree], and while working on his Ph.D., he took a summer trip through Northern California. By chance he stopped in a little town along the way called Oroville and struck up a conversation with someone from the school district. The school district was a desparate need of a science and math teacher, and before it was over, Jim had been convinced to stay in Oroville and teach for a year to two until they could get someone else. He never left and Oroville would forever be his home.
Jim traveled the world, and as was noted at the funeral, he was not a tourist, rather, he was a traveler in the truest sense. He loved to immerse himself in the cultures that he encountered. He traveled throughout Asia, the Indonesian islands, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, and I have spent at least many hundreds of hours listening to his stories. But of all, my favorite two are the following:
On one trip he visited a village somewhere I think in deepest darkest Africa where cannibalism was only one generation removed - many of the elders were once quite found of long-pig. To reach the village it was necessary to travel by boat for many miles, and being so remote, the people of the village had no use for money, so it was expected that each person would brings gifts. Well, this is one that I never let Jim live down. He took razor blades! I said Jim! You gave razor blades to cannibals? Forevermore, if I didn't agree with something he said, I often would remind him of the razor blades and then suggest that he may not have the best judgement. We always got a good laugh out of this.
Another one of my favorites I think comes from the same trip. The area would often experience flash floods, so the homes were all built on stilts. When Jim and his party pulled up to the main guest house for the village, the boat was tied to a tree, and everyone hauled their luggage up the steeply sloped walkway to the house. The next morning, Jim was quite surprised to see that the river had flooded and the water was nearly all the way up to the house. He looked down and saw the rear end of the boat sticking up out of the water and realized that being tethered to the tree, the front end was being held under. Jim wondered aloud how they were going to leave but the man of the house told him not to worry. Not long after, the wife dove off the front of the house, swam underwater, and untied the boat. Apparently this was just another common duty for housewives before preparing breakfast.
He was a fascinating man who lived a fascinating life, and it was an honor to call him my friend. Rest in peace Jim. We all loved you very much and I will miss you more than I can say.
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/1056/jimzs4.jpg
