People often ask when I find the time to keep up with this blog. The answer is simple. I generally wake up at 5 AM every day. Ever since she has gone back to work, Jeanine now often wakes up before I do to check her e-mail or to sleep sitting up in front of her computer :-), hard to tell which really. Finding her in the kitchen, illuminated by the glow from her laptop I was compelled to grab a quick photo this morning.
Because of my Italian heritage, I am routinely treated to the foods of my people. Jeanine has out done herself this time and I am looking forward to another bowl.
Weather conditions conspired to create black ice on the roads this morning. On the positive side it also produced some rather lovely scenes in the garden. Maya has been asked to design the bumper for her robotics club entry into this year’s FIRST competition. When I returned from work she shared her ideas and drawings with me. It is now ever more clear to me that Maya would make an exceptional engineer should she choose to go down that career path. Later, Nicolai and I began the arduous task of tracking down friends and acquaintances from more than a decade ago who appear in home video I shot while we lived in Indianapolis. Clips from these videos may be used in an online/on-air marketing campaign featuring Nicolai and we need to secure their consent to be included.
A present from her sister Susan, Jeanine has been growing shiitake mushrooms since Christmas. They are now ready for harvesting and I fully expect a couple of these puppies to be part of dinner this evening.
While trekking in Nepal I managed to lose about 10 pounds. Amazing what a diet limited to dal bhat (lentils with rice) and 8 hours a day of hiking with a 30 pound pack will do for your waist line. Since returning, I have managed to reclaim all 10 plus 5 more for good measure as I over indulged in all the unhealthy snacks I had avoided while in the mountains. Today I got serious about reversing the trend and getting back to soccer playing form. Eggs are considered to be one of the few dishes I can prepare well enough such that others might be tempted to try them. This morning I added poaching to the cooking variations I can execute. The photo was taken before I added the water.
My sister Alissa, of all my siblings, has been the only one to follow in my parent’s footsteps as a highly accomplished ballroom dancer. She performed today at an exhibition to celebrate her love of dance and to mark the end of the beginning of the next chapter in her life. Jeanine generously offered to cover my Sunday school teaching assignment so I could drive to Albany, NY with Nicolai and Maya to support her. My mother, her sister, and three of my cousins drove up from New York City with the same goal. All were surprised by our arrival since we were not expected. Alissa’s performance was as beautiful and graceful as she is. Her daughter Rachel is carrying the family tradition into the next generation and was equally impressive. Naturally, my mother could not resist the temptation to demonstrate where her daughter and granddaughter derived their talent and managed to pick up a good-looking guy 30 years her junior for a spin around the dance floor during intermission.
The second of two major home products that my team has been working on over the last two years was announced at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas earlier this week. The Scooba 450 is a floor-scrubbing robot designed to replace a mop and bucket. Cool videos describing the product and design can be found at the iRobot website. Initial product reviews have been extremely positive and the company has high hopes for the success of this robot.
I found myself alone at home this evening and decided I would head out to pick up some food and do a little night photography. This is the Trinitarian Congregational Church with roots in the First Church, established in Concord by the earliest settlers in 1636. The original meeting house was extensively renovated in 1898, resulting in a Victorian structure with a corner steeple and stained glass windows. In 1924, that church building was leveled in a devastating fire and the building you see here was constructed in its place.
By now followers of this blog have come to understand that iRobot is not your average company nor are the people who work here your average employees. Each month a different department or business unit is responsible for hosting a mobile beer party. Beverage carts are wheeled throughout the facility until everyone has had a chance to enjoy a cold brew and snacks. Today our Defense & Security business unit hosted a New Year’s theme party complete with a Baby New Year in diapers. This particular “baby” could tear the roof off a milk truck if he was thirsty. Despite his overwhelming stature and penchant for tattoos this is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and one of the company’s stand out employees. For some bizarre reason, the wrestler in me has always wanted to pick a fight with him (the bone crushing consequences not withstanding). Seeing him in this get up, however, has forever eradicated that notion from my consciousness.
About a year ago I set out to create a dog house for Nala so that she would stop sleeping on our couch where the fur she shed there would invariably wind up all over my clothing. I took the doors off an antique Chinese chest we own and added a nice pillow to the base. It was the perfect size for Nala and I was dismayed by her absolute refusal to avail herself of this new abode. In the last few months, however, she has started, of her own volition, to make use of her Asian-inspired home. Maya, whose bedroom currently contains no less than three beds, for reasons I cannot begin to explain, decided she would join Nala for a short nap today. Incidentally, Nala still sleeps on the couch, quietly moving to her own house when I come downstairs in the morning.
The Robot in Three Day Challenge is a competition to design and build a robot for the FIRST Robotics Challenge in just 72 hours (instead of the allowed 6 weeks). The tireless iRobot innovators pictured here did just that and have produced a truly impressive machine. Play the video below for an overview of the design. Subscribe to the feed for additional videos introducing the team members and detailing the project. Most importantly please vote for team Boom Done by following this LINK
At iRobot we have a culture of work hard, play hard and when we play we play to win. Few things are more enjoyable about my job than supporting inspired folks such as these.
Light rain and intense fog accompanied me on my commute this morning. All in all a welcome change from the bitter cold and snow. Work is back in full swing and I am finally feeling like I am on Eastern Standard Time again.
Once a year, the book club, to which Jeanine belongs, invites spouses to join them for a discussion/dinner party. The book that was selected this time was Unbroken, a chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II and his unlikely true story of survival, resilience, and redemption. The food rivaled the conversation and it proved to be a very fun evening. Earlier in the day I volunteered at our church caring for the 2-4 year olds while their parents attended service.
Sadly, Kyle had to return to Santa Clara today and I made the early morning run to the airport with him. Even though he has been home for over a month, my time with him was limited to just one week by virtue of my travel in Nepal. Jeanine, on the other hand, enjoyed the full duration of his stay and is already lamenting his departure. It was extremely nice to have the whole family together again and I could kick myself for not taking a single photo of the entire group. Jeanine hosted a brunch/luncheon for the volunteers of Open Table to thank them for all they have contributed to the organization and to the community. The house was filled with delicious aromas and it took a concerted effort to pull myself away at noon to go with Maya to the high school where she joined the robotics club. For the next six weeks she will participate in the design, construction and testing of a robot that will compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. Pictured below is a solar powered seed planting robot that she created for her 3D graphics class.
