A little homage to Enzo

[mort]

Enzo used to quip “look for horses, not zebras” and I’ve kept that philosophy at heart ever since first reading it.

It applies to more than just troubleshooting electronics. Over the last year I’ve gotten deeply involved with amateur pool leagues and named a BCA Masters 10 ball team Horses Not Zebras.

Just wanted to share and say thank you once again to our friend and mentor, Enzo. You are not forgotten.

[Justin Thomas]

I quote him all the time on Der Farcebook... "Don't think of reasons NOT to check something." & "Any part can fail at any time for any reason."

I wonder if any of the other fora he frequented have honored him with "Member Emeritus Forever." He deserves it.

Jusrin

[Mick Bailey]

I think Enzoisms all the time, not only electronics but when working on cars or just everyday things like going back to check I locked the door.

[Mark Hammer]

Enzo deserves all the obvious and oblique references we can come up with. We miss you.pal.

[J M Fahey]

Somebody should cook a large pot of his fiery Chile con Carne, with which he won many Country Fair prizes.

The recipe is in the Forum

Is anything known about Ms Wenzo?

[Chuck H]

I often think about how Wendy might be doing. As far as I could tell they had a good but sometimes angsty relationship. Two smart people sharing a tight space, right? My wife and I have this too and I recognized parallels whenever Enzo shared stories of their relationship. What it spoke (to me) was that that these are two people that never wanted to succumb to anyone elses will but never wanted to be alone or seek a shared life with anyone else other than the one they were with. It's a pretty great thing in my own experience but entirely copacetic. But after so many years together the loss to either one could be almost debilitating. That's just what I see regarding whatever Enzo shared and how it paralleled my own circumstances. So I think about Wendy and how she might be doing. Not sure how appropriate it would be to inquire and that's kept me from doing it. Enzo was a badass and that surely means a lot of what her life was / isn't now.?. I really hope she's ok and I'd even be willing to attempt contact on the matter if anyone else here agrees with this and could step up if needs be. Speak to it and I'll try to contact her. But I won't do it alone.

[TomCarlos]

Our friend... Member Emeritus Forever.

[mort]

I often think about how Wendy might be doing. As far as I could tell they had a good but sometimes angsty relationship. Two smart people sharing a tight space, right? My wife and I have this too and I recognized parallels whenever Enzo shared stories of their relationship. What it spoke (to me) was that that these are two people that never wanted to succumb to anyone elses will but never wanted to be alone or seek a shared life with anyone else other than the one they were with. It's a pretty great thing in my own experience but entirely copacetic. But after so many years together the loss to either one could be almost debilitating. That's just what I see regarding whatever Enzo shared and how it paralleled my own circumstances. So I think about Wendy and how she might be doing. Not sure how appropriate it would be to inquire and that's kept me from doing it. Enzo was a badass and that surely means a lot of what her life was / isn't now.?. I really hope she's ok and I'd even be willing to attempt contact on the matter if anyone else here agrees with this and could step up if needs be. Speak to it and I'll try to contact her. But I won't do it alone.

I think it’s absolutely 100% appropriate. Worst case she answers by not answering, which is ok too. But I think people like hearing their passed loved ones mentioned with fondness. I know I do.

[g1]

Not sure how appropriate it would be to inquire and that's kept me from doing it. Enzo was a badass and that surely means a lot of what her life was / isn't now.?. I really hope she's ok and I'd even be willing to attempt contact on the matter if anyone else here agrees with this and could step up if needs be. Speak to it and I'll try to contact her. But I won't do it alone.

I think RJ in the memorial thread is in fairly regular contact with her. A PM to him might get you some info on whether there is any issue with contacting her, and how to best do so.

[Mars Amp Repair]

Well I of course agree with all the comments, but have to say that I had to look up the meaning of the saying about Horses & Zebras. I guess many of us 'seasoned' techs can say we've learned to do that from mere experience after chasing many of those damned Zebras! I'd say that was particularly true when learning about VCR's way back when phonographs had cranks!
Glen

[J M Fahey]

I often think about how Wendy might be doing. As far as I could tell they had a good but sometimes angsty relationship. Two smart people sharing a tight space, right? My wife and I have this too and I recognized parallels whenever Enzo shared stories of their relationship. What it spoke (to me) was that that these are two people that never wanted to succumb to anyone elses will but never wanted to be alone or seek a shared life with anyone else other than the one they were with. It's a pretty great thing in my own experience but entirely copacetic. But after so many years together the loss to either one could be almost debilitating. That's just what I see regarding whatever Enzo shared and how it paralleled my own circumstances. So I think about Wendy and how she might be doing. Not sure how appropriate it would be to inquire and that's kept me from doing it. Enzo was a badass and that surely means a lot of what her life was / isn't now.?. I really hope she's ok and I'd even be willing to attempt contact on the matter if anyone else here agrees with this and could step up if needs be. Speak to it and I'll try to contact her. But I won't do it alone.

Fully agree.

FWIW, at 72, quite a few of my close friends "are no longer with us"

In every single case, when now and then I contact surviving Spouses, with which I already had some contact way back then, they are *happy* at being abe to talk about my remembered Friend, showing interest on her current feelings, to a point relieve the feeling of loneliness, all good things.
After any of such talks, which often can get long (fine with me, I listen to anything they want to say), we both feel better.

Although I never met or talked to her, I hold the highest of considerations for her through Enzo himself, so if somebody wants to contact her, in the name of a bunch of good old friends, fine with me.

As usual: personal opinion, YMMV, jm2c , etc.

[nosaj]

Corlis would know how to get in touch.

nosaj

[g1]

Corlis would know how to get in touch.

nosaj

Yes. When I said RJ above, I should have said corliss1 , that is his official user name.

[Chuck H]

re: corliss1
It's probable he has de activated email notifications considering his overall interactions here.?. I'll PM. And I'll look at his profile and hope that any email addresss is actual (not always the case).

EDIT: I have a PM sent to RJ. If I don't hear anything in a couple/few days I'll try email. Keep you all posted.

[corliss1]

WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?!?!?!?!?

Wendy is doing as well as can be expected I would say. It's been 2.5 years already - does that seem real? We still talk, although maybe I should reach out more than I do. She'd be happy to hear stories or thoughts or whatever randomness you can come up with - feel free to reach out to her at wring54 @ hotmail .com. She'll likely reply.

Wendy and Enzo were a *perfect* match, and I try and see a lot of them in myself and my wife's relationship. The wit was 24x7, and it translated even better on person than it does over the Forum. I know he's posted about the jokes and sayings and troubleshooting catchphrases, but he also had several of these with Wendy as well. Their classic term of endearment was "bit me" and as TomCarlos posted above, that image has been used on MANY "Enzo Items" over the years. Here's an image of the latest one (click to enlarge)



As some of you likely know, they also lived in a high school that was converted to senior living. It's not a nursing home, just a "you have to be over 55 to live here" type of thing. Anyway, there is a memorial garden with "the Enzo gnome" out front, and people keep adding things to it (you can also click this to expand):



So even in the thriving metropolis that is Mason, Michigan, there's a semi-permanent Enzo shrine. I'm setting up my new workbench this year and plan to have a gnome next to his soldering iron watching down on me

But yeah, feel free to reach out to Wendy at that email. She doesn't bite.........much.


If you all have personal stories you'd rather not post publicly, send me a PM and I'll make sure Wendy and the rest of the family sees it