This morning, I spotted a coyote crossing the frozen river behind our house. By the time I got my camera, he was gone. Fortunately, one of our neighbors also spotted him and got a photograph which I am sharing here. Later in the day, Jeanine located some fresh tracks in the snow directly behind our house which were almost certainly made by the same fellow.
Yesterday was a super exciting one at work. Members of my team printed a single voxel wide perimeter wall using a new and very novel method. This breakthrough will allow us to print with a minimum feature size three times smaller than we thought possible, produces the best wall finish we have ever seen and should enable us to print cantilevered structures. I can’t overstate what a major breakthrough this is for the company.
Having embraced the DeWALT cordless tool family, I own more than twenty tools and half as many batteries. The relatively new one pictured above is a 60V 6AH FlexVolt which no longer takes a charge. Given it costs north of $120, I decided it was worth trying to repair rather than sending it to the dump. After opening it up, I identified a single defective cell of the 15 in this pack. I then carefully carved away the plastic holding it in place and removed the spot-welded tab from both sides. It slid out easily and I ordered a replacement cell on Amazon for $4. It should be here in a week and I will report out if the patient survives the surgery.
Normally, I would never fly my drone over Walden Pond because of all the people that are present. Even during the off-season, many enjoy walking around the trail that borders the lake. After yesterday’s massive snowfall, however, I felt that I would not encounter a single sole while conducting a flyover.
Although it affords us a great measure of privacy, our 250 foot long driveway is much less of a desirable feature when it comes to digging out after a Noreaster that left us buried in 15 inches of snow. Having sold my snowblower prior to moving, we had to have the driveway plowed to the tune of $330 (everything here gets the Concord markup). Suffice it to say, I see myself acquiring a new snowblower, perhaps not this season, but definitely next. I can’t stand paying for work that I can do myself, especially when it offers the added benefit of outdoor exercise.
As the temperature fluctuates above and below the freezing point, the ice formations on the river change daily. Today, it took the form of an ice dam with water on one side and a thin sheet of ice on the other. With up to 18″ of snow forecast for later in the day, I decided to work from home and made sure those who did choose to drive in left early enough to avoid the worst of it.
This morning, Kyle hosted the family for breakfast and a soccer game-watching party (he is an avid Liverpool fan). Jeanine prepared a lovely Dutch Baby which disappeared very quickly. While these pancakes are derived from the German pancake dish, it is said that the name Dutch Baby was coined as the result of a child’s mispronunciation of the German autonym Deutsch.
For only the second time this year, we woke up to snow, a good three inches and still falling. The photo above was taken from inside our living room through window glass (talk about laziness or rather, a desire to remain cozy). In a further demonstration of slothfulness, I launched my drone from our tiny deck and then went back indoors to fly it. After taking a few aerial photographs, I nearly lost the drone because I could not find our house on return. Our house and property look very different when snow-covered and I found it impossible to locate. Fortunately, the drone defaults to an automated return to home function when the battery level drops. I held my breath until I could hear the drone come in for a landing.
When we purchased our new house, it was primarily for the river views. Little did we know that there would be treats for our ears as well as our eyes. When the river freezes and thaws, it makes the most unusual and wonderful sounds. Impossible to describe with words, I hope to make a future blog entry with an audio recording.
You know you are a nerd when you spend 2 hours driving around town looking at rooflines. Jeanine and I have decided that our new house design will include low slope (1:12 or less) standing seam metal roofs. These will likely be mono slope (shed) style or possibly a mix of mono slope and offset gable (for the garage). Before heading out, Jeanine agreed to a quick portrait which is the first I have taken in some time. Most of my good lighting equipment is in storage and I had to make do with a camera mounted flash. Expect to see many future photos with the river as a backdrop.
An office holiday party in the midst of the Covid pandemic presented some unique challenges. At Digital Alloys we held ours virtually over Zoom. The party featured a cocktail mixing class taught by our CEO and on-line games including a DA version of Jeopardy, Pictionary, and a true or false quiz. A sheet cake featuring a team photo I had taken a few weeks ago was the food highlight of the party. Employees participated from their offices, desks or from home.
It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows Jeanine that she is genetically programmed to nourish those she cares for. It is one of the things I love about her. When it comes to mouse eradication, however, this predisposition is not helpful. In response to the night time sounds of a mouse scurrying across the floor of a room above our shared office, Jeanine deployed several mouse traps. When I checked them to see if the culprit had been dispatched, I discovered what I can only describe as a cheese buffet for wayward mice (first image). Nice mouse-sized pieces of cheese spread in an area of the trap far from the trigger. To further ensure an undisturbed mouse dining experience, the trigger was set to the safe position, from which it cannot be actuated. Pictured below is my buffet for cats who like to eat dead mice.
This photo, taken by Kyle, features a rare albino squirrel. From a camouflage and heat absorption perspective, it seems that this guy is going to be in for a tough winter.
Maya shared this photo, taken with her friends, during a north country winter hike. Between work, the new house, and Covid concerns, Jeanine and I have had little time or interest in traveling far from home. We are both suffering from cabin fever and it may be time to take inspiration from our intrepid daughter to venture out.
Even though the kids now acknowledge that I was an early trendsetter for the bomber style hat fashion trend, they refuse to believe that my new high ear variation will go anywhere. It is most dramatic with both ears up. The one ear presentation is edgier. Only time will tell if I am once again at the leading edge of hat fashion.
Mild temperatures and a break from the rain made it the perfect day to do some yard clean up. I spent most of my time cutting a large stump closer to the ground. This is the stump on which we stranded the truck we used to move the tiny house to our new address. The task was unusually difficult because another tree was growing out from under the stump creating an obstacle for my chainsaw. Jeanine gathered fallen limbs that were littering the property and we used our makeshift fire pit to reduce everything to ash while enjoying a nice fire.
On a day that featured almost continuous rain, it started with a brief period of calm and a lovely mist moving down the river. Jeanine and I spent a good bit of time starting to build a “scrap book” of design ideas for the new house. Our architect has taken the as-built measurements of the house and will be ready for our first kick-off meeting in a week or two. One big decision that we will sit with for a while before committing to is a change from our current roof structure to mono-slope low pitch roof. We both realized that everytime we identified a house that we liked, it had this type of roof.
More often than not, when I see a swan, I see a pair and they are usually sticking their heads underwater in search of food. This guy was cruising solo up the river towards Fairhaven Bay and seemed interested in little else than reaching his destination. Kind of like me on my commute to work.
Jeanine found this vole wandering around in our basement and summoned me to relocate it outdoors. It was very easy to catch and was kind enough to stick around for a photo after I released him. A relative of the hampster, these creatures only live for 6 to 12 months but produce 100 offspring during that time. Something tells me, these guys are going to be frequent visitors. When time permits, I will have to figure out how he gained entry to the basement. The floor is poured concrete and the walls are cement blocks. There is, however, one area, under the base of the stairs, that goes down to the dirt. It is currently under a raised platform that constitutes the last step and I will have to remove it to validate my suspicion.
This evening, Jeanine offered me chocolate from this assortment explaining that we would each enjoy one per evening until they run out. Who am I to argue with this plan. Constant work on the new house has left me 15 pounds lighter and in a position to enjoy these treats guilt-free.
Work at Digital Alloys remains the source of great personal enjoyment for me. Our team continues to make excellent progress as we begin our series “C” fundraising in earnest. When I joined the company, I laid out a straight forward plan to get us to market. First, demonstrate that our printed parts were of the same quality as ones machined from the same metal. We accomplished this late last summer. Second, demonstrate that we could print parts at speeds that would result in an economically attractive business model. We achieved this milestone last month with a 30x improvement from our baseline. The final objective is to demonstrate that we can print parts of arbitrary geometry and I am feeling fairly confident that we can do this over the course of a few more months. Pictured above is a new fixture we have designed to hold the cylindrical block on which we print parts. It will be completed later this week when the final component (a pneumatic cylinder) arrives in house.
It has now been just over nine years since I joined the Board of Directors of the American Amputee Soccer Association. In that time, the organization has grown from one that could barely field a full squad to represent the United States in international competition and then only if the players could pay for their own travel to one that is now starting to build out regional teams and has modest funding. One of the most important missions of the organization is to help amputees reach their full potential and to create an opportunity to enjoy competitive soccer. Hayes, pictured above, recently lost his leg. He was thrilled when a member of the US National Amputee Soccer Team reached out and sent him a team jersey and backpack along with an offer to join the sport when he is old enough. I hope to still be with the organization when that day comes.
Although I have been to Italy three times, I have yet to see Rome or the region of Calabria. My most recent visit was with Jeanine when we had just started dating some 36 years ago. Last October, we celebrated our 30 year wedding anniversary. We had been planning a trip to Europe to include Italy and Greece but those plans never even got off the ground when the pandemic hit. With any luck, we will have been vaccinated in time to make the same trip next October. I hope those who follow this blog will forgive my week -long indulgence in imaginary travel. I needed something to inspire continued social isolation during these challenging times.
Of all the places I have ever trekked, Nepal is near the top of my favorites list. Seven years ago, I hiked the Annapurna circuit. The 150-mile trail covers some of the most magnificent scenery you can imagine. I feel lucky to have done it when I did as new roads are diminishing the trail every year. I would very much like to return to Nepal and climb to the Mount Everest base camp, which at 17,598 feet is not quite as high as the Thorung La Pass on the Annapurna circuit at 17,769 feet.
Although I am 50% Ecuadorian, I was nearly 60 years old before I visited for the first time. Maya and I spent 3 weeks there, equally split between the Galapagos, the Andes, and the Amazon. I would love to return again with Jeanine and combine it with a visit to Peru.
Had it not been for the Covid pandemic, I would have made my third visit to Africa last March. I took this photo 16 years ago in South Africa while lying on the roof of a mini-van, which was rapidly backing up when this herd of elephants entered the road we were parked on and asserted their right of way. It was a thrilling encounter and I cannot wait to make a return trip to the African continent for more of the same.
While visiting Kyle, who was working in Thailand at the time, we made a 3-day weekend excursion to Vietnam. It was little more than an appetizer which left me hungry for more. When Jeanine and I have both retired (only a couple of years away), I can see us spending several weeks, if not months, exploring this beautiful country.
As the new year begins, I am hoping it will offer an opportunity for adventure travel, something I have missed terribly since the start of the Covid pandemic. My 2021 motto is; “have vaccine, will travel.” In the blog this week, I will feature a new location each day where I hope to visit or revisit as soon as it is safe to do so again. Today’s entry is Greenland. I took the above photo from a commercial airliner while flying back to the US from Iceland.
At Digital Alloys, where I work as the CTO, we are focused on building a 3D metal printer with industrial capacity and commensurate proportions (think small car-sized). Today, I had the occasion to document one of the company’s early prototypes, a desktop version. As we seek new investors, interest in such a unit has been increasing and it would take very little effort to reactivate a program to bring such a model to market.
Light snow left the rhododendrons surrounding our house covered with a very pretty frosting. The rhodie leaves also offer a very predictable measure of temperature which can be ascertained at a glance. The colder it gets, the more the leaves droop. These bushes are very plentiful on our lot and I am looking forward to watching them bloom in the spring.
My youngest sister, Mayela, and her husband Stephen decided not to have children, but they have always had a loving family. Pictured above is her favorite “child, ” Peachy, who passed away peacefully today at the age of ten. I am fond of dogs and have lived with four over the course of my life. Peachy had the best qualities of all of them combined and was truly a special dog. She will be missed by all of us.