The day started with a glorious sunrise which had to nourish my soul for what turned out to be a long and exhausting day at work. Returning to a full day of meetings after just a single day of vacation has put me substantially behind and it is going to be a busy week catching up. My desire to do a little leaf peeping will have to wait a couple of days.

Hamilton College is located in Clinton, N.Y., less than 2 hours from Schenectady and was our destination for the day. We arrived with time to spare for an 11AM tour and concluded our visit with lunch in the dining hall (very church like in architecture). Founded in 1812, Hamilton is a liberal arts college located on 1300 acres with an enrollment of 1900. It is the third-oldest college in New York and was named after its former board of trustee and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton College was originally a men’s college until 1978 when it became coeducational after uniting with its sister institution, Kirkland College. Nearly half of students study abroad during their time at Hamilton through 180 programs around the world or the school’s consortium programs in Spain, India, France, and China, as well as U.S. locations in New York, Boston, and Washington.

As predicted by Jeanine, Nico felt a very strong affinity for this school and it will clearly be one of his top choices. Our return to Concord took just under five hours with Nico doing the lion’s share of the driving. The NY state thruway parallels the Mohawk River for much of the drive and with the leaves just starting to change the views could not have been more idyllic.

This gorgeous fall day started with a 6:45AM rendezvous for carpooling to an away soccer match in Hopkinton. I had a great game serving up at least a dozen high quality crosses from my wing midfield position and earning an assist on our second of two goals. We won 2-0 and are now second in our leagues standings with an amazing 21 goal differential. Shortly after lunch Nico and I began a campus tour road trip. Our first destination was Amherst College which we reached in under two hours driving through beautiful fall foliage. We were both very impressed with the school and it is one which will likely make Nico’s short list. We continued on to Schenectady where we overnight-ed at my mother’s home after taking her out for a very nice dinner.

Jeanine is attending classes in Bridgeport today, Maya Rose is with her friend Maya Rose at her family’s summer home in Maine, and Nico is hanging out with his friends. With the day to myself I did a little bit of shopping and a little bit of fall cleaning. I decided to upgrade a few of my cordless tools to the latest battery technology and listed some of my older tools on Craig’s list to help fund the purchase. While I was at it I decided to sell a lens and flash that have seen very little use.

Yesterday marked 21 years of marriage for Jeanine and I. This evening we celebrated with a special dinner at 80 Thoreau a new restaurant located on the second floor of the historic Concord train depot. Our meals were exquisite as was the ambiance.

We have now shared half of our lives and should we be blessed with continued good health we have the second half of our marriage to look forward to. A lucky man need not be smart but a smart man knows when he has been lucky. My good fortune in life was falling in love with Jeanine.

For the second week in a row I spent an entire day at an offsite meeting. This one was more fun than the last as we spent the majority of our time brainstorming possible future products. When iRobot brings a flying Roomba to the market you will know where and when the idea was hatched. Our challenge as a technologist laden company is ensuring that our innovation is motivated by a keen understanding of the customer benefits our new ideas can provide. I was pleased with the level of awareness and appreciation for this concept that was shared by the team.

After the meeting I was able to catch the second half of a soccer game at the high school where Nico had another fine showing and his team secured a 2-1 win. I opted to skip my own soccer practice this evening to give my back a few more days to recover from a recent misalignment. Two days ago the pain was so bad that I could scarcely walk (or even sit at my desk). Yesterday morning I had a chiropractic adjustment and used an ice pack for the entire day. Today I almost felt good enough to workout and think my chances of being fully ready for Sunday are high.

I arrived at work today only to discover a new and very official looking name plate gracing my office. My current position was held by 5 different people over as many years prior to my arrival. Perhaps I should take this as a sign that I have beat the odds and stand a good chance of setting a new record thus warranting the investment in a permanent looking name plate. More than likely it was simply a matter of maintaining consistency with a number of newly constructed offices within the building.

The mask has been with me since my first trip to Africa. I can hang it either side up to reveal a happy or sad face giving an indication to visitors of my present mood. Stand on your head or flip your monitor to see the effect. So far I have had no occasion to invert it from its default position.

The Wayland defender charged with marking Nicolai eventually resorted to illegal tactics (pushing with his hands) in an attempt to win even a single head ball. Despite a constant light rain and cool temperatures, Nico was on fire today scoring one goal and setting up several others with extremely dangerous and pinpoint distribution. It is rarely fun to stand in the rain to watch soccer but Jeanine and I both enjoyed watching our son playing some of his best soccer to date.

Mothers and daughters I am coming to understand share many seemingly insignificant rituals which form a very deep and altogether different bond than fathers and daughters. The pinning up of hair is one such enterprise. Using an antique clip, mother assists child with hair bun “winding”, clip placement and bobby pinning. This by way of contrast to my bonding activities with Maya. After months of asking for her own camping/hunting knife, I escorted her as she picked out a very serious looking knife with a 4″ blade and a single handed open and close design. I remember the feeling I had when I received my first knife and I saw the same look in her eyes. Priceless.

Note to future boyfriends. Maya has harvested (nice word for cutting the heads off) two chickens and is now armed with her own a seriously sharp weapon. Keep all your digits and appendages in their proper place and do not act like a chicken.

Each year Jeanine helps to organize a block party for the Mattison Drive community. The weather was questionable right up until the late afternoon start but the event proved to be rain free. Attendance was down somewhat from last year but those who attended had a great time. My soccer match this morning was in Dover where we secured a 5-1 win and I scored a very pretty goal beating three defenders before slotting a very strong shot past the keeper into the left hand side netting. I also picked up a rather nasty looking bruise on my upper chest just below my neck when I caught an errant cleat at some point during the game. I did not notice that I had been tagged until I emerged from my post game shower.

The fifth annual Kicks for Cancer soccer fundraiser was held this evening at the high school. Jeanine, Nico and I all attended in support of the very worthy cause. Players from all teams wear special jerseys with the name of a loved one who lost a battle with cancer in place of their own. Two years ago I photographed the event and did a Concord team photo with all the players facing backwards. It remains one of my most poignant photos. This year I captured both teams during the opening ceremony and I feel it is equally powerful. At full resolution the names of each person can be read reminding us of how many people have lost family and friends to this dreadful disease. This year the event raised more than $20,000.

Earlier in the day I completed testing of our new standby generator and the system is now fully operational. The unit will exercise itself once a week for 12 minutes to ensure it is ready should it ever be called into service.

The family officially celebrated my birthday this evening with a feast of my favorite foods. Maya gave me an assortment of three gourmet cheeses which complemented a last of the season tomato, mozzarella and basil bruschetta. This course was followed by baked ziti and my mother’s rice pudding recipe for dessert. The deliciousness of this meal was well worth the dent it put in my diet. I was so engrossed in the food that I did not take any pictures of the birthday boy so this shot of Maya’s decorated toes will have to stand in (pun intended).

I reached my 53rd birthday today with much to be thankful for. I am in great health, I have a wonderful family, and a great job. I am between soccer injuries and playing better than I have for many years. I have now spent more than half my life in love with the same woman and our kids are all thriving, each in their own way. Life is good.

I received this fruit bouquet and a nice card from my colleagues at work today. We have postponed our family celebration until Friday because I have soccer practice this evening (mustn’t lose sight of priorities).

Maya has expressed interest in playing field hockey on her middle school team this year. Here she practices with Sarinnagh in the back yard. Judging by the number of divots in the lawn I would say the girls are wise to be spending time on refining their technique. Maya informed me that it was much harder than it looked and encouraged me to give it a try. Not one to back down from such a challenge I stepped up, took aim, and launched a large section of turf across the yard. My second attempt was more fruitful but Maya had made her point. Her challenge now will be one of scheduling around conflicts with Model UN and Student Government both of which she is interested in pursuing.

It took longer to research the local plumbing codes and plan the installation than it did to run a new natural gas line to the standby generator I am installing. Code requires an external shutoff valve, a flexible pipe coupling to the generator (to isolate vibration), a 3″ sediment trap, and black steel pipe for all plumbing. Planning involved sizing the pipes and valves to carry the required volume of natural gas and routing the pipe from the existing system to the new location using nothing but commercially available pre-cut lengths of pipe (avoiding the need for renting a pipe threader or obtaining custom cut lengths of pipes). Natural gas pipe fittings leave no room for error. The slightest leak can lead to a house leveling explosion. Every joint must be tested. I used two methods to be absolutely certain of my work. The first method involves applying the equivalent of soapy water to each joint and inspecting for bubbles. The second involves over pressurizing the line with compressed air and checking the next day to ensure that the pressure has not dropped.

I will be travelling to China in early December to visit our contract manufacturers and several key vendors. My passport has run out of pages for additional stamps and visa entries. For $80 dollars you can send your passport in and they will add 40 new pages. For $110 you can get a new 52 page passport and reset the ten year life. The later option was the obvious choice and I shot this self portrait for the required photo. I am not particularly happy with the result and I do not know who to blame more, the subject or the photographer.

Jeanine was up at the crack of dawn to begin her 12 hour day (2 hour drive, 8 hour class, 2 hour drive) at the University of Bridgeport. Nico was grounded for a curfew violation and Maya attended church school while I played soccer. We faced the top team in our division and had to settle for a 0-0 tie in very hot and humid conditions which left both sides exhausted. My team played very well as did I but our opponent was an even match for us. Afterwards Maya and I attended a pool party hosted by Rob Morrison, our goalie. Maya had a great time and wound up swimming in her clothes after declining to bring a swim suit despite my urging. The family waited for Jeanine to return so we could eat together at Chang An. It was our first time there seated at a table for four. Fortunately we ended the evening with a Skype video call to Kyle which alleviated our sense of loss.

Jeanine and I both attended Maya’s soccer game this morning. She had a great game demonstrating athleticism far beyond her years. Despite dominating play for most of the game her team lost 0-1. I spent a few hours working on the installation of our new standby generator working mostly on the interior wiring. In response to a last minute call for volunteers, Jeanine and I attended the dance at the high school as chaperons. Nico seemed unfazed when he discovered we were there. Many things have changed since I was in high school but at the end of the day it is still just boys and girls trying to get close to each other. I was called upon to vanquish a boy from another high school trying to sneak in through the open quad area. I was very BA in an appropriately parental way.

Today would have been my father’s 87th birthday and his 55th wedding anniversary. I am happy that our children each had a chance to know him deeply and that he will live on for a very long time in the memory of those who loved him. I am sad that he is no longer here to witness and take pride in the lives of his nine grandchildren.

My dad always used to complain about having to share his birthday with his anniversary. Felt he was being cheated some how. I once asked him why he chose to marry on his birthday. He told me it was so that he would never forget the date and then laugh at the outcome of his brilliant plan.

I miss his laughter.

My mom always complained that we only called on this day to wish my dad a happy birthday and never remembered it is was also her anniversary. Very tricky business keeping both parents happy.

Does one continue to “celebrate” birthdays and anniversaries after a person dies? I am more confused than ever. If I call the house my dad will not answer and when my mom does I am fairly certain “Happy Anniversary” will not be the way to start the conversation.

I think I will just call my mom tomorrow and tell her that I love her.

Thanks to LinkedIn I just reconnected with my roommate while I attended Stanford University, Ken Zabriskie. We shared an apartment in Palo Alto, hiked the Napali coast in Kauai together, and ran the Bay to Breakers. We are pictured here after the 7.5 mile race from the San Francisco Bay to the breakers on the Pacific Ocean. As I think back on it Ken was responsible for kindling my interest in photography and was also the man behind the camera for some of my favorite photos from that time in my life. He is living in Indianapolis, has 4 kids in college, and is a Systems Architect at Global Tel*Link. Connecting with him has inspired me to try and locate other members of a group known as the OYOCs (One Year On Campus). Back in the day, Bell Laboratories would hire promising college graduates and sponsor their Master’s degree while paying them half salary. It was a fantastic program and I met some of the most wonderful people while on that program.

During the 8 years we have lived in Concord we have seldom lost electrical power for more than a few minutes at a time. On only one occasion were we powerless for more than a day. With changing weather patterns seemingly producing more and more extreme weather I decided it was time to invest in a standby generator. An extended power loss during sub freezing temperatures could result in burst water pipes which are very expensive to repair and cause huge collateral damage. The system delivered today is powered by natural gas and is completely automatic. In the event of a power loss it will restore power to essential circuits within the house in a matter of seconds and will run for as long as needed. I will complete most of the installation myself but will probably sub out the gas line connection. Now all I need to do is figure out how I am going to move this 350 pound behemoth to its service position on the southwest corner of the house.

With soccer season in full swing Nico is putting maximum stress on his crutches. Over the weekend one of his crutches had a total failure. Today the second one had the exact same failure. The aluminum insert to which the upper end of the carbon fiber tube connects appears to have suffered a material fatigue failure. We spoke with Kerith at SideStix this evening and will be returning the broken parts for failure analysis. Meanwhile Nico will use his backup crutches which are of a slightly different design. Nico had an assist on his team’s first goal before he was forced to sit for the rest of the game. Nico continues to be the most aggressive field tester that SideStix has and they are committed to make their products “Nico proof”. We can literally point to a half dozen major design improvements that address prior Nico induced failures.

Maya continues to show interest in learning to play the guitar. While we were away in California she taught herself to play a new song which she was happy to audition for us. As the first anniversary of my father’s passing approaches I can think of absolutely nothing that would have given him greater joy than to see another of his grandchildren take up the instrument he loved so dearly. We have now made arrangements for Maya to take lessons with Kyle’s former teacher.

Kyle joined Jeanine and I for an on campus outdoor non-denominational Sunday morning service this morning. Sitting between us it is not clear whether he noticed our tears as the music tugged at our heart strings. The moment had arrived to say goodbye. We enjoyed a nice reception after the service and posed for a family portrait before leaving our son to start his college adventure.

Jeanine and I drove over the foothills to Santa Cruz where we got some exercise along the Pacific ocean before returning to San Jose for our red-eye flight back to Boston.

I felt infinitely better this morning after a quick rebound from my severe illness yesterday. Rising several hours before the sun I decided to spend some time on the SCU campus, my first real visit, to familiarize myself with Kyle’s home for the next four years and to take some photos. The architecture and layout reminded me of a smaller and more intimate version of Stanford University. Centered on the historic Mission Santa Clara this private Jesuit school was the first institution of higher learning in California opening its doors in 1851.

Our move in time was scheduled for 10:30am at which time we entered a well organized queue of cars which pulled up to the dorm, Swig in our case, and discharged passengers and belongings on the curb. Huge containers on wheels were provided into which all items were loaded for the elevator ride to the seventh floor where Kyle will share a room with Tyler from Seattle. With the three of us working in concert we had Kyle situated and organized in his dorm room in no time flat. He selected the bed adjacent to the window which overlooks the Santa Cruz foothills and gives him a good overview of the party scene at the off campus housing below.

Shopping was the order of business today. Armed with a list of supplies and essential dorm room accouterments, Jeanine, Kyle and I went on a shopping spree that ended when our rental SUV reached full capacity. It was amusing to see other college freshman flanked by their parents with equally full shopping carts at each of our strategically selected shopping venues. Vans and SUVs stuffed to the ceiling in our hotel parking lot revealed that a half dozen or so Santa Clara bound student were also staying here. It was a very busy and productive day during which we procured exactly what we needed. Unfortunately, I came down with a bout of food poisoning which left me sicker than I have been in quite some time. I took a short nap in the late afternoon and was able to join Kyle and Jeanine for dinner in Cupertino at the home of the Meugees, friends of ours from 18 years ago when we lived here. It was great to reconnect with them and to see how their son, David, one of Kyle’s early childhood playmates, had grown up.

After a busy morning of packing Jeanine, Kyle and I left for the airport with a pair of round trip and a single one way ticket for San Jose, California. During the long flight, connecting through Phoenix, I had time to think about the various one-way tickets I had purchased in my life. Each one demarcated a major transition point in my life journey. I suspect the same will be true for Kyle. In twenty years will this day be remembered as the one on which he moved from the east coast to the west coast? The day that led to a job in Silicon Valley or marriage to a girl from Santa Barbara? Only time will tell. My emotions today have been running the gamut but mostly I am excited for Kyle as he embarks on this new chapter in his life. Kyle is fully ready to begin college. Santa Clara’s academic school year begins later than most colleges and Kyle has been bouncing off the walls for the last few weeks. Kyle leaves the nest very well prepared for what lies ahead. I wish I could say that Jeanine and I were as well prepared for the void we will feel when we return to Boston without our first born.

Kyle leaves for college tomorrow making today the last time we will eat dinner as a family for quite some time. Time has passed so quickly and it is hard for me to accept that our little boy is leaving the nest. We are all excited for him but at the same time there is going to be a huge empty spot at the table and we are all going to miss him terribly. Jeanine and I will travel with him to California and I will post again when we return on Monday.

Nico’s soccer team faced Bedford High School today. Because it is so close to iRobot, I was able to arrive in time for the second half. Nico, as these photographs demonstrate, is a beast in the air and also demonstrated great leadership on the field. His team came back from a 1-2 deficit to secure a 4-2 win. Kyle took time out of his work schedule to watch his little brother play for perhaps the last time before he is off to college. Jeanine, despite a nasty cold, was also cheering from the sidelines.

This evening we hosted a beginning of the season party for Nicolai’s soccer team. With roughly 50 guests we opted to hold the event outdoors despite the onslaught of mosquitoes. Coach Baron who briefed the players and their parents on the expectations and rules for the team also served as our grill master (it is amazing how much food 21 athletic teenage boys can eat). My day was interrupted when one of the temples on my glasses gave way. Fortunately my optician was able to fit a temporary replacement while the proper piece is shipped from the manufacturer. My back up glasses contain an old prescription and gave me a headache within minutes proving to be an unacceptable option.

As the fog was rising off our field this morning I noticed this very healthy looking doe having breakfast. It was a very peaceful way to start a day which will forever be remembered for being anything but. I watched coverage of the 9/11 anniversary with the kids and took time to explain the significance of this day to Maya who was only two at the time of the attacks. I then left for Bolton for my first soccer game of the fall season. Although we dominated play, we had to settle for a 0-0 tie. I had several solid shots on goal but all found the keeper rather than the back of the net. I felt that I let my team down by not scoring on at least two of these opportunities both of which I should have finished. In each case I dispossessed my defender and had a one on one show down with the goalie. The only consolation was that I created these chances myself and had not squandered a build up by the team. Kyle visited his cousin Johnny who is attending Babson although he had to return prematurely having taken Nicolai’s car which contained his backpack and homework materials. Late in the afternoon I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and did a 2 hour, 8-mile paddle on a section of the Sudbury River which was new to me. Jeanine returned from her weekend classes at the University of Bridgeport later in the evening and has decided to drop her Biochemistry course because they have rescheduled the dates of the class which now conflicts with our upcoming trip to California. Missing an 8-hour class and her first exam was simply not an option.