The highlight of my day was a call at work from Kyle. He was bubbling with excitement after receiving the results of his first mid-term test (in Economics). He scored a 97% which was the highest grade in his class. We are delighted that he is off to a good start and more importantly that he seems to really be enjoying himself at college. This photo is of First Parish and the Wright Tavern in Concord. The light from the setting sun was perfect so I paused to take this photo on my homeward bound commute. Jeanine and I were triple booked with meetings this evening. She attended an orientation meeting with Maya for a middle school trip to China while I attended a mandatory parent meeting for the wrestling team forcing me to miss a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) Board meeting.

My sister Alissa and her husband John are in the area attending Parent’s Weekend at Babson College where their son Johnie is attending school. They spent the night with us while their daughter Rachel got to spend it with her big brother on campus. We went to lunch at Verrill Farms after I returned from my soccer match. My team beat Nashoba 4-0 and slipped past Needham to enter first place in our division. So far this season we have scored a total of 26 goals and given up only one. I contributed to that total this morning with one of my prettier goals in recent memory. I ran on to a ball lofted from midfield and head flicked it just over a much taller defender who was looking to clear with a header. I skirted past him, one-touched to a good shooting position and unleashed a perfectly struck low rocket from the top of the box. It found the side netting before the keeper even moved. All goals count for one point but the pretty ones are recounted for years to come. During the late afternoon I took advantage of the perfect fall weather and drove through southern New Hampshire on a 5 hour photography excursion. Although I did not find the peak color landscapes I had set out to find, I did encounter countless great subjects and came home very satisfied with my bounty. The photo below is one of my more artistic.

Showing terrific form Maya played a great game this morning helping her team to a 2-0 victory under ideal fall weather conditions. Nicolai was up bright and early for his PSAT exams and reported afterwards that he thought he did well. Jeanine attended a talk on brain health while I took care of a long list of lingering tasks around the house.

The rain today has been intense and incessant. Normally, I especially long to be outdoors at this time of year with the leaves beginning to change color. Not so today. I was quite content to observe the deluge from my warm, dry office. Pictured here is a flooded road that I wisely traversed at slow speed. Had I been really wise, I would have found an alternate route. Having to suffer the mediocre gas mileage of an SUV, however, I take advantage of any opportunity to make use of its unique capabilities. Driving over curbs is another such activity I enjoy.

I picked up this waveform monitor after work today. It was offered up for free on Craig’s List and was right on my way home. I used a very similar model extensively during my early career. This device displays a waveform which represents a video signal and is a key diagnostic tool for evaluating signal quality and compliance with standards (the square wave pictured here was all I had handy to run through it). I cleaned it up and put it through its paces. Everything functioned perfectly. The two hours I spent testing took me on something of a technical stroll down Memory Lane right back to the days of Truevision, the company I co-founded. Unlike my more general purpose oscilloscope, however, I have no practical application for this piece of equipment, especially since the world has gone high definition which uses a different signal standard. I put it up on eBay with a starting price of one cent in hopes it will find a good home.

My division put up another great set of numbers this quarter and as has become our tradition we knocked off work a little early to enjoy a casual celebration. Our financial results were impressive but my real cause for celebration this week is that our very fluid product roadmap has solidified and my team and I now have a clear line of sight on what we will be designing and building next year.

The day started with a glorious sunrise which had to nourish my soul for what turned out to be a long and exhausting day at work. Returning to a full day of meetings after just a single day of vacation has put me substantially behind and it is going to be a busy week catching up. My desire to do a little leaf peeping will have to wait a couple of days.

Hamilton College is located in Clinton, N.Y., less than 2 hours from Schenectady and was our destination for the day. We arrived with time to spare for an 11AM tour and concluded our visit with lunch in the dining hall (very church like in architecture). Founded in 1812, Hamilton is a liberal arts college located on 1300 acres with an enrollment of 1900. It is the third-oldest college in New York and was named after its former board of trustee and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton College was originally a men’s college until 1978 when it became coeducational after uniting with its sister institution, Kirkland College. Nearly half of students study abroad during their time at Hamilton through 180 programs around the world or the school’s consortium programs in Spain, India, France, and China, as well as U.S. locations in New York, Boston, and Washington.

As predicted by Jeanine, Nico felt a very strong affinity for this school and it will clearly be one of his top choices. Our return to Concord took just under five hours with Nico doing the lion’s share of the driving. The NY state thruway parallels the Mohawk River for much of the drive and with the leaves just starting to change the views could not have been more idyllic.

This gorgeous fall day started with a 6:45AM rendezvous for carpooling to an away soccer match in Hopkinton. I had a great game serving up at least a dozen high quality crosses from my wing midfield position and earning an assist on our second of two goals. We won 2-0 and are now second in our leagues standings with an amazing 21 goal differential. Shortly after lunch Nico and I began a campus tour road trip. Our first destination was Amherst College which we reached in under two hours driving through beautiful fall foliage. We were both very impressed with the school and it is one which will likely make Nico’s short list. We continued on to Schenectady where we overnight-ed at my mother’s home after taking her out for a very nice dinner.

Jeanine is attending classes in Bridgeport today, Maya Rose is with her friend Maya Rose at her family’s summer home in Maine, and Nico is hanging out with his friends. With the day to myself I did a little bit of shopping and a little bit of fall cleaning. I decided to upgrade a few of my cordless tools to the latest battery technology and listed some of my older tools on Craig’s list to help fund the purchase. While I was at it I decided to sell a lens and flash that have seen very little use.

Yesterday marked 21 years of marriage for Jeanine and I. This evening we celebrated with a special dinner at 80 Thoreau a new restaurant located on the second floor of the historic Concord train depot. Our meals were exquisite as was the ambiance.

We have now shared half of our lives and should we be blessed with continued good health we have the second half of our marriage to look forward to. A lucky man need not be smart but a smart man knows when he has been lucky. My good fortune in life was falling in love with Jeanine.

For the second week in a row I spent an entire day at an offsite meeting. This one was more fun than the last as we spent the majority of our time brainstorming possible future products. When iRobot brings a flying Roomba to the market you will know where and when the idea was hatched. Our challenge as a technologist laden company is ensuring that our innovation is motivated by a keen understanding of the customer benefits our new ideas can provide. I was pleased with the level of awareness and appreciation for this concept that was shared by the team.

After the meeting I was able to catch the second half of a soccer game at the high school where Nico had another fine showing and his team secured a 2-1 win. I opted to skip my own soccer practice this evening to give my back a few more days to recover from a recent misalignment. Two days ago the pain was so bad that I could scarcely walk (or even sit at my desk). Yesterday morning I had a chiropractic adjustment and used an ice pack for the entire day. Today I almost felt good enough to workout and think my chances of being fully ready for Sunday are high.

I arrived at work today only to discover a new and very official looking name plate gracing my office. My current position was held by 5 different people over as many years prior to my arrival. Perhaps I should take this as a sign that I have beat the odds and stand a good chance of setting a new record thus warranting the investment in a permanent looking name plate. More than likely it was simply a matter of maintaining consistency with a number of newly constructed offices within the building.

The mask has been with me since my first trip to Africa. I can hang it either side up to reveal a happy or sad face giving an indication to visitors of my present mood. Stand on your head or flip your monitor to see the effect. So far I have had no occasion to invert it from its default position.

The Wayland defender charged with marking Nicolai eventually resorted to illegal tactics (pushing with his hands) in an attempt to win even a single head ball. Despite a constant light rain and cool temperatures, Nico was on fire today scoring one goal and setting up several others with extremely dangerous and pinpoint distribution. It is rarely fun to stand in the rain to watch soccer but Jeanine and I both enjoyed watching our son playing some of his best soccer to date.