Working in high tech can be both thrilling and terrifying especially when you are developing a product or process that has never been done before. Above you are looking at the result of years worth of effort and a major breakthrough for my team at Digital Alloys. We successfully printed the pyramid pictured above in H13 tool steel. More importantly, it was printed with a closed feedback loop and no human intervention. Today, we crossed the threshold of believing we could print with metal to proving we can print with metal. Over the course of my career, I have enjoyed perhaps a dozen or so such monumental milestones. I have learned to recognize them for what they are and pause to enjoy them.

Sadly, in a week where we were poised to purchase one of two properties, neither deal has come to fruition. The cliff house in Nahant went to a higher bidder and the final Kent Cottage price was just too high to make a proper renovation financially prudent. While we will keep our eyes open for new opportunities, in all likelihood we will put off buying a new home until next year when most experts believe it will be a buyer’s market rather than the seller’s market we are in now.

Pictured is the Ellingwood Chapel, a Gothic Revival structure built in 1920, located in the Greenlawn Cemetery on Nahant. I did a practice commute this morning before putting in our final offer.

The painting of the exterior of our house was completed today. The workmanship was excellent and we are very pleased with the outcome. Regrettably, when I made a final inspection, I noticed that significant damage had been done to the slate tiles at the edge of the roof. This damage was caused by incorrectly placed ladders. The owner of the company, Union Painting, was quick to acknowledge responsibility and discounted our price to offset for the repair work that will now be needed. Despite this admitted significant issue, we would still strongly recommend this company to others.

Nicolai has been working his way across the country on a combination vision quest/traveling amputee soccer training camp/golf outing/family and friend reunion/vacation/camping adventure. We are thrilled every time he checks in to let us know where he is and what he is up to. By the time you are reading this post, he will probably be in southern California with plans to work his way up the coast and thru the national parks. We look forward to the photos he has been posting on his Instagram account which are every bit as good as any photos I have ever taken.

After 2 years of looking for a smaller home for our retirement years, we have arrived at two choices that could not be more different. Last night, we put an offer in on Kent Cottage. It is located in Burlington, walking distance from my office and includes 22 acres of beautiful wetlands. The home requires a top to bottom renovation and is located in the center of an otherwise commercial area. This home only makes sense at the right price given home much investment will be needed. Still, it is oozing with potential and the thought of doing a full restoration is very appealing to us. If our offer is not accepted, we will put an offer in on the Nahant home we visited over the weekend. It is situated on 1 acre and overlooks a beautiful ocean cove. The house would need extensive updating but the “bones” are good. The downside here is that access to the island is through Lynn which is hard to get to from just about anywhere.

Earlier this week, our yellowwood tree, pictured in the background, was struck by lighting. Approximately 1/3 of it was laying in our front yard with the remainder of it seemingly unaffected. I spent the better part of two hours this morning lopping off branches and making a very dense pile of them in the driveway. I used my cordless chainsaw to make quick work of the larger limbs which are stacked in a different pile. If the root system was not damaged, it is possible that the tree will survive, and if it does, a good chance that it will fill back in the lost areas. Only time will tell.

Nahant is an island just north of Boston connected by a causeway to the mainland. Before the roadway was constructed, it was only accessible at low tide, when a natural land bridge emerged from the water. Jeanine and I spent the better part of the day touring the island after revisiting a home we are thinking about purchasing trying to get a sense of what retirement would feel like in this tiny community. The house we are looking at is in major need of renovation but priced as if move-in ready. As we prepare to make an offer, it is unclear if we will be able to negotiate a more realistic price or if we would be better off putting a bid in on Kent Cottage.

For almost 2 years now, Kyle has been renting a posh apartment in Boston’s very chic Seaport District. While working at Cengage, it was literally across the street from his office, a 1-minute commute. When he took a new position at Touchplan, his walking commute increased to just under 20 minutes. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck and we encouraged all the kids to come back home and shelter in place with us. With his lease expiring at the end of this month and Touchplan’s decision to encourage working remotely, it made no sense to renew his lease and Kyle is now in the process of looking for a home to buy. The only question is where.

This evening after work, Jeanine and I helped Kyle pack up all his furniture and other belongings into a small U-Haul truck demarcating another new chapter in his life. Meanwhile, Nicolai continues the westward leg of his road trip/vision quest. When we checked in with him, he had just entered Arizona on his way to California. A future post will be devoted to his grand adventure.

When Maya returned from work this evening she entered the house inquiring why one of the trees in our front yard had fallen over. At first, I thought she was joking but a quick excursion and close inspection revealed that it had been hit by lightning and split in two. What I don’t understand is why this tree was struck and not the pines surrounding our house that are easily four or five times taller. Jeanine was particularly upset because this tree was her favorite, planted only a few years ago when we relandscaped the front yard. It is the only tree on our property whose leaves turn yellow in the fall.

Although I am not at liberty to offer many details, I can say that the image above represents a significant milestone achieved by my team at Digital Alloys as we continue to refine our metal 3D printer.

I made an early morning trip to the coast to tour one of the properties Jeanine and I thought might be interesting for our retirement years. The house, in serious need of remodeling or possibly total replacement, is situated above a private cove which is quite lovely. We have thoroughly enjoyed the view of the field in our back yard for the last 16 years and are hoping to find a home with an equally enjoyable vista. We have been focused on wetlands, mountains, or a lake view but now have expanded the list to include an ocean view.

Not one of the more photogenic insects I have managed to photograph recently, but all I could find today. He was sunbathing on the picnic table outside my office at lunchtime. He seemed quite content to share the bench with me. Judging by the amount of pollen on his body, I am guessing this guy was taking a breather after some heavy-duty pollination.

For a change of pace and locale, Jeanine and I spent the day house hunting on the Atlantic seaboard. We started in Beverly and work our way down through Marblehead to Nahant. We found a couple of interesting properties that will make our “saved” list as well as two lighthouses. Pictured above, is the Hospital Point Light Station (now a private residence) named for a smallpox hospital built on the site. It is one of 5 Massachusetts lighthouses that still retains its original Fresnel lens. Pictured below, is the Marblehead Light Station, one of about 14 examples of pyramidal skeletal lighthouses surviving in the United States today, as well as the only one of its kind still standing in New England. The 105-foot tall, cast-iron structure with a central tower cylinder was built in 1896.

We are having our house painted this week including the 34 shutters that flank the windows on the front side. Of that number, four were in need of repair of one type or another. I spent several hours fabricating and installing missing or damaged parts. Thus far, I am very please with the work of our painters who are taking the time to do the job right. Today they spent the entire day doing prep work and probably will not start painting for a few more days.