Jeanine and I love the fact that Hannah is a serious student and has introduced Kyle to the concept of a study date. Without the time demands of a varsity sport to deal with Kyle has taken his academic performance to a higher level and the hard work is paying off.

Any visit to the optometrist which does not result in a stronger prescription is one I am happy with. I wish the results of my soccer match this evening were as good as my checkup. We came from behind to tie the game at 4-4 but gave up two goals in the closing 2 minutes. I found the back of the net once with a line drive from 25 yards which the goalie was unable to handle.

This is the brush assembly from the electric motor which raises and lowers our downdraft ventilator in the kitchen. The narrow dingy yellow device on the right side of the image is a thermal overload interrupter which was tripping after a few seconds of motor use. Bypassing the device and rebuilding the motor revealed shorted windings and a replacement is now on order. It took several hours of work to disassemble the ventilator before I discovered the root cause of the problem. On the bright side, the replacement motor costs $150 compared to a new ventilator which runs $1400.

I used a long exposure to capture this image of Maya’s soccer team during an indoor training session. I like the resulting photograph more than the ones that more faithfully depicted the scene.

The rain we have been deluged with for the past few days has subsided, and the local rivers are all swollen. This is a view of the Sudbury River from the South Bridge Boat House. Note the height of the water on the bridge in the background. Normally, there is about 6 feet of clearance under the three barely visible arches.

Jeanine is at a workshop this weekend, and I have had the kids all to myself. Maya started the day with a dance lesson and finished with a birthday slumber party. In the middle, she had a soccer game in which she played goalie for a bit. Her team was down 3-0 and came back to win in the final seconds by a score of 5-4.

Why does an otherwise normal child seek to incarcerate herself in the dog’s crate? Answer: To avoid eating vegetables. Fortunately, Maya continues to eat enough to grow and may one day need a larger sanctuary.

Nala does her cute paw thing while having her neck scratched by Nico. Torrential rains helped me stay focused on completing performance reviews for my staff. Once finished, I will have fulfilled my final obligations at Sonos.

I constantly remind the kids to brush their teeth regularly. The price I paid for not following my own advice as a youth is helping to sustain the dentistry industry in Boston. I had 4 teeth worked on today and can still hear the drilling in my mind.

This evening’s meal featured the most delicious rice salad. Jeanine is a true artist when it comes to making foods that are both nutritious and delicious, her wheat grass and sunflower sprout smoothies aside.

Despite his initial reservations about being placed in this rehabilitation center with what he describes as a bunch of old people, three discoveries have changed his outlook. First he discovered the library which he will no doubt investigate from top to bottom. Second he was recognized by a VERY attractive speech therapist who attends my parent’s church in Schenectady and offered to work with him on his weak voice. Finally, he prefers the marginally nutritious but tasty food (sloppy Joe’s for dinner last night) to the healthy fare my mother prepares for him. I have little doubt I will find him teaching dance lessons to the residents and staff when I return for my next visit.

My father has been moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center in Amsterdam, NY where he is working to regain his strength. I made the 7 hour round trip to pickup my mother and visit with him today. He appears to be recovering although he is still very weak. He is lucid and seeking to make the most of every conversation and we enjoyed both lunch and dinner together. He completed three hours of physical therapy and slept for several hours. I used the down time to work from a make shift office I set up in the lobby of the facility. Mark flew in from Minnesota last week, Alissa and John spent time with him over the weekend, and Mayela is flying in from North Carolina tomorrow so he is getting a lot of support.

Jeanine has grown this wheat grass and sunflower sprouts from seed. Each morning, she harvests a small portion, which goes directly into the blender and comes out a healthy concoction that tastes like, well, to be honest, something that is healthy for you or delicious if you are a cow.

Maya and I deconstructed a Roomba today to help me prepare for my new job at iRobot. Doing so has given me great insight into the engineering of the product and I already have a few ideas for improvements that I will pass along to the design team. Maya participated from start to finish and her attention to detail and understanding of the mechanisms was very impressive. Although she is interested in becoming a veterinarian she would also make a fantastic mechanical engineer. Click on the photo for a closer view.