On the last day of the year, I like to look back at all the photos I have taken during that time.  In this case, the number of images I chose to keep is 5,267.    That works out to an average of 14 per day.  In reality, I shoot only 2 or 3 on any given day but occasionally shoot hundreds at a time while on vacation or during special events.  I should also note that for every photo I keep, I usually discard 3 or 4.  Just viewing the collection is a four-hour project (@ 3 seconds per).  Regular followers of this blog will have already seen ~10% of them (generally speaking, the better ones).  Here is one that did not make the cut but I think is deserving of a spot in the 2018 lineup.

Jeanine and I spent some time house-hunting after a late breakfast at the Blackbird Cafe.  While driving through Arlington Heights, we came across this most impressive water tower. It was constructed between 1921 and 1924 (the year my father was born) in the Classical Revival style, to provide water storage for Lexington and the higher elevations of Belmont and Arlington. The design is said to have been inspired by the rotunda from the Samothrace temple complex in Greece. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

With the approach of the new year, I always seem to want to better organize my life and the things in it.  This morning I spent some time optimizing my tripod collection.  Yes, that is a thing.  I am now down to seven. A small, medium and large table top model, the camera stand in my studio and another table top version I use for supporting cameras being photographed, and my two main travel tripods, a small one and a medium one.  I switched ball heads between a few and made a couple of weight reductions on my travel gear.  In the afternoon, I turned my attention to my shop.  Among other things, I made a caddy for my metric and SAE Allen wrenches.  Designing it took three times longer than making it.  Not illustrated in the photo is the different ways the blocks can be nested front-to-front or back-to-back for more space-efficient storage.

As someone who does not drink coffee, I have little appreciation for the fine art of brewing the perfect cup.  Not so Maya.  She is an aficionado of the brewing process, more so than the drinking part I would venture to say.   The process to me seems quite straightforward.  Grind some beans, put them in a filter, and pour in hot water.  Done.  I was only listening with one ear as Maya explained the proper technique and offered this filter as an example of what it should look like when the water has been introduced in the perfect spiral pattern at the proper rate.

Until now, I have been too busy with organizational and product schedule issues that I have not had time to do any 3D printing.  With most people on vacation this week, I have had time to design and print a number of parts.  First up was a small tool caddy used to store an assortment of bits within a section of the tool tray in my toolbox.  A close examination of the photo below will reveal a number of 3D-printed items used for the same purpose.  I take pleasure in having my tools well organized so this was a great application for my first print.  The part turned out dimensionally perfect and was put into immediate use.

I am looking forward to doing some 3D printing at work this week. I prefer designing my own parts rather than downloading something from the internet. It has been a while since I used a 3D CAD program so I spent a few hours re-familiarizing myself with the one I use most. I designed a number of useful items that I will print tomorrow including the one pictured. Try and guess what it is. The answer is below the photo.

Right angle bracket to hold the inductive charger for an Apple Watch

As is our tradition, we start Christmas Day by removing the stockings from their hanging spots on the fireplace mantle and taking a seat on the couch. Each person in turn extracts a single item and tries to guess who it is from. This usually lasts for an hour or two and then we sit down to breakfast featuring from scratch popovers. Every year Jeanine worries that they will not come out just right and every year they do. Fully nourished, we return to the living room and begin the serious business of the present opening. We use a Secret Santa system (each adult is assigned one person to gift) which in theory should cut down on the number of presents to be opened. Even so, we manage to stretch things out for a couple of hours after which most of us are ready for a nap. This year Nicolai took the lead on adding a late afternoon charcuterie course to the dining menu which had the net effect of delaying dinner until 8 pm and even rounder bellies.

I suggested a nature walk this afternoon and quickly had three willing participants.  Consensus built for a hike out to the Devil’s Staircase, so named for the rock formation leading to the top of Fairhaven Hill.

Once to the top we posed for a dronie after which Nicolai did a bit of rock climbing while Maya and Kyle took turns flying my quadcopter.

On the way back, Maya announced, out of the blue, that she could carry me out of the woods if I ever became injured.  Fifteen seconds later I turned my ankle and thought it might be necessary to test her theory.  Even though I had no trouble continuing under my own power, the kids deemed it necessary to test who could carry whom to safety. Kyle was able to run uphill with Nico over his shoulders.  Maya scooped up Kyle like she was throwing on a shawl. Nicolai was more than strong enough to pick up Maya but they never managed to achieve a satisfactory state of balance.  Nicolai had better luck with Kyle hanging on to his back but that combination ended quickly when it began to look more like a mating act than a rescue effort. Suffice it to say, we returned from our walk convinced that all family members could be extracted from the wilderness should the need arise.  I would venture to say that no other family on the planet spent Christmas Eve in this way.

All three kids have picked up their mother’s passion for cooking and good food.  Nicolai is particularly good at breakfast dishes, seen here preparing something wonderful that his father did not get to sample. The family spent most of the day relaxing, eating, and playing games.  Jeanine’s sister, Susan, arrived from Burlington and among other things got us hooked on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Nicolai suggested the entire family go out for an afternoon of wall climbing.  We packed up the crew and headed down to Brooklyn Boulders, an excellent climbing facility very close to my office.  Nico has the most experience and coached his siblings who demonstrated remarkably good innate skills.  Jeanine did a cardio workout while I handled the photography.  I have a slight case of carpal tunnel syndrome and thought it best to give my wrists a break. Everyone had a great time and I am hoping this becomes a holiday tradition.

Karuna, Nico’s girlfriend, has been creating some amazing images which combine her athleticism and photographic flare into what I am calling Karunart.  These are truly amazing self-portraits and I think she has a future both as a model and a photographer.

Cengage, the company Kyle works for will be moving to a new office in May of 2019.  It is located across the street from his apartment, literally. He and his colleagues had a chance to tour the 14th-floor offices with a commanding view of Boston Harbor. Photo courtesy of Kyle.

When I worked near Central Square, street art could be found everywhere.  Somerville does not have as much, but this recently completed wall mural is quite interesting and can be found along my commute less than a half mile from the office.

Maya returned home from Olin for the holiday break.  She promptly fell asleep on the couch to begin recuperating from the demands of her sophomore fall semester.  Maya has been thriving at school and we love to hear about her many projects.  She will be joined by Nico tomorrow and Kyle at the end of the week.  Jeanine and I are looking forward to having a full house again.

Roughly once a month, Formlabs has a Town Hall meeting during which the entire company (close to 500 employees now) assembles in person and by video conference for an update on varying topics of general interest. Today the meeting focused on our 2018 financial performance and a new printing material for the dentistry market. I was also introduced and spoke briefly about my background and objectives. One of my slides included a collection of the logos of the companies I have worked for (not including Formlabs). This is my 38th year working in high tech and my 32nd managing engineering teams. I started my career wearing a lab coat over a suit, using a slide ruler for calculations. Today I am dressed ready to climb a mountain, wearing a watch that will answer any question I ask of it including what is a slide ruler. When I pause to think about all the technical and cultural changes that have occurred during my working life it is almost incomprehensible. I feel fortunate to have lived at this time in history and am proud of my journey.

I found this Concord Journal clipping today on the kitchen counter. I must have missed it when first published.

After being posted for 4 months on Craig’s List, our grand piano finally sold today.  The market for large pianos has really collapsed in recent years. Even so, we got one-third of the price we paid nearly 25 years ago.  Not bad.  The buyers drove up from Mystic, CT, and were joined here by a piano technician they hired.  He did a thorough inspection before declaring the piano “as good as new”.  Pictured above is the entire keyboard assembly removed from the piano for closer scrutiny.  Jeanine and I were very sad it will not be here for Nico to play, something we look forward to every time he visits.  Professional piano movers will arrive next week to pack it up and ship it to its new home.

Nearly 25 years ago, Jeanine and I commissioned this bed, designed by her sister and built by an Indianapolis woodworker.  I was too busy with work at the time to do it myself although I later constructed the canopy section.  As part of our year-long preparation for downsizing, I have been selling off items that don’t make sense in a more compact footprint.  With the kids out of the house, we are looking forward to finding a smaller home located nearer to Boston to shorten my commute. This evening I shot the photos that will accompany the listing on Craig’s List.

Nicolai and Karuna have taken up rock climbing, a very popular activity where they live in Colorado.  I believe she was responsible for capturing this video recording that was posted to his Instagram account.  Karuna’s strength-to-weight ratio is probably higher than any human I know and Nico’s upper body strength makes them both naturals for the sport.  

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I reached my one-month anniversary at Formlabs today.  I have been working an average of 14 hours a day plus another 90 minutes of commuting.  As is always the case with a new job, there are a million things to learn and hundreds of people to meet.  This initial push has allowed me to come up to speed fairly quickly and I believe I am now in a position to begin scaling back to a more sustainable work rate.  What has suffered the most is my fitness.  Starting today, my plan is to get an hour of exercise every morning.  If I leave at 6 am I can beat the traffic into the city, get my workout in, and arrive at the office before 8 am.  This morning, despite the sub-zero temperature, I enjoyed being out in the sun during an easy 3-mile walk that took me to the Lynch Family Skatepark where I photographed one of the swimming pool-like features with a “Tee” train and the Boston Sand & Gravel Company in the background.

This year’s Calabria holiday card features both boys on the front side.  Maya, Jeanine, and I can be found on the back.  Past cards have more often than not featured Maya on the front and it was time to balance the scales.  The card should be reaching many of you shortly.  I like posting a copy on the blog as well so that we can look back upon it years from now when the physical cards have long since been recycled.

I am often amazed by the patterns I find in nature. Something very interesting must have been happening as this water turned to ice. Find the feather in the photo for a sense of scale.

It is often said that teachers do not join the profession for the money.  After hearing what her colleagues and students had to say about my sister-in-law during her retirement party from UVM, it is easy to understand what motivates them.  Susan has enriched the lives of all she has touched and the gratitude in the room was overwhelming.  Speaker after speaker, young and old, had nothing but the most amazing things to say about her and the impact she has had on their lives.  I took hundreds of photos at the event (celebrated as a “graduation party”) which can be found here.

Jeanine and I traveled to Burlington, VT this morning.  Her sister Susan will be having a retirement party tomorrow and the family is converging for the celebration.   A 27-year veteran of the University of Vermont, she is the Chairperson for the Department of Social Work and has served as an Associate Professor in the department. 

We are looking forward to her party tomorrow and got the celebration started with a family outing this evening which included all three sisters and close friend Jean.

Pictured here, from last night’s holiday party are a couple of the people I work with at Formlabs.  The entire team is extremely talented and a real pleasure to work with.  Ridiculously dim lighting limited the quality of the shots I could get but these certainly captured the mood.

Jeanine and I enjoyed the Formlabs Holiday Party held at Lucky Strikes on Assembly Row this evening.  She met me at the office for a tour of the facility before we made our way to the festivities.  We rented out the entire venue to accommodate our nearly 500 employees and their plus ones.  Jeanine and I are more than twice the age of the average Formling.  As we were being checked through the door, the attendant asked to make sure we were attending the right party.  It was as sobering as it was funny.

Always nice to get a little local coverage by the Concord Journal. 

For the first time since joining Formlabs, I enjoyed a post-dawn walk that took me down to the Charles River. For the last three weeks, I have been arriving at the office before sunrise and leaving after dusk to beat the traffic and to get ahead of the curve at work.  It was my first dose of weekday sunshine since starting and it felt great despite the below-freezing temperatures.  I plan to join a nearby gym, hopefully, this week, where I will workout each morning before coming into the office.  I need to get in shape for a couple of soccer games coming up in February.  My team will travel to Argentina for the matches and I plan to do some mountain climbing with Nico in Patagonia ahead of the competition.  I am in shape for neither activity and need to get into a more healthy exercise regime. Pictured above in the foreground is the Longfellow Bridge with the Esplanade in the background..

Built in Boston, a self-proclaimed community of local techies keeps tabs on executive hiring in the Boston startup scene.  My move to Formlabs was covered in their November installment.  

It was a year ago that Open Table first opened its doors to the residents of Maynard during their annual Sip & Stroll celebration.  This year, visitors to the facility enjoyed musical entertainment by the Maynard High School Wind Ensemble and a craft-making area.  Bags of homemade granola were on sale to raise funds for the charity and Jeanine addressed the standing-room-only crowd to remind them that not everyone enjoys the security of knowing where their next meal will come from.  I was asked to photograph the event, which took place last night and spent a few hours this morning culling through and post-processing the images.

One town over from Concord is Lincoln, where one can find what is best described as Ponyhenge, a whimsical collection of some 30 wooden and plastic rocking horses arranged in a circle.  The phenomenon is said to have started with a headless horseman halloween display after a single rocking  horse was left behind.  Over the years, other horses have mysteriously appeared to form the collection that has now become an Atlas Obscura destination.

Closer to home, the Concord, Sudbury and Assabet Rivers are all well above flood stage.  Pictured below is French’s Meadow, completely inundated with water.  If not for the fact that our kayak carrier only fits the Audi (which Maya has at college) it would have been a nice day for a local outing on the water.