We have an unusual number of redheads that work in the Human Resources department at iRobot. This group stopped by my office this morning for a meeting to discuss why I was not in costume for the Halloween open house. Children of employees are invited to Trick-or-Treat throughout the facility which is elaborately decorated for the occasion and to enjoy a special Halloween lunch. I have been unusually busy with two new product launches and have had little time to think about anything else. With the pressure on, I was able to improvise a headless pumpkin costume using only my normal work apparel, a rather sad statement about the nature of my professional wardrobe. It is definitely justified even despite a trek, and with the right backing and an inspirational demeanor, numerous see that link now order cheap cialis individuals figure out how to adapt to their issues and keep on living with such issues forever. When the http://pamelaannschoolofdance.com/studio-event-informaition/ levitra pharmacy purchase cause of the condition is yet to be determined, but no more than 5%. If you want to have another tablet tadalafil sales then takes it 24 hours later to having the first tablet. In canada cialis levitra simple words, it is a mix of two words Kama and gra. Despite the fact that it was thrown together at the last second, I can tell you that this outfit produced more fear in small children than any other at the company. I was able to see well enough through the buff covering my head to track down and approach youngsters who found my lack of a face quite disturbing. Add a low pitched growl once in close proximity and they were quickly looking for the arms of their parents. I am guessing this Hallow’s Eve behavior will earn me another visit from the red heads.

Since we moved to the Boston area ten years ago the Red Sox have won the World Series three times and the Patriots have won the Super Bowl three times. Even though our family does not generally follow professional sports it is hard not to get pulled into the excitement of rooting for your home team when they are competing for a national title (kind of arrogant that we call them the “World” Series as I think about it). Jeanine multi-tasked (Open Table e-mail) during the early innings of the game and was fast asleep by the fifth inning. Maya made it till the bottom of the eighth but I woke her up for the final out of the game. This year’s victory was made more poignant because the team made such a dramatic turnaround from last season and because the team and the city rallied around the Boston Strong theme after the marathon bombing last spring.

I pulled this photo off of Nico’s Facebook account. It was taken on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia where he is completing an internship with SideStix, the manufacturer of his forearm crutches. He has learned many aspects of the business and everything there is to know about building and maintaining his crutches. This week he is in Seattle speaking at the local VA hospitals and demonstrating the product. I was thrilled to learn he will be returning in time for Thanksgiving as will Kyle.

Reluctantly, I have placed these PrincetonTec Apex headlamps up for sale on Craig’s List today. They are veterans of my coming-of-age adventures with both boys and many solo adventures I have taken over the years. They have seen the bottom of the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave in Belize and the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. They have guided my path through the Patagonia regions of Chile and Argentina, up the slopes of Mount Fuji, and over the Salkantay Pass in Peru. They have never failed me and remain in near-perfect condition. With my upcoming trip to Nepal, however, I am switching from AA batteries to 18650 and CR123A type batteries for all of my equipment. They offer lower weight for the same illumination and longer life. The downside is that the batteries can only be found in specialty retailers.

Maya is about mid way through the half year long Coming of Age program offered at our church. Participants examine their spirituality and belief systems with the goal of developing a personal credo and sharing it with the entire congregation. Unitarian Universalism is characterized by a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning”. Members do not share a creed, but are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth.

This evening parents shared a letter in which they tell their child what they admire about them, why they value them, favorite memories, and words of wisdom. I worked on my letter all week and practiced it many times hoping I could control my emotions while reading it to Maya in front of her peers and their parents. Jeanine had a great letter and delivered it with style and grace. I didn’t make it through my first paragraph before I totally lost it. I felt very vulnerable as I struggled to complete the letter, sobbing uncontrollably during parts. Maya put her hand on my shoulder and only that consolation allowed me to finish. The feelings I expressed came from deep within me, tapping into emotions too powerful for me to control. Maya’s hug as I finished pulled me back from the depths. This photo was taken yesterday but I thought it appropriate to post today.

The Earle family hosted a brunch for friends and family of the bride this morning. We spent the better part of five hours catching up and making new acquaintances. I enjoyed getting to know the groom, Kyle, whose adventurous nature belies his shy personality. The owner of no less than 22 alligators, he immediately recognized from my blog photos, the location where I had taken them while in the Everglades photographing gators. He had personally captured several of his in that same location. His ambition is to one day move to Florida and establish a sanctuary for dislocated reptiles. Other than Beth and her brothers Colin and Jamie, Maya knew few people and was happy to snuggle with Mama until she befriended the Earle dog, Saint. The head of this dog seemed to outweigh the remainder of its body but to its credit he was a very cooperative photographic subject. The party eventually moved to the local football field where Jamie was in action playing wide receiver on offense and safety on defense. We caught most of the first half before we had to leave for the airport.

Jeanine, Maya and I traveled to Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania this morning where we attended the wedding of Bethany Earle, daughter of Jeanine’s childhood and lifelong friend Kris, to Kyle Asplundh. We arrived early enough to tour the Glencairn Museum located adjacent to the Bryn Athyn Cathedral where the service was held. The castle-like building was the former house of billionaire businessman Raymond Pitcairn and his wife, Mildred Glenn. It consists of more than 90 rooms on 10 floors including a tower from which you can see the 15-mile distant Philadelphia skyline. My first wedding photo was taken from this vantage point as I noticed the bride in her white gown walking into the cathedral. I have known Beth since she was a baby and it is hard to believe she is all grown up.

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One of my favorite pictures of the evening was this one of best friends and their daughters.

Every year I tell myself I should take a photo of the house when our burning bushes are at peak color. I have finally made good on that intention.

I arrived in the office early today and was able to take this photo of the iRobot parking lot before it filled with cars. Did I recently suggest that peak color was behind us?

I spent more than an hour with Maya this evening helping her to prepare for a big test tomorrow. At one point I became bored with her seemingly perfect recall of the material and asked her to duplicate a very complex page of diagrammatic notes from memory. The result was a near-perfect copy of the original information organized in nearly identical spatial orientation. It is clear that Maya shares my visual learning style preference but I am now convinced she may also have something of a photographic memory.

Maya was in top form today as Concord Carlisle faced arch-rival Acton Boxborough to whom they suffered their only loss this season. The match ended in a 1-1 tie. Maya played center midfield with a level of passion I had not seen in her before. Pictured above she launches a rocket from the 18. It was low and hard to the right corner. The goalie dove for the block but could not handle the ball, fumbling it in front of the net. A quick toe poke from our nearest striker would have won the game but the shot was not taken in time. Below Maya makes a sharp cut to beat a defender as she carries the ball downfield. She made a total of three runs and she beat as many opponents each time before completing passes to one of her attackers. I wish her brothers could have watched her play today. They would have been very impressed.

I tested my recovering calf for the first time with a three mile walk over my lunch hour. It was still a little tight but I finished without tweaking it again and experienced only mild soreness afterwards. My Nepal trek will cover a distance equal to walking from Boston to my home town of Schenectady, NY over a mountain 3.3 miles high. Expressed in these terms, it is easy to understand why I have to get back to my training regime as soon as possible if I am going to be ready for my adventure.

The fall season is coming to an end but there are still some very fine scenes to be found. With cold weather and rain on the way, I suspect that this will be one of my last autumnscapes.

Neighbors walking together to take a stand against hunger describes a CROP Hunger Walk (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty). Funds raised by the Concord area CROP Walk go to the Church World Service for worldwide emergency relief of disasters, for refugee aid and for fighting the root causes of hunger through community development programs in 80 underdeveloped Man is the best creature that has countless abilities and cialis 25mg can switch and adapt new innovations easily. However, impotence purchasing cialis cures in such a situation can be administered to the patient as per the instructions of the health professional. Daily consumption of milk increases libido, quality and quantity of semen is low, it cripples the efficacy and ecstasy of purchase generic cialis twomeyautoworks.com sexual encounters. Excess Prolactin Again, it is a type of browse over here levitra 10 mg hormonal imbalance. countries. One quarter of the funds raised provide substantial contributions to ten local supper/food pantry programs including Open Table which Jeanine now heads. Maya and her friends volunteered to man Checkpoint #4 where they greeted walkers on their final leg of the course offering them water and first aid (fortunately none of the later was needed).

Jeanine and I started the day with a couples massage at the Cranwell Spa. I opted for the deep tissue variation and asked for extra time on my recovering right calf while Jeanine enjoyed a Swedish style massage. We decided to spend the balance of the day in the Berkshires. Mount Greylock, our first destination, is the highest natural point in Massachusetts at 3,491 feet. The mountain is known for its expansive views encompassing five states and the only taiga-boreal forest in the state. We drove to the summit where stands the iconic 93-foot-high lighthouse-like Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower. We paused for lunch at the adjacent Bascom Lodge which lived up to its reputation for extremely fine food, not something you would expect at such a remote outpost. We continued on to North Adams and finally joined Route 2 and gradually worked our way back to Concord stopping often to enjoy the scenery along the way.

I woke with the sunrise to explore the Cranwell Resort grounds before breakfast and my first meeting at 8am. Just as I was heading in, I came across a very healthy looking coyote who was also looking for a bite to eat. He was kind enough to pose for me in front of a lovely Berkshires autumn backdrop. Equally cooperative were my Home Business Unit colleagues who posed for a group photo during a midday break.

This evening we were joined by our significant others for a private tour and dinner at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Rockwell (1894–1978), an American painter and illustrator, is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine including The Four Freedoms (Freedom from Want, Freedom from Fear, Freedom of Worship, Freedom of Speech), pictured here, a series of four oil paintings he produced in 1943. The paintings were made for reproduction in the Post over the course of four consecutive weeks alongside essays by prominent thinkers of the day. Later they were the highlight of a touring exhibition sponsored by the United States Department of the Treasury. The touring exhibition and accompanying sales drives raised over US$132 million in the sale of war bonds. Rockwell’s obsession with the details of his work was matched only by the poignancy of the images he created. We dined in a room containing all 321 covers he created for The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1853, the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher purchased Blossom Hill located in the Berkshire Mountains just outside of Lenox, Massachusetts, where the Cranwell Mansion now stands. He loved the views from the top of the hillside and it is from this vantage point that he proclaimed, “From here I can see the very hills of Heaven”. He was active in the women’s suffrage and the anti-slavery movements and had presidential ambitions, which were ended by a scandalous affair, and so, it was left for his sister Harriet Beecher Stowe to claim fame through her anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. General John Rathbone purchased the 380 acre property from Beecher in 1869 and constructed a new home called Wyndhurst, enormous by any standards of the day and ironically referred to as a “cottage.” At the same time, on the backside of the hill, United States Naval Captain John Barnes, Flag Officer of the North Atlantic Fleet during the Civil War, erected Coldbrooke, now known as Beecher’s Cottage and part of the Cranwell property. John Sloane, a relative of the Vanderbilts and co-owner of the famous furniture firm, W & J Sloane, became the next owner of the property when he built his “cottage” in 1894. After tearing down Rathbone’s Wyndhurst and Beecher’s farmhouse, Sloane constructed another Wyndhurst, which rivaled the enormity and elegance of the first.He also commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who created New York’s Central Park and the Boston area’s Emerald Necklace, to design the grounds. It is this new Wyndhurst that stands on the hill today. The property was briefly run as the Berkshire Hunt and Country Club until purchased by Edward Cranwell in 1930 who deeded the estate to the Society of Jesus of New England in 1939, to be turned into a private school for boys. After prospering for many years, the school slipped into decline, closing its doors in 1975. Today Cranwell, with much of its original grandeur restored, is a premier four-season resort and was the site of a two day iRobot management retreat which I am attending.

Maya turns the corner on a defender as her coach looks on. She played nearly the entire match at center midfield and is really starting to look comfortable in the new position. Her vision of the field, ball control and strategic distribution are excellent, characteristics she shares with her older brothers. Her team shut out Wayland by a score of 3-0 and Maya had a very nice give-and-go assist to her close friend Sarinnagh who produced all three goals for Concord.

I am still limping but am well on the road to recovery from my torn calf muscle. I am feeling very confident I will be fully healed before leaving for Nepal on Thanksgiving Day but I have little hope of playing any more soccer this season. My day started with a 6:30 AM breakfast interview in Chelmsford with an employment candidate and ended at 9 PM at the Concord Wheelhouse where I participated as a judge in the OARS annual photography contest. The organization’s mission is to protect, preserve, and enhance the natural and recreational features of the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord rivers, their tributaries, and watersheds.

At any other company, it would be considered unusual to encounter an employee standing on his desk typing on a laptop situated atop a bookshelf while being stared at by a creepy looking doll head. At iRobot few employees would even pause for a second look as this activity falls on the normal end of the weirdness spectrum. This particular engineer is one of our creative geniuses. If he wants to type while standing on his desk we ask if he would like us to fetch him a ladder.

Miss Maya and Jeanine went on a rare shopping spree this afternoon. I am pleased that neither is obsessed with buying clothes, shoes, and handbags to the extent that seems prevalent in today’s society. That said, Maya has grown into a young woman and was overdue for a wardrobe update. She is pictured here modeling one of her new fall outfits. I think she looks great even if she refused to let me photograph her face.

My soccer season came to an abrupt end this morning when my right calf muscle gave out again, this time with that distinct popping sound that indicates a severe tear. We were leading by a margin of 2-0 at the start of the second half when it happened. I watched from the opposite sideline as we went on to win 3-1, unable to walk to the other side of the field where my team was standing. After the game, my teammates retrieved my car and carried me to it. I spent the rest of the day icing the injury and sulking before I had to leave for a flight to Tampa, Florida for a business meeting. I borrowed one of Nicolai’s forearm crutches, without which I could not take more than a few steps. I have a new appreciation for just how tough Nico’s life is both physically and emotionally. At the airport a vendor was handing out free samples of ice cream to all that passed by. When I approached he dropped his eyes and turned away. On the flip side, many people went out of their way to accommodate my obvious challenge including a colleague I was travelling with who was kind enough to locate a wheelchair and push me in it. We joined our boss for a very nice dinner in the bar of our Clearwater hotel. The pain in my calf kept me up most of the night.

Jeanine and I got an early start on a mini excursion to western Massachusetts to enjoy a marvelous fall day. Grey skies gave way to a brief interlude of sunshine as we arrived at the French King Bridge. a three-span “cantilever arch” style bridge crossing the Connecticut River.

We descended to the eastern base of the bridge and across Millers River where we began a short hike (me with a 30 pound pack, in training for Nepal). After following a road to the top of a high ridge we decided to take a private trail that we suspected would take us down to the Connecticut River where we planned to follow the water back to our car. Discovering no such trail and somewhat unsure we could retrace our steps we were fortunate to encounter a couple living at the water’s edge. They informed us that there was no road access and offered to ferry us up river on their pontoon boat, an invitation we were happy to accept.

We continued westward to the town of Shelburne Falls where we paused for lunch and a stroll across the famous Bridge of Flowers.

We returned by late afternoon to pick up Maya who had spent the night in southern Vermont with her Coming of Age group and then went on a movie date to see Captain Phillips.

Most Concord residents have driven past this building thousands of times and probably never really stopped to admire its beauty. It is the Old Concord Reformatory Building located immediately adjacent to the Massachusetts Correctional Institute, a medium-level security prison located on state Route 2 just off the main rotary. Its 1,350 inmates once included Malcolm X and it was visited in 1988 by Mother Theresa. As far as I have been able to ascertain, no one has ever escaped from the facility, the oldest men’s prison in the state.

Members of iRobot’s Defense and Security Business Unit sampled a dozen different chili recipes to determine the best overall, hottest, best flavor, and most original. Not a fan of foods which cause pain, I decided to watch and wait before selecting a few of the milder chilies to sample. The noon meal included cornbread, salads, desserts, and all the fixings and made for a very nice interlude to an otherwise hectic day. I used soccer practice this evening as justification for more than one visit to the dessert table but discovered that poor fuel makes for poor athletic performance.

My excitement over having found a sub 2 pound pair of trekking boots quickly dissipated this evening during a brief 30-minute training hike. I was born with flat feet and they do not respond well to any footwear which attempts to enforce an arch of any kind. Even though these new boots feel as comfortable as a well-worn pair of lambskin slippers, the muscles in my feet were in agony after just the first mile. I suspect that if I wear them for several days my feet will eventually adapt but I cannot take that risk so I am back to square one in my search for ultralight boots. Foot pain aside, I did enjoy some nice fall scenes on my walk.

Nothing has a greater impact on your comfort when trekking over great distances than the right pair of boots. After much searching and experimentation, I believe I have found the set that will carry me over the 150 mile Nepal trek I am planning for December. Pictured on the right are my Lowa Renegade’s. These are my go to boots and I love everything about them. The problem is that they are rather heavy at 2.8 pounds/pair. It is estimated that every pound of boot weight is the equivalent of five pounds of pack weight. On my trek I will take roughly 300,000 steps so think me not crazy as I look to shave every gram off my boot weight. In the foreground are a pair of Solomon Synapse which I purchased this evening and are likely going to be the boot I take to Nepal. They weigh a scant 1.9 pounds and are both waterproof and insulated. I don’t like the way they look but a few coats of mud should tone them down a bit. The remainder of the boots do not measure up for one reason or another. One pair will be returned, another I have gifted to Kyle, who shares my foot size, and the last will be relegated to yard work duty. For the next several weeks I will live in my new boots to ensure that they are broken in and fit for purpose.

Despite her fine play, primarily at center mid, Maya’s high school soccer team suffered their first loss today to Acton Boxborough by a margin of 0-1. The game was very close and the difference, in my estimation, came down to bench strength and finishing. AB had 12 subs to Concord’s 2 and by the end of the match, we did not have the legs to score an equalizer despite several excellent opportunities. I believe a second encounter with this team will produce a very different outcome. Maya has really developed a strong sense of the mid field position and I think it is a very good fit for her skills and playing style.

Another beautiful fall day dominated by rain. My soccer team faced Belmont this morning in what proved to be a very even match, resulting in a 1-1 tie. Normally, I tend to play better in foul weather, perhaps because it adds a certain amount of unpredictability to the game and I am quick to capitalize on small mistakes of the defense. Although I played well today, I was not able to capitalize on either of two scoring opportunities that I had. The first was on a fairly spectacular diving header in the first five minutes off a long cross which missed the net by a matter of inches. It is the kind of attempt that no one in my league is expected to make. Had I been a little quicker it would have been one for the history books. With minutes remaining in the game, my second opportunity was another header. I was unmarked in front of the net and received a perfect cross. I miss timed my jump and sent the ball over the cross bar on what for me should have been an easy put away. It was a long drive home replaying that attempt in my mind knowing I could have won the game with a more focused effort.

Nicolai left for Vancouver this morning where he will spend a few months working as an intern for SideStix, the manufacturer of his crutches. It is a fantastic learning opportunity in which he will participate in all aspects of the business from manufacturing and assembly to customer service and marketing. He will live in a one room cabin overlooking the Strait of Georgia on the Sunshine Coast just outside a little town called Roberts Creek. His departure was complicated by the fact that his ticket was originally booked for Friday which he only realized when the owners of SideStix, who had graciously offered to pick him up at the airport, called from Vancouver wondering where he was. Fortunately, Nico was able to explain the situation to the gate agent who was nice enough to re-book him on today’s flight without a penalty fee. The 5:30AM airport run served double duty as my brother Mark, having completed his business in Fitchburg, was headed back to Minneapolis on an early flight. With Jeanine in Vermont and Maya insistent on completing her homework, I spent much of the rest of the day hiking and photographing the fall foliage. I completed a 6 mile hike with my full Nepal pack weight (30 pounds) and had a chance to test out a new set of trekking poles. Despite the overcast skies, great fall scenes were in abundance and I returned home with hundreds of wonderful photos.

Maya’s soccer team is undefeated on the season and has yet to give up a single goal. Today they faced a very tough opponent in Westford High School which gave them a run for their money. Maya played the full game, much of it at center midfield, where she did an excellent job of ball distribution, a key responsibility of the position. The girls played hard and emerged with a 2-1 victory. I took very few photographs as much of the match was played in the rain. On the drive home I paused for a few photographs. Fall color this year is spectacular, the best I can remember in some time. Now if I could only get one sunny day before the show is over, I would be a happy man. My brother Mark arrived last night and spent the day in Fitchburg attending to a rental property that he owns there. When he returned we enjoyed a fine lamb stew that Jeanine left for us followed by an excursion to Bedford Farms for ice cream. Jeanine left early this morning for Burlington, Vermont to visit her sister Susan. There they will be celebrating the 70th birthday of close family friend Jean Cass.

Roughly once a month, iRobot employees are treated to a late afternoon beer party. A different group each time is charged with establishing a theme, dressing in costume, and distributing the beer and munchies throughout the facility using several push carts loaded with coolers. As is often the case, and of no consequence, it was not clear to me what the theme was this month. The addition of Halloween candy to the usual mix was a nice touch.

Nicolai took the Smart Car in for service today and returned with this loaner. $66 to replace one headlight and one brake light. $333 to replace both seat belt buckles (I wonder what the chances are that both failed but are not related to a design defect). $510 to replace brake pads and rotors. It would have almost been cheaper to buy a new car.

Maya’s CCHS Freshman team is doing very well this season, scoring 7 unanswered goals against Newton South in today’s game. Maya played a variety of positions including wing striker, wing midi, and outside defender, all on the left side. She follows in the family tradition of seeing the field well and making very deadly passes not to mention a penchant for headers.