My soccer team will move on to the championship finals next week after defeating Lexington in the semi-finals this morning. We gave up a penalty kick in the 3-1 win and dominated possession for most of the match. Having failed to do so earlier in the season, I took an official team photo after the game.

Jeanine is enjoying herself on Martha’s Vineyard, and Nico just returned from Idaho. Wrestling practice starts tomorrow at Concord Academy, and he will be presenting at Sudbury High School for the Bionic Project, so he will be spending the night here to shorten his commute.

Jeanine is visiting a friend on Martha’s Vineyard for the weekend. I am hoping to surprise her with a completed desk for her office when she returns on Monday. It is an ambitious goal that may be thwarted by the late delivery of drawer hardware. Nonetheless, I set out in earnest this morning. Pictured here is the primary desktop under construction. An “L” shaped return will be provided by a double-wide filing cabinet. Initially, I had planned to make the desk a “built-in” by attaching it to the wall. This would have saved a bit of the very expensive bamboo plywood at the cost of future flexibility and ease of installation. In addition to the top, I completed the three-drawer cabinet that will support the left side of the desk. Tomorrow, I plan to tackle the bookshelf that will support the right side and also apply the finish.

When I was a young man, I could easily carry a 3/4 inch 4×8 foot piece of plywood unassisted. Those days are long gone. Over the winter, I will be building a new desk with drawers for Jeanine’s office and a new bed with integrated nightstands, headboard, and shelving. Moving 12 sheets of bamboo plywood, each weighing ~90 pounds, from the garage to my workshop proved to be quite a demanding job. I used the pictured contraption to move one sheet at a time. The task took the better part of two hours and will take the place of today’s visit to the gym.

Yesterday, I learned that another one of my high school classmates passed away. That makes 8 over the last three years. I feel fortunate that I am still able to do the things I do and am reminded to make the most of every day. In discussing this with a friend, I had occasion to retrieve a photo from ten years ago that I did not publish on the blog and I thought I would celebrate that memory today.

I have my parents to thank for the many positive traits I inherited. Flat feet are not one of them. For years, I purchased shoes with arched insoles, assuming this would help address my skeletal-muscular defect. I finally learned that the only way I could be comfortable was in shoes with dead flat insoles. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to find such footwear that also meets my other criteria for function and style. When I do stumble upon a shoe that works for me, I have learned to buy three pairs. Pictured above is my collection of lightweight trail shoes. After much wear and tear, the pair on the left is now relegated to yard work. I wear the pair in the middle almost every day. The pair on the right are brand new, and I will not start using them until my everyday shoes get demoted to yard work and my yard work shoes wind up in the trash.

This set of shoes is likely to last me 6-8 years. The reason I buy them all at once is that most companies revise their product lines every couple of years, and I want to avoid the lengthy process of finding another set that meets all of my criteria. To me, this seems like a logical solution. To others, a reason to question my sanity and/or intelligence.

A few weeks ago, I had an ultrasound, which revealed a couple of 3mm kidney stones and an 8mm bladder stone that I had to look forward to. Today, I passed the bladder stone. Mercifully, the 8.4mm long stone was only 4mm in width.

Jeanine attended the School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT, where she obtained her Master’s Degree in Intercultural Management. Last night we hosted a dinner party for a few of her former classmates. Phil, on the left, is a lawyer who now lives in Sydney, Australia, and will be staying with us for two nights. Dan lives nearby in Groton and does small construction projects while he is not building custom “catios” (outdoor, multi-level, open-air enclosures for cats), which are apparently in high demand. Jeanine prepared a delicious mushroom-based stroganoff that was out of this world. Lively conversation took as well past 11 pm, and I was amazed that Jeanine, who usually falls asleep by 8 pm, was still going strong.

Yesterday, the pair of GMRS radios I ordered arrived. They allow me to receive FM radio stations, NOAA weather forecasts, police, fire, and medical, as well as air traffic control and ham radio transmissions. I can receive all of these, but can only transmit on a specific set of channels. This type of radio requires a license to operate, but it is very easy to obtain and covers all members of the family. In essence, these are short-range walkie-talkies that also allow you to simultaneously monitor two different frequencies and cover a huge band of the radio spectrum.

I set one radio up to monitor Concord Police and Fire Dispatch. The other one is set to monitor air traffic control at nearby Hanscom Airfield. Because Concord is a sleepy little town, I did not imagine there would be that much action on the radio. The Fire Department responded to three false alarms, including the new Chipotle in town, the Concord Academy Science Building, and the Concord Children’s Center. All three were false alarms. I was very impressed by the speed of response. Each time I arrived, the firefighters were already heading out. The first call came when I was at home, so I decided to head over to Chipotle for an early lunch. The second two came while I was driving in town, allowing me to quickly divert to the scene. I was very impressed.

UPDATE: Later in the evening, I heard another call for a return visit to Chipotle. Four false alarms in one day.

I finally got around to setting up a proper photo studio in the basement today. Most of my time was spent suspending three rolls (grey, while, and black) of background paper from the ceiling. Each roll is 9 feet wide and can be individually raised or lowered with pull chains for quick background color changes. These will be used for portraiture and large product photography. I also mounted a 4’x4′ light tent on a mobility base. In the foreground is my camera stand, which allows me to rapidly position my camera almost anywhere in the studio. Think tripod on a mobile base with an arm that can reach out over things. Two battery-powered strobes with soft boxes complete the all-wireless setup. Slightly more compact than my studio in our last home, it is more than adequate for the type of photography I expect to be doing going forward.

Behold the tiny White-Brested Nuthatch. These birds are known for their ability to climb down trees headfirst, a behavior that distinguishes them from other birds like woodpeckers. Their diet consists of insects, seeds, and nuts, and they are found throughout North America in deciduous and mixed forests. They get their name “nuthatch” from their habit of wedging large seeds or nuts into tree crevices and then “hatching” them open with their bills. I spotted this one after waking from a long post-soccer-match nap. We finished our season with a 5-0 win and are now on to the postseason playoffs, which will start next weekend. I had a very nice pass to one of our best players for an open shot on net, but he failed to finish and deprived me of the assist. On a positive note, the combination of rolling out my leg muscles and a healthy dose of Ibuprofen allowed me to play free of hip pain.

For the first time in our 35-year marriage, Jeanine spent the entire day in her pajamas. I spent much of it experimenting with a new flash for my camera, using her as an unaware subject. The photo above appears straightforward, but it is actually quite challenging to balance the bright outdoor scene with the darker interior. Jeanine and I are relatively active, but something about the weather, the phase of the moon, or the prior week of gym workouts left us quite content just lounging about for the day.

Jeanine and I hosted a potluck dinner for the soccer parents of Maya’s teammates at Concord Carlisle High School. It was wonderful catching up with everyone, and the food was great. Jeanine prepared lasagna, possibly my favorite Italian dish. Little did we know at the time that these friendships would have endured over the years.

It took me a moment to connect the automated UPS delay notification I received with the tragic plane crash of flight 2976 in Louisville, KY, on November 4th. It appears that a catastrophic engine failure on takeoff caused the crash, which killed the 3 person crew, 9 people on the ground, with another 12 missing and presumed dead. My heart goes out to the families and friends of all who have been impacted by this horrific accident. I also feel guilty that a package for me was processed through the UPS Worldport facility in Louisville while workers there were grieving for their community and lost colleagues. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to return to business as usual after such a tragic event. When my package arrives, one of 22.4 million per day delivered by UPS, I hope to greet the driver and share my condolences and appreciation for the work they do.

After one year of normal use, our milk frother stopped working. Specifically, the frother spring stopped rotating even though the heating element continued to work. My first impulse was to repair the unit. When the problem became apparent, it was clear that a fix would only be temporary. The root cause of the failure was a poorly designed seal that allowed heated milk to penetrate the front bushing of the motor, where it became encrusted around the shaft. I have ordered a replacement, which employs a different design with a totally separate stainless steel vessel for the milk. The frother is magnetically coupled to the motor in the base, making the current failure mode impossible. Only time will tell how robust the new unit is.

The Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, located in Boston Harbor and operated by the MWRA, is one of the largest and most advanced facilities in the U.S., serving over 2 million people in 43 communities. It treats up to 1.2 billion gallons of wastewater per day—removing more than 85% of pollutants—before safely releasing cleansed water into Massachusetts Bay via a 9.5-mile outfall tunnel. The plant also generates energy from methane produced during sludge digestion, supporting on-site power needs.

Jeanine and I completed the 2.6-mile walk around the perimeter of this island in very high winds. We did so in the early morning after dropping Marie and Rose at the airport for their return to Minnesota. In addition to being a state-of-the-art facility, it is actually quite beautiful from an architectural perspective.

I just purchased a new, more powerful flash for my camera, which triggered a rethinking of my portable lighting kit. As a result, I posted several strobes and lighting accessories for sale this afternoon. My rule for camera gear and computers, and tools in general is that nothing collects dust. If I upgrade or add to my kit, then I take a hard look at what is replaced and what can be sold.