I had lunch today with the COO of Superpedestrian. It was nice catching up and learning about what has been happening at the company since I left. I walked over from my office and passed a number of new wall murals in Central Square, the one above being my favorite.
I am not the least bit a professional sports fan. That said it is hard to live in the Boston area and not get caught up in all the excitement surrounding our championship teams. Today the New England Patriot’s were honored for their Super Bowl victory with a midday parade through Boston.
I decided to take advantage of the spring like weather to photograph the spectacle. The terminus of the parade is just over two miles from the office and took 30 minutes to reach by foot. I arrived in time to take photos from a couple different vantage points before the crowd (estimated at 1.5 million) made further movement impossible. Fans tossed everything from balls to bagels back and forth across the street until the Duck Boat procession arrived to a ticker tape explosion. The police were ultra chill and seemed to enjoy the event as much as the spectators which included fans of all ages.
Kyle also attended the parade but connecting with him in the sea of humanity would have been impossible. Just being outside on such a beautiful day was a treat in itself and the 5 mile walk proved to be a good substitute for my normal morning workout.
Jeanine uncovered some of Maya’s early artwork today. It is amazing. how many wonderful memories it evoked. Anytime we find such artifacts, I make sure to photograph them for posterity.
For most of my life I have watched the Super Bowl primarily for the commercials and graphics. During my early career, I worked on products that were used to display much of the computer-generated imagery that we simply take for granted today. Later on, I worked on video servers that were used to send clips directly to air. I would hold my breath for the entire game praying there would be no glitches. Taking a network off the air, even for a fraction of a second, would have had a devastating impact on our business. These days, I can enjoy watching the games like other people and especially enjoy doing so with the kids, who are really into it. Jeanine prepared a small feast which we enjoyed while watching our home team grind out the win. Both boys were here to watch with us and Maya joined us by FaceTime from college.
A popular New York City-based bakery, along with a beloved Washington D.C. pizza locale, made its Boston debut in Harvard Square today. Milk Bar, known for its cereal milk soft serve and towering layer cakes, will share space with &pizza, a “counter-culture pizza brand” making creative pies that feature ingredients like short rib and mushroom truffle. It was to be the destination for a mystery date with Jeanine this afternoon; Plan A. When we arrived there was a line that easily stretched 4 city blocks and neither of us was up for waiting hours in the sub-zero weather. Plan B: We tried to visit the offices of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe (of NPR Car Talk fame), located above the Curious George Store across the street. It is no longer open to the public. Plan C: We drove to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the visiting Ansel Adams photography exhibit only to find another insanely long line. Plan D: We had lunch at the Cornish Pasty where we both enjoyed versions of the pubs’ namesake. I had the Bangers & Mash Patsy which was phenomenal. Although our outing proved to be very different than I had imagined, our persistence was rewarded in the end.
Our second wave of snow this season was accompanied by an arctic blast. Pictured above is the Sudbury River starting to freeze over. The patterns in the ice are quite fascinating and not something I ever noticed before.
In preparation for my travels to Brazil and Argentina next week, I did a high altitude test with my drone. Pictured above is a portion of the Concord Country Club golf course which is across the street from our home. I wanted to determine the amount of battery needed to reach and return from max altitude so I can estimate how many flights I can get on a single battery. I will be returning to Mount Fitz Roy with Nico and one of my soccer teammates. On my last visit, I did not come away with a single clean image as the peaks are shrouded in clouds more often than not. If I see an opening in the clouds I plan to stop, no matter where we are on the climb, and put the drone up immediately. Check back in two weeks to see if I was successful in capturing a decent image.
IMAGINE (aka Sneha Shrestha) is a Nepali artist who paints mindful mantras in her native language and meshes the aesthetics of Sanskrit scriptures with graffiti influences. Being the first to mesh Nepali Alphabets with American graffiti, she has shown her work in several exhibitions, commissioned works, and public walls around the world including Boston, San Francisco, Bali, Istanbul, Geneva, and Copenhagen. Her mural on the side of this building in Central Square was not there when I was working at Superpedestrian. It is really quite amazing and I will need to return for a better photograph.
Today the lock out on selling my Sonos stock expired and I decided to sell my remaining shares. I exercised my options in 2010 and have sold them in three tranches since then. Had I held them all until today, I would have been looking at a high seven-digit payday. Even with my conservative diversification schedule, this has proven to be one of my most successful equity plays to date. I learned a long time ago not to try and time the perfect sale. Better to spread things out and take a bunch of singles rather than looking for one home run.
Members of my team recently completed installation of a Form Cell. It is an array of eight Form 2 printers and a robotic automation system that handles the movement of build platforms from input tray, to printer, to wash station, and finally to an output collection area. The Form Cell reduces manual labor, speeds production, and reduces the cost per printed part. It is only offered to select strategic partners and is not available for general sale.
Jeanine took Nico on a shopping spree yesterday to celebrate his new job. This evening she tailored all the pants they purchased and I asked her to save the off-cut legs for this photograph. Nico already has a quilt made exclusively of such material. Earlier in the day I made a run to REI to stock up on dehydrated food and trail snacks for an upcoming trip to Brazil and Argentina with Nico.
Recent heavy snow and rain have left our Iocal rivers quite high. I decided to pay a visit to the Old North Bridge while running errands this morning to investigate. I find the scene far more inspiring with water levels this high as opposed to the view when we are experiencing drought.
This evening, Jeanine and I joined Maya and cousin Rachel for dinner at The Local in Wellesley. Although they attend different colleges, Maya is at Olin and Rachel is at Babson, their dorm rooms are only a couple of hundred yards apart. It was nice catching up with Rachel, now a senior, whom we have not seen recently, and also learning about Maya’s schedule for this term (overbooked as usual).
Since returning from Colorado for the holidays, Nicolai has been working part time as the Assistant Wrestling Coach at Concord Academy. Last week he was offered and accepted a full-time entry-level teaching position at Concord Carlisle High School. He is pictured here departing for his first day on the job this morning. He has also been offered the position of Head Coach of the Men’s Junior Varsity Soccer Team beginning in the fall. As it stands today, he is planning to permanently relocate to the Boston area and do his Master’s Degree locally rather than at Colorado College where he has been accepted into their program. We are thrilled to have all three kids within a stone’s throw.