I can’t think of a tool I have owned that has given me more pleasure and carefree use than my Stihl chainsaw.  I have owned it for more than 25 years and it has never let me down. It saw most of its use taking down and sectioning huge dead beech trees when we lived on a 5-acre forested lot in Indiana.  It also opened up the magnificent view of the field we enjoy today on our Concord property.  It has seen little use in the last 5 years, however, and therefore will get posted to Craig’s List where I hope it will find a happy new home.

I had an opportunity to stroll along the Charles River Esplanade this afternoon between consulting gigs in the city. I am trying to walk as much as possible to help stretch out my injured hamstring. With normal strides I am already pain free which bodes well for a quick recovery.

When DeWALT upgraded their cordless tool line from 18V NiCad to 20V Li-Ion battery technology, I sold off all my old tools and replaced them with their newer equivalents. Today, I completed my second transition to tools with brushless motors, DeWALT’s latest cordless technology by selling off my last two saws that use motors with brushes. I managed to recover 80% of my acquisition cost which makes the transition much more affordable. I have also started to invest in some of DeWALT’s 60V tools including an air compressor and track saw. Generally speaking, I am on a path to replace all my corded and stationary power tools with cordless ones. I am waiting impatiently for the introduction of a cordless router and orbital sander which I can’t believe has not been released yet.

I have played soccer in Massachusetts for as long as we have lived here, some 14 years now; first on the over-40 Concord team, then the over-50 Concord team, and now on the Lexington over-56 team. In all that time, I have never witnessed a fight between players that resulted in injury.  Most are merely shoving matches with lots of trash talk. When the final whistle blew this morning in our tied game against Peabody, an opponent who felt he had been fouled by one of our players stuck him in the face resulting in a cut that required 10 stitches to close.  Our guy fought back to defend himself and both were issued red cards. I suggested we photograph the injury so that assault charges could be substantiated and to seek to have the offending player permanently banned from the league.  I watched the whole fight transpire from the sidelines where I spent the second half of the game benched with a strained hamstring.

Scattered clouds and a visible full moon in the morning gave way to overcast skies with little in the way of sunshine. Nevertheless, we enjoyed exploring the area. We started with a 6-mile bike ride along the Androscoggin River and then a visit to an artisan craft show in Brunswick which yielded a beautiful set of silver earrings for Jeanine. After a wonderful lunch at the Frontier we explored Orr’s Island and Bailey Island where we made a short hike to the Giant Staircase (pictured below).  We decided to cancel reservations for a sunset sailboat cruise when thick fog began to form and it started to rain.

Twenty seven years ago today, Jeanine and I were married on an equally beautiful autumn day.  Jeanine collected me at the airport this morning and we drove to a quaint bed and breakfast at Lookout Point in Harpswell, Maine. We spent the day touring the area by car and on foot winding up on the tip of Basin Point, at the water’s edge of Pott’s Harbor for dinner at the Dolphin Marina and Restaurant with an exceptional view of Casco Bay and its many islands.

Stringers are long sawtooth-shaped boards used to support stair treads. Mark’s deck required six of them which we fabricated today from 2×12 lumber. Almost half our time was well spent getting the layout and dimensions just right.  Careful execution resulted in a perfectly matched set and made for a nice accomplishment to wind up our construction efforts for the week.

Favorable weather today allowed Mark and I to make significant progress on his deck project. We installed thirteen 9′ tall 4×4 posts that will support the railing and overhead trellis.  Each post is supported by 3 massive bolts and 2×10 blocking on all sides (about a third of which we completed).

It is hard to photograph 9-year-old Rose because she is in a constant state of motion.  I gave her an eyebrow massage which slowed her down long enough to get a nice portrait.

I travelled to Minneapolis today where I will be spending the remainder of the week with my brother Mark and his family. Mark spent last week in Boston helping me with the tiny house project and I will be helping him this week with his deck project. The best part of my visit is seeing all my nieces and nephews. This is 11-year-old Sophia.

My birthday celebration was postponed from Friday until this evening so that Maya could join us. Jeanine prepared Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and broccoli for a wonderful family dinner which also included my nephew, John.

Unfortunately,  I was not treated so well on the soccer pitch this morning. My team suffered a real drubbing in a 0-5 loss to the current first-place team in the league. I had the only shot on goal of the entire match and managed to find the crossbar rather than the back of the net.

Our home is located relatively close to the Hanscom airfield but we rarely see or hear planes. Today I was convinced that one was about to crash into our home based on how loud the engine noise was. I quickly ran outside to see what was going on and spotted two single engine aerobatic planes circling overhead.  Apparently they were training for low altitude synchronized maneuvers and had decided to do this directly over out neighborhood.  The geese that are feeding in the field behind our house found this none too pleasant and took flight en masse when the planes began dropping fireworks.

Normally this would be enough excitement for one day but just the beginning as Jeanine had planned a mystery date. We attended, with close friends, a play entitled “Disgraced” which offered a poignant look at the challenges of being a Muslim living in the US as well as a balanced but provocative examination of some of the religion’s not-so-attractive tenants.

I started my first day as a 59 year old in the shop with my brother. We fabricated covers for the insulated trailer fenders on the tiny house from MDF. All joints are mitered at 45 degrees and it was much much easier to complete the glue up working as a team. By 9:30 AM it was off to the airport for Mark’s return flight to Minneapolis and then on to an 11:30 AM meeting with a venture capitalist in the Seaport district considering investment in one of the companies I am currently consulting for. I had given myself plenty of time to make my next meeting in Cambridge at 2 PM but when I returned to the place I had parked my car it had been towed away triggering a mad scramble to locate it, get to it, pay to have it liberated, and travel to my next destination. I arrived with minutes to spare for what turned out to be a very enjoyable visit with a company I admire greatly. I returned to Concord just in time to gather up Jeanine and set out for the 60th birthday party for one of my soccer teammates. I really enjoyed being at a birthday celebration on my birthday and not being the center of attention. All in all, a very hectic but ultimately satisfying day. Not unlike my life to date.

Before returning to Minnesota tomorrow, my brother Mark wanted to visit his niece at Olin College where she is studying engineering. Maya gave us a tour of the campus, her dorm room, and of greatest interest, her first project. All Olin first-year students create a biologically inspired hopping mechanism that must meet their self-imposed design objectives. Mark was delighted to see Maya and to welcome another member of the Calabria family into the field of engineering. Earlier in the day Mark and I mitered all of the window trim and  fabricated all of the window sills for the tiny house.