Sunday dinner included this beet-based Rossoli salad and cheeseburgers. It was a very nice combination of healthy and not-so-healthy food. The recipe is from Jeanine’s memoir cookbook and we used the opportunity to get a proper photograph. For the book, I think I might replace the white background with a kitchen countertop background scene.
The Quabbin Reservoir is an hour and a half drive from our home. It provides the drinking water for Boston and is carried there by a series of underground tunnels the longest of which is 25 miles and terminates at the Wachusett Reservoir. When the Quabbin was created, the towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott had to be abandoned and now lie at the bottom of the 150-foot deep reservoir. Soaring above the Quabbin are a number of Bald Eagles, reintroduced here in 1982. This morning, Jeanine and I and our good friend Aliza drove out to the Quabbin and hiked into a location known for good sightings. We were rewarded for the 4-mile hike when Jeanine spotted this mature eagle flying to a perch.
The collective noun for a group of geese on the ground or in the water is a gaggle; when in flight, they are called a skein, a team, or a wedge; when flying close together, they are called a plump. When they are swimming in family formation they are just called damn cute.
Jeanine joined me on my daily delivery run to Digital Alloys (some packages are being shipped to my house to provide a signature on receipt). Afterward, we did a little hiking in the nearby Shawsheen River Conservation Area. Less than a mile from the office it was one of my favorite noon-time walks when I was working at iRobot. Then it was on to Mikey’s Famous Roast Beef to pick up sandwiches for everyone at home. It felt great to be out in the spring air and I am really looking forward to getting out more often as the weather improves.
Despite an initially good wash cycle, my recent attempt to repair our dishwasher by replacing the turbidity sensor was not successful. Today, I removed the unit entirely and did a complete teardown of the drainage system. I discovered the drain pump impeller shaft completely wrapped in hair and the various drain hoses filled with all manner of gross debris. After an hour of thorough cleaning, I returned the unit to service and the first wash looked good. I will wait for a couple more days this time before declaring victory.
When I went to work this morning (in my study), I noticed that Kyle had set up his tent in the music room (which is currently serving as his office). He received it as a Christmas present from Jeanine and I. This weekend, he is planning to take his girlfriend camping and wanted to do a dry run of the setup. Initially, I thought he might be taking the whole quarantine directive way too seriously.
Dinner this evening was courtesy of Nico who prepared a chicken stir fry. He shares his mother’s passion for preparing delicious food and has become quite proficient in the kitchen. Mondays are always my busiest workday so I had little time for anything else today. We are trying to think ahead to when the non-essential business lockdown is lifted, potentially as soon as May 4. It will be anything but business as usual and we are thinking through all the ways we can continue to flatten the curve once operations recommence.
Jeanine and I enjoyed an afternoon 13-mile bike ride on the Nashua River Rail Trail. We picked up the trail in Groton and headed north. Because the trail was rather crowded, we decided to come back via back roads instead. I took advantage of the Superpedestrian Copenhagen wheel on my bike to keep up with Jeanine who is a far more fit cyclist than I. While the electric motor assist made the pedaling easy, it did nothing to address my biggest problems with cycling; a sore ass and palms. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the spring outing with Jeanine and may have to invest in a more cushioned seat and handlebars for future such outings.
Earlier in the day, I prepared a buttermilk pancake (from mix) breakfast for the family. They don’t compare to Jeanine’s scratch recipe but I did not hear any complaints, probably due to the state of shock induced by my actually preparing a meal.
We woke up this morning to 2″ of heavy wet snow, something of an anomaly for this time of year. As it turned from snow to rain, I ventured out for some photography. I love snowscapes and on this day also took some time out to build a little snowman, something I have not done in a very long time.
If I try to find something positive about the coronavirus epidemic, it has forced us to become more self-dependent and close-knit as a family. Maya is seen here giving Jeanine some type of hair coloring touch-up. I do not know all of the details of the process but it was clearly an intimate time for mother and daughter. Jeanine was delighted with the outcome. On a less emotional level, I was able to repair the dishwasher by correctly diagnosing and replacing the faulty turbidity sensor (pictured below). Lacking any relevant trouble-shooting information, I was very pleased with my sleuthing skills to identify the problem. With all five of us in the house again, a malfunctioning dishwasher makes for a lot of undesirable work and I can tell all were happy to learn that the repair was successful. The boys have been contributing as well by helping Jeanine with some of the shopping, cooking, and cleaning.
We live across the street from the Concord Country Club which includes an 18-hole golf course. After a successful virtual presentation to the Digital Alloys Board of Directors, I returned from the office to spend a couple of minutes flying my drone. Even though we are neighbors to the golf course, I have never really explored it from the air. The photo above only covers about half of the property. Perhaps I will visit again and gather images for a wide-angle panorama.
A few weeks ago I managed to damage my new car while pulling into the garage. Jeanine’s car had been moved directly outside of her bay to facilitate the cleaning of the garage. This forced me to use a significantly different approach angle and I failed to clear the inside jamb leaving a 2-foot long indentation in the door. Totally my fault and totally demoralizing. Today after lunch, I used a polishing compound to remove all of the transferred white paint and happily discovering that the body paint was totally unblemished. This left only the dent to deal with and it occurred to me that I might be able to pop it out with the right tool. It took me less than a half-hour to conceive and fabricate a simple device that had a reasonable chance of working. I used hot melt glue to secure the small block to the body panel and the threaded knob to slowly pull the dent out. It took a half dozen pulls at various angles to get the correct shape back and I am very pleased with the results. If you know where to look you can still detect an anomaly, but to the casual observer, it is as good as new. I am guessing these 2 hours of work saved me at least a thousand bucks and the hassle of leaving my car at a body shop.
Organized by her sister Susan, Jeanine and her extended family and friends celebrated her birthday with a virtual game of family feud. We used the same rules as the TV show with the Calabria family pitted against the Basile’s and Earle’s. There are few things Jeanine enjoys more than playing games with family so this was a most appreciated gift. Later she fell asleep on the couch and looked so serene that I had to take a picture of her.
This year, Jeanine’s birthday is coincident with Easter. The family did our best to make it a memorable one using telepresence technology. We “attended” church together in the morning, joined Jeanine’s side of the family for Easter dinner, and my side of the family for her evening birthday celebration all by Zoom. She also took advantage of the perfect spring day to go on a nature walk with a close friend. While she was out, I had a little time for some outdoor photography. When I left the house, I was not expecting to return with a photograph of a chicken and pig riding scooters through a deserted downtown Concord. What can I say? We are living in unusual times.
