Fall color has lasted longer than ever before this year. This photo was taken ten days ago across the street from the River House. One of the last remaining stands of color in the area, the leaves were incredibly vibrant in the morning sun.

Among other projects I tackled today was the decommissioning of our 300-gallon fuel oil tank in preparation for demolition. Step one was disconnecting the filler and vent pipes as well as the supply lines feeding two furnaces. Step two was cutting off the top third of the tank which took about thirty minutes to make the circumferential cut in the 1/8 inch thick steel. Step three, shown above, was draining the remaining oil from the tank by lifting the side opposite the drain valve. Later this week, I will return to cut off the middle third which will make it possible to muck out the sludge at the bottom of the tank. I will filter the remaining heating oil (about 6 gallons) and pour it into the tank at Kyle’s house or find a neighbor who would like a couple of days of free heat. Once the inside of the tank has been cleaned, I will dispatch the metal to a scrap yard for recycling.

For some time now, I have been searching for a better way to keep the bits I most commonly use with my drill/driver close at hand. After trying a number of different ideas, I finally settled on the use of cup magnets. Each 3/4″ magnet is attached to the tool where the belt hook is normally secured. The four bits I most often use are a #2 Phillips, #2 Square Drive, #8 Flat, and a T25 Torx. I am very pleased with this solution and have now similarly fitted my two other drill/drivers. Odd, what simple things can give me such joy.

Maya was not pleased with the dinner rolls she baked for Thanksgiving and decided to make a new batch today. Apparently, the dough did not properly rise last time and there was much discussion between mother and daughter as to the best approach to proofing. Jeanine and I were treated to the improved rolls, hot from the oven, as we binge-watched Ted Lasso with Maya who has not seen it yet.

Yesterday’s Thanksgiving Day bocce tournament gave me an opportunity to photograph the kids without the normal pushback I get when pointing a camera in their direction. Our family has a long tradition of playing this multi-generational game when we gather for the holidays. My father, who introduced my siblings and me to bocce, would be very happy to see that his grandchildren have embraced the game as well. If there is an afterlife, I am sure my dad was smiling yesterday.

We had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Everyone in the family is healthy and pursuing their passions. We have a green light to proceed with our new house plans and found a great place to live during construction. Kyle is enjoying his new home as we work together on renovating his basement. Nicolai is just back from Costa Rica where he scored 6 goals for the US National Amputee Soccer team during three matches with the host country. Maya has one term remaining before graduating with a degree in robotic engineering and is already fielding job offers. Jeanine continues with her important work at Open Table finding new ways to meet the ever-increasing need for food relief. I am enjoying semi-retirement and am about to start a substantial consulting project with a fourth client. Maya, Jeanine, and I started the day with a 5K Turkey Trot. Jeanine and I walked the course while Maya ran it. Later in the day, the boys joined us for a bocce tournament in the backyard (Maya won MVP honors for some very impressive, if very lucky tosses). We were joined by one of Nico’s roommates, a close friend of Jeanine’s, and her mother for Thanksgiving diner which featured contributions from all participants. I was the designated potato peeler and masher. We normally go around the table before beginning diner to share that for which we are most thankful. With so many guests joining us this year we opted to bypass the tradition so we could enjoy the meal while it was hot. Therefore, I will record my thoughts here; I am most thankful that my cousin Edward appears to be on the road to recovery after suffering a serious stroke. He is an amazingly fit, highly competitive triathlete and the news of his situation came as a great shock. I am not one who believes prayers are answered but I am praying for him every day nonetheless.

Jeanine and I accompanied Maya to a climbing gym this evening. There she demonstrated the considerable skill she has developed since beginning to climb on a regular basis. Nico introduced her to the sport and gifted her a set of climbing shoes a few years back. While she was interning for Rivian she joined a climbing club, the Midwest Bouldering Babes, and has since become quite proficient.

I spent the better part of the day creating a detailed photo survey of our River House, a condition of the approval we received to proceed to demolition. I documented each outside elevation and every room from multiple angles. I compiled the resulting collection into a book-style PDF document adding annotations to each photo describing the location and orientation of the photo. Pictured above is the former family room. In our new layout, this will be the site of the guest bedroom.

The Sunday Boston Globe featured an article about local programs working to address food insecurity. Open Table was included and Jeanine quoted in the piece. I am so proud of Jeanine for the work she does and happy anytime she is recognized for her contributions. In addition to helping to feed thousands of people that she does not know, I am also grateful that she chooses to feed me as well.

My soccer team’s fall season wrapped up today on a disappointing note. We traveled to Epping, NH for the finals of the over-55 Division One playoffs. There we lost our first game of the season 0-1. Our opponents were very strong but their only goal came on a fluke when our goalie launched a goal kick directly into the head of one of their strikers and it bounced back into our goal. I did not see any action because we had our full roster including players who returned from Colorado and Maine, all of whom are more talented than me. Instead, I took action photos of the late afternoon game during the first half while the light was still good and helped manage substitutions during the second half. Pictured above is Mario, arguably our most talented player. Earlier this season he scored an unassisted goal from a corner kick, a difficult but not uncommon feat in soccer. What made his goal truly remarkable is that he hit the ball along the ground rather than into the air. I have never seen such a goal at any level of soccer, EVER.

I replaced two dingy light bulbs with eight four-foot-long LED lightbars in the shop today (only six visible in the photo). While I will no doubt make further improvements to the space, the shop is now officially open for business. Next week, I will likely turn my attention to creating a provisional photo studio on the other side of the basement.

I woke up very early this morning to photograph the partial lunar eclipse. Unfortunately, the sky was obscured by clouds until about 5:15 AM by which time the eclipse was nearing completion and the unique red coloring was no longer visible. Still, it was fun to get outside in the brisk night air to witness the celestial drama. I can only imagine how early humans would have interpreted such events. The ancient Inca people interpreted the deep red coloring as a jaguar attacking and eating the moon. They believed that the jaguar might then turn its attention to Earth, so the people would shout, shake their spears and make their dogs bark and howl, hoping to make enough noise to drive the jaguar away. It reminds me that absent understanding people will fill the void with explanations they can believe in. At this time in history, when our understanding of the truth has been eclipsed by social and political bias, it is little wonder that we have so many people barking and howling at each other.

The final step needed before getting our demolish permit is to disconnect electrical service to the house. Rather than going cold turkey, I installed a temporary service on the back of our garage. This will provide access to electricity during construction. When the power crew comes to disconnect the wires from the house they will connect them to this temporary meter which feeds a circuit breaker and weatherproof outlet. Due to the very real shortages associated with the supply chain problems it took me longer to acquire all of the components than to do the installation.

With the stairway framing sheathed in plywood, today I turned my attention to creating storage space under the stairs. I installed shelving in the pockets under each stair creating both shallow and very deep storage areas. I left an opening at the front to fit a shelving unit on casters. I will store my most frequently accessed items on the shelving unit and roll it out of the way to get at less often used items on the built-in shelves.

I installed plywood sheathing over the exposed stairway framing after running a pair of new outlets to each side on a new circuit. To the wall, I attached a workbench top; it was from a section of the bunk beds I made for the boys when they were small . The temporary leg shown in the middle will be replaced by a nice pair of adjustable steel legs which should arrive next week. I repeated the process on the other side of the stairway where I have provisionally set up my miter saw.

After a year without a proper shop, I was thrilled to begin organizing my tools in the Road House basement this morning. Over the course of the coming week, I plan to add plywood sheathing over the exposed 2×4 stair framing, add several electrical outlets, build shelving under the stairs, and install a workbench to create a modest shop. For the record, I do not have a DeWalt tool fetish. Once you commit to a battery platform, however, it means you are pretty much tied to the brand. I have twenty or so battery-powered tools of which I used more than a dozen over the past week.

Maya and Kyle joined us at the Road House to watch Nicolai and team USA compete against the Costa Rican National Amputee Soccer Team in the finals of a tournament being held in San José. The match was scoreless after regulation time and went straight to penalty kicks. With one PK remaining and the score tied 3-3, Costa Rica had a chance to win the game with their final shot but could not find the back of the net. The game went to sudden death penalty kicks. Nico was up first and scored for the second time, Costa Rica responded in kind. The US scored the next PK and won the match 5-4 when Costa Rica missed the subsequent shot. Even though the broadcast we were watching was in Spanish and the resolution and frame rate was ere extremely low, we could still feel the excitement as the match was decided. I am hoping to update this post with more details and a higher resolution photo when Nico returns.

Jeanine and I spent the bulk of the day at Kyle’s new house. We completed several projects working as a team. First, we added handles to all the kitchen cabinets and drawers; I marked hole locations, Kyle drilled the holes, and Jeanine screwed in the handles. Next, Kyle and I replaced the gas range with an all-electric induction cooktop and convection oven. This necessitated running a new 50 amp circuit to the kitchen and allowed us to remove the natural gas meter and all the gas lines from the house (in anticipation of a new heat pump HVAC system). Finally, we framed a missing section of an interior 2×4 wall that will eventually define one of the new rooms in the renovated basement.

Meanwhile, Maya sent us this week’s whiteboard challenge from her college dorm. “Draw a penguin from memory.”

Ten years ago, I volunteered as a mentor in the Gordon Engineering Leadership Program at MIT. I am pictured here with Nora, my mentee, whose birthday is today. She has gone on to a very successful career first at Microsoft and now with Meta (Facebook) as a Lead Product Manager. She lives in Seattle with her husband Simon and their two adorable children who I am looking forward to meeting one day.

A few weeks ago, we learned that the Concord town bylaws governing historic preservation were changed to include homes older than 50 years rather than those built before 1942 as was the case when we embarked on our plans for a new home. When I filed an application for demolition approval, our home was deemed historically significant by the Concord Historical Preservation Commission by virtue of its architect, Carl Koch, and it being part of the Conantum neighborhood. The commission has the power to delay the demolition of homes they deem “preferably preserved” for up to one year. Last night, at the commission’s monthly meeting our case was heard. I presented arguments for not finding the home “preferably preserved,” one slide in the deck is shown above. I was very nervous because I have little to no expertise in this field. Thankfully, several of our new neighbors chose to attend the virtual meeting and spoke very eloquently in support of our application. A more generous welcome gift to the community we cannot imagine. I believe they helped sway the decision in our favor and we are so grateful for their participation. Barring any unexpected hurdles, we are now set to begin our project in early spring.

In the past, when we have moved into a new house, we invariably generate a long list of changes we would like to make to the interior. The usual suspects include curtains, lighting fixtures, paint colors, handle hardware, plumbing fixtures, towel racks, and the list goes on. In the case of our most recent acquisition, we have only felt the need to replace one item, the light fixture over the dining room table. The new fixture relates perfectly to the pendant lights over our kitchen island. The old fixture, shown below is now for sale on Craig’s List.

Owning an electric vehicle only benefits the environment when the electricity used to charge it comes from renewable sources. Each year, the Concord Municipal Light Plant works to decrease the percentage of energy it generates from fossil fuels each year. Pictured above is a large solar array, adjacent to Walden Pond which is helping the effort.

I decided to create a digital CAD model of the Road House today. I started with the floor plans provided by the realtor. In so doing, I discovered that the size of the garage was completely misrepresented. Thankfully, it is much larger than shown. Having a CAD model is very handy for planning furniture placement. I spent the balance of the day working through a punch list of projects for the house. Hanging towel hooks, oiling squeaky door hinges, adjusting door latches, installing a makeup mirror, and a whole slew of similar tasks.

In our final game of the fall soccer season, my team took care of business winning 4-2 to secure a perfect 10-0 record. Next week we will advance to the playoff semi-finals where we will face a very strong opponent. When I returned home, the priority was to move everything being stored in the garage to their final destination inside the house. We hired a local teenager who did most of the carrying up and down stairs. I shuttled boxes into the kitchen where Jeanine decided what went where. We cleared the entire garage in three hours and our cars now have a place to call home.

Fundraising is one of the most important responsibilities Jeanine has as the Executive Director of Open Table. Earlier this week she accepted a generous donation from the Nashawtuc Country Club. The money was raise during their annual Turkey Shoot golf tournament.

The top priority when we moved into the Road House was to get internet access and wi-fi. In this day and age, trying to get anything done without this service is next to impossible. The second priority was to get a Level 2 charging station setup in the garage for my car. This required adding a new 50 amp breaker to our electrical service panel and running 6 gauge wire out to the garage. Code requires the outside wiring to be inside steel conduit. The entire project took about four hours to complete and I am very pleased with the outcome.

When I saw this Halloween “sculpture” on the lawn of our public library this afternoon, I was immediately reminded of two of my favorite things.

While traveling to North Billerica for my Covid booster and annual flu shot, I spotted a small pocket of remaining fall color on the Concord River. So far, my reaction to the booster has been much milder than my second dose of the vaccine. I spent the remainder of the day beginning to install a Level 2 charging station for my e-Tron and hope to finish up tomorrow.

Maya has become quite the proficient climber. She started the sport during her internship with Rivian last summer. I have never seen her opening upside-down move before and can’t believe how quickly she is progressing in the sport.

Maya is pictured here with her capstone project team. They decided a little team-building activity was in order and decided to go ice skating. This will be Maya’s last major project before graduating this spring. I will try and update this post with the details of her project when I have had a chance to quiz her about it.