My team worked around the clock and into the evening today to find this workmanship defect in one of our new products that failed in the field. The device labeled 4703 is a resistor so small you could fit 50 on the face of a dime. The left hand side was not properly soldered to the pad below it and caused the unit to fail. My only contirbution to the effort was in capturing the photographic record for the failure analysis that will go back to our contract manufacturer in China.

For those who have never experienced a fall in New England, there is really nothing like it. The intensity of color variations that can be found is extraordinary.

This is probably going to be the last weekend for peak color, so I seized the opportunity to take in as much as I could.

 
My soccer game was cancelled this morning due to all the rain last night. I opted to skip an optional practice to enjoy a spectacular fall day. Jeanine and I drove Nicolai around town to gather the last of the leaves he needs for his science project and then spent several hours in the garden.

It has been cold and rainy all day. Between showers I took a few shots in the backyard. This bouquet of color is from our Japanese Maple tree. On an unrelated note, Nicolai set a new high school pushup record for freshman, sophmores, and juniors yesterday. Testing is done on a machine which ensures consistent form and adequate hold time. With 87 pushups he was two short of beating the senior record as well. Given how sore he was today I am sure it will be some time before he makes another attempt on the senior record.

President Obama delivered a speach on clean energy at MIT today. Given that MIT is just around the corner from my office and that the speach took place over the lunch hour, I decided to stroll on over and see if I could get a glimpse of the President. Through a combination of good strategy and a bit of luck I did mangage to get a photo of our Commander and Chief. The route of the presidential motorcade is kept confidential and it travels at very high speed, both for good reason. Unfortunately this does not facilitate photography. A quarter mile security perimeter when Obama was out of the limo made a good photo impossible.

Some days are just better than others and this will be one to remember.

Finally, Nico and I were able to enjoy an stunning sunset.

After work, I arrived at Kyle’s game just in time to see him in action, helping his team to a 3-1 win over Westford.

While on campus, I found some very interesting architectural shots.

At lunch time, I walked over to the MIT campus and, while en route, witnessed an Audi and a public works truck that had merged into each other.

On the way into work, I paused to capture some beautiful fall color.

 
Some days are more photogenic than others. Today was one of the best in recent memory. It began with a very sublime sunrise which I enjoyed with both Maya and Nicolai.

This photo is from my morning commute. Does anything about it seem unusual to you? If you guessed that it has been posted upside down you are a winner. Please use caution if attempting a headstand in order to confirm this claim.

In dog years, Nala is roughly the same age as Maya and these two girls could not be closer companions. I must admit that despite all the extra work required to keep this dopey canine it is worth the joy she brings to Maya and Jeanine and to a lesser extent the boys. It is not that I don’t like Nala. It is just that she has the disposition of a cat. A real cat has the advantage of weighing about as much as a soccer ball and therefore makes for a very useful training aid.

On my way into work today I had to stop by a shop in Harvard Square. Parking was next to impossible because a film crew was shooting on location and their equipment trucks were everywhere. Apparently the movie stars Ben Affleck and is about a bank robbery. Since this is directly on my route to work, I may stop in again to see if I can get some better photos.

Nico makes a full volley off a corner kick look easy. Unfortunately, this effort was just over the crossbar. CCHS fell to Bedford 1 to 2 despite dominating the game from start to finish. Bedford scored both their goals on penalty kicks, one of which was highly questionable.

Later in the day, the rain turned to our first snowfall of the year. It may be necessary to click on the photo to see the snowflakes. Meanwhile, our burning bushes are in their full fall glory.

My mother sent me this cartoon in the mail. She follows this blog and has been keeping track of my various soccer injuries. Ironically, I sustained no new injuries in my game today even though I played then entire 90 minutes. Temperature was below 40F and it rained for the entire game. You need to be a die hard fan of the sport to play in these conditions. I decided to stay in for the remainder of the day and did a little woodworking and crutch maintenance for Nicolai.

This evening we were joined for dinner by Rob and Kyle Shurtleff who are visiting from Seattle. Rob’s daughter Katie is competing in the Head of the Charles Regatta tomorrow and Kyle has been visiting colleges in the area. Rob’s wife, Cindy, is a friend from my Stanford days and was unable to join her family here because she is competing in a squash tournament in California. If my soccer match is not delayed tomorrow, I will have just enough time to make it to the finish line in time to see Katie’s boat finish.

After work I went to watch Maya play soccer in Newton. It was freezing cold and the game ended in near total darkness. Fortunately she played for nearly the entire match and stayed warm in so doing. I on the other hand froze my a$$ off. She has less than twelve hours before she plays again tomorrow.

On the drive into work today, I stopped briefly to say hello to this fellow. As concerned as I was about his horns, you would think I’d have framed them in the shot.

 
Spotted a little cherub this morning and although she was being shy I managed to come away with a nice image. Maya has been thriving at school and has developed some very good work habits. She is quite organized, very neat and is showing a lot of pride in her work.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. Soccer season is in full swing and fall foliage abounds. I have been experimenting with my commute trying to find a shorter and/or more scenic route into Cambridge. I have now found at least one option that gets me off the main roads without adding any time and takes me past some beautiful farms and fields.

I have admired this painting, which has hung in the cafe at work for more than a year now. It reminds me of the farm in France that belonged to Jeanine’s relatives there.

Why would a high school boy play soccer while injured? A close examination of the spectators might offer some clue. CCHS defeated Boston Latin by a score of 5 to 0 and Kyle’s game looked strong with some nice moves and creative passing.

 
Maya is going to be a cupcake for Halloween. We worked together to fashion the skeleton over the weekend. Today she requisitioned one of my speaker stands as a modelling platform and is applying sprinkles to the frosting with hot melt glue. Of our children Maya has emerged as the most construction project oriented and I am still holding out some hope for one engineer in the family.

Jeanine spent the afternoon picking apples with Maya and her friends, Isabel and Kelan. The harvest was great, and I am sure there will be a photo of an apple pie in this journal’s future.

More often than not, obtaining a leaf required climbing high into the tree. Why Nico would choose to do this without a shoe only reinforces my belief that the teenage brain is still missing some critical executive thinking functions.

I am thrilled that my calf has recovered sufficiently to allow me to play soccer. Even though I could only go at about 70% effort it was great to be out on the pitch this morning. We have a make up game on Thursday and I hope to be in even better shape by then. Back to the leaf hunt. Nicolai uses a field guy to verify that he has the correct specimen.

I spent a good part of the afternoon with Nicolai hunting for leaves. He has a science project which involves collecting leaf and needle specimens from a list of 50 trees. He can earn extra credit for having 20 photographs showing him in the act of collecting. This project took us all over the town of Concord guided by a Google Earth map showing us where each tree type could be found.