By now followers of this blog have come to understand that iRobot is not your average company nor are the people who work here your average employees. Each month a different department or business unit is responsible for hosting a mobile beer party. Beverage carts are wheeled throughout the facility until everyone has had a chance to enjoy a cold brew and snacks. Today our Defense & Security business unit hosted a New Year’s theme party complete with a Baby New Year in diapers. This particular “baby” could tear the roof off a milk truck if he was thirsty. Despite his overwhelming stature and penchant for tattoos this is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and one of the company’s stand out employees. For some bizarre reason, the wrestler in me has always wanted to pick a fight with him (the bone crushing consequences not withstanding). Seeing him in this get up, however, has forever eradicated that notion from my consciousness.

About a year ago I set out to create a dog house for Nala so that she would stop sleeping on our couch where the fur she shed there would invariably wind up all over my clothing. I took the doors off an antique Chinese chest we own and added a nice pillow to the base. It was the perfect size for Nala and I was dismayed by her absolute refusal to avail herself of this new abode. In the last few months, however, she has started, of her own volition, to make use of her Asian-inspired home. Maya, whose bedroom currently contains no less than three beds, for reasons I cannot begin to explain, decided she would join Nala for a short nap today. Incidentally, Nala still sleeps on the couch, quietly moving to her own house when I come downstairs in the morning.

The Robot in Three Day Challenge is a competition to design and build a robot for the FIRST Robotics Challenge in just 72 hours (instead of the allowed 6 weeks). The tireless iRobot innovators pictured here did just that and have produced a truly impressive machine. Play the video below for an overview of the design. Subscribe to the feed for additional videos introducing the team members and detailing the project. Most importantly please vote for team Boom Done by following this LINK

At iRobot we have a culture of work hard, play hard and when we play we play to win. Few things are more enjoyable about my job than supporting inspired folks such as these.

Light rain and intense fog accompanied me on my commute this morning. All in all a welcome change from the bitter cold and snow. Work is back in full swing and I am finally feeling like I am on Eastern Standard Time again.

Once a year, the book club, to which Jeanine belongs, invites spouses to join them for a discussion/dinner party. The book that was selected this time was Unbroken, a chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II and his unlikely true story of survival, resilience, and redemption. The food rivaled the conversation and it proved to be a very fun evening. Earlier in the day I volunteered at our church caring for the 2-4 year olds while their parents attended service.

Sadly, Kyle had to return to Santa Clara today and I made the early morning run to the airport with him. Even though he has been home for over a month, my time with him was limited to just one week by virtue of my travel in Nepal. Jeanine, on the other hand, enjoyed the full duration of his stay and is already lamenting his departure. It was extremely nice to have the whole family together again and I could kick myself for not taking a single photo of the entire group. Jeanine hosted a brunch/luncheon for the volunteers of Open Table to thank them for all they have contributed to the organization and to the community. The house was filled with delicious aromas and it took a concerted effort to pull myself away at noon to go with Maya to the high school where she joined the robotics club. For the next six weeks she will participate in the design, construction and testing of a robot that will compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. Pictured below is a solar powered seed planting robot that she created for her 3D graphics class.

When I arrived at work this morning there were more piles of snow than cars in the parking lot. Eastern Massachusetts has been under the influence of a massive Nor’easter over the last 36 hours. Snow accumulation varied greatly from over 24 inches near the coast to 8 inches in Concord. Temperatures are extremely cold which translates to very dry and fluffy snow, easily blown into drifts by the frequently gusting winds. Most employees chose to work from home rather than risk the commute on what proved to be very messy roads. When I lost control of my car and smacked into a curb, I decided I would make good use of my lunch hour to have my very worn down tires replaced. Concord schools were closed so Maya was home for the day and Kyle wisely postponed his return flight to Santa Clara until tomorrow.

When they were youngsters, Kyle and Nicolai would play chess with each other everyday. They were so passionate about the game that I built the chess table pictured here for them nearly 15 years ago. It was so satisfying to watch them engrossed in hours of play again today. In addition to playing each other they both spend a lot of time on their iPhones playing opponents from all over the world. Kyle is also earning a fair bit of pocket change as a chess coach in California.

I can think of no better way to spend the first day of the new year than celebrating with the co-founders of SideStix, Sarah and Kerith, who are in town to visit with family over the holidays. Nicolai recently spent 2 months living with them in their Sunshine Coast (near Vancouver, CA) home while working as an intern for their business. Nicolai has a small equity stake in SideStix, received in partial compensation for the work he has done for the company over the years. Jeanine and I just completed a significant angel investment as well and we are thrilled to be in partnership with such a talented pair of entrepreneurs and genuinely nice people.

As the the year comes to a close I have looked back through the photos I took during 2013 and selected one of my favorites to share. When I started this blog almost 9 years ago I thought it would help me to improve my photography. In retrospect, I suspect it has actually done more for my writing skills. The real value, however, that I have only now come to fully appreciate is that I have created a window for my children to peer into their childhood. The glass may be rose-colored (I rarely make an effort to document the ugly part of our lives) but it still offers a reminder of how we spent our days living together under one roof. I will continue making daily entries until Maya graduates from high school at which time I may scale back to a less challenging cadence.

For the last week, I have been something of a vegetable, content to write performance reviews while at work, get caught up on my blog or on recorded TV shows while at home, and generally rest while my body makes the full transition back to Eastern Standard Time. Today I was in the mood for some exercise and took a one-hour walk during lunch. Massive amounts of rain over the last two days have melted much of the snow on the ground and swollen rivers and flood basins. Despite the cold it was nice to be out for a walk, especially without a pack.

It has been ages since Kyle, Nico and I have gone out for a Boy’s Breakfast and today it was more like a Boy’s Lunch given it was after noon before we set out. That notwithstanding, we all ordered breakfast and enjoyed our normal conversation among men. Later in the day, the entire family went to the Science Museum, principally to see the new exhibit; Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture. It was most interesting, but I was even more captivated by the Hall of Human Life where I analyzed the arch of my foot, the efficiency of my walk, and my balancing ability using interactive measurement stations. I was very impressed that the stations were able to handle Nicolai’s configuration with no apparent problems. My balancing score (timed maze traversal) was 2 seconds faster than both boys and I enjoyed lording this over them for the balance of the day.

I installed a new dishwasher today, something which has been on my honey-do list for some time. Despite their high ratings, our last two Bosch units have been a disappointment. Only time will tell if we are any happier with the KithechAid unit we selected this time.

We have been very fortunate to have Jeanine’s sister Susan (middle) and family friend Jean Cass visiting us for the holidays. Sadly they will be driving back to Burlington, Vermont this morning but not before I corralled them for a photo which included the unusually cooperative Nala.