Every now and then the landlord of iRobot’s Bedford facility sponsors a free ice cream social. Needless to say, I found time in my otherwise very busy day to build a delicious ice cream sundae and visit with colleagues. In general, it is very easy to ply engineers with food so I consider this to be a very effective tenant appreciation gesture.

My nephew John has spent part of the summer living with us and we are thrilled to have him. He is preparing to spend a term abroad in the fall and will stay for one month in each of Russia, India, and China. He needed a passport-style photo for one of his travel documents so we grabbed this shot last night.

In February I had dinner with Cathleen Asch, my former partner and co-founder of Truevision, and Jim Dadmun, formerly the President and CEO of Techex, Truevision’s international distributor. Cathleen had just landed a short-term CFO gig for a local company. Her assignment is winding down now and she organized another dinner get-together, this time at the Macaroni Grill in Burlington. Once again it was wonderful to catch up on old times. Our conversation was largely focused on travel and international politics. Jim recounted his exploits during the fall of the Berlin Wall, sneaking across the border to drink with a group of East Germans, and the complications of trying to return the next day without the proper travel documents. Cathleen shared details of her recent trip to Russian Georgia and me about my exploits on Mount Fuji and plans for Nepal. Although we missed the window to organize a Truevision 25 year reunion I am hoping we can start planning now for one next year.

I can honestly say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my 33 year career in the high tech industry (even my last few months at Sonos while clashing with its CEO). Even so, my experience at Truevision stands above all the rest. As Cathleen and I discussed this shared feeling, we agreed that it was our naivety about running a company that contributed to the amazing culture we were able to foster. We were motivated by a desire to revolutionize the then analog world of film and video through the introduction of digital imaging rather than the goal of maximizing profits and grooming our finances for an IPO. The Truevision board had no venture capitalists. We were simply a group of intrepid adventurers looking to redefine an industry. What a grand journey we enjoyed as we pursued that vision.

I am almost ready to move on to installation of the railing for the deck project. There remains, however, one more decking board to lay. Unlike all the other boards which are 5.25 inches wide, this one must be 8.5 inches wide to fill the remaining space perfectly and to create the right amount of overhang for the top stair. Conceptually the solution is simple. Rip two boards down to 4.25 inches wide and glue them together. In practice, however, this is not such an easy thing to do when dealing with a board that is 20 feet long and limp as a noodle over that distance. Normally one rips a board on a table saw. Mine is located in my basement shop and I do not have space for the 20 foot in feed and 20 foot out feed that would be necessary. Rather than taking the board to the tool, the solution is to take the tool to the board. In order to get the accuracy I want using a my hand held circular saw I spent an hour this evening constructing a jig to assist me. The jig is essentially a sled with guides on the bottom which slides over the top of the board holding the circular saw in exactly the right position to give me a correctly spaced and perfectly parallel cut.

I made an early morning run to the airport for Rory and made it back to Concord in time for an 8 am soccer practice where I was joined by Nicolai and Johnie. I have not practiced in almost a month which has given my various injuries time to heal but left me distinctly out of shape. After scoring a rather nice header in the opening minutes of play my performance for the rest of the practice was rather lackluster. I returned home just in time to say goodbye to Maya who is leaving for Farm & Wilderness camp. She will spend the next three weeks in the Vermont woods continuing to learn about harmony with nature and reliance on herself. Jeanine made the 6-hour round trip while I worked with Kyle, Nico, and John to essentially complete laying the deck. One board remains to be placed but it requires a custom width and I need to build a jig to make the cut accurately.

My objective for the day was to finish the stairs to the deck from our backyard. Oppressive heat throughout the day did not make the task any easier. Neither did the fact that the lumber yard was one stringer shy of my needs requiring that I fabricate the final one myself. Despite my slow pace, I was pleased with the outcome.

My sister Alissa’s son, John, arrived this evening just in time for dinner and an evening ice cream run to Bedford Farms. I spent the afternoon working on the deck which is taking shape nicely. The bulk of my effort today was correcting poor workmanship by the crew that initially installed it. The header which supports all the joists is composed of a lamination of two 2x14s (pressure treated) and two 3/4 inch fascia boards (pine). A 4-1/2 inch wide 30-foot long beam if you will. Ideally, the tops of these four boards want to be flush so that the decking that will rest on top sits level and even with the rest of the deck. It took three hours with a hand plane to achieve the needed result. By the time I was finished, I could scarcely move my hands and wrists but did manage to eat my cup of ice cream unassisted.

Kyle interviewed and was hired for a well paying accounting internship here in Concord. We are thrilled as this will keep him home for the bulk of the summer rather than returning early to California as was his plan.

Last night my nephew, Rory, called to ask if he could visit for a few days. Such questions are never required of family or friends and we were thrilled when he arrived early this morning from his home in the Minneapolis area. Rory is a highly accomplished tennis player but showed up without his racket for fear of having to face his uncle on the court. He was so flustered, in fact, probably at the thought of me rushing the net, that he missed a spot while shaving. It took little time before the cousins were comparing feats of strength or in this case filthy feet. Nicolai seems much taller only because he is closer to the camera as both boys are about the same height.

At Kyle’s request, we went out for an early morning paddle on the Concord River. It is hard to believe but this was my first kayak outing of the season and it was great to be on the water again. Although he has had little kayaking experience, Kyle was looking like a pro by the time we finished our one-hour tour. We put in at Egg Rock and explored both up and downstream.

It is rare these days when all three kids are in the same place at the same time. Realizing this as we sat down for dinner together I coerced them into posing for a photo. Although I take more than the average share of photos of the family, I find that I have very few groupings that include either all of us or all of the kids or a kid and a parent. No doubt that they will one day cherish their solo portraits. That said, I think the group shots will be of even greater emotional significance to them.

Last week I had a chance to see one of iRobot’s latest products in action. Our CTO injured his back camping and was unable to fly to Massachusetts for an important strategic planning meeting. Instead, he attended via Ava, our remote telepresence robot. He “walked” about the front of the room and “looked back and forth” across the audience as he gave his 45-minute presentation from the comfort of his office in Pasadena. Until now, I have assumed that the value proposition of this robot would be autonomous mobility (just tell it where the meeting is supposed to be and it navigates there all by itself). Now, however, I have come to fully appreciate how the humanoid dimensions and ability to move and look around while presenting create a much more immersive and engaging experience. I wonder if I could attend the next offsite from say Barbados using Ava.

Had it not been for the need to rebuild portions of the framing I suspect I could have finished setting all the deck boards today. Nevertheless, I am pleased with the results thus far. Maya provided major assistance including several very astute suggestions for joist reconstruction. Jeanine has put the finishing touches on every countersunk screw I drove by tapping in a matching plug to complete the blind fastening system. The boys returned this evening, Kyle from NYC and Nico from upstate NY, allowing us to enjoy our first family dinner in ages. Both have offered to help with the remaining work and I look forward to their assistance. The problem with a desk job is that it is very hard to stay in shape. Every single non-soccer muscle in my body (most of them) is as sore as can be. I will need a few days to recover before getting back to the project.

Jeanine noticed a hawk hopping up and down in the field behind our house this morning. I grabbed my camera and went out to investigate. It was trying to subdue the larger-than-normal prey secured in its talons. By the time I got close enough for a decent photo the combat was over and the hawk was off with its dinner. As I turned to return to the house I spotted this young male deer a few hundred feet away. One of the things I like most about living in Concord is the abundance of wildlife just outside the door.

I had hoped to make a significant dent in my deck rebuilding project this afternoon. The decking material was delivered on schedule but as I got set to fasten the first board it became apparent that the deck framing was poorly constructed. I found variations in height of up to two inches across the deck and an amazing difference of 1 inch between two adjacent joists. I considered tearing all the framing out and starting from scratch but after further study determined I could correct the major issues by replacing just four joists. Unfortunately this will turn a weekend project into one that will probably take several to complete. Few things irritate me more than having to deal with poor workmanship of so called professionals. I decided I needed a mental cooling off period before starting the joist deconstruction and postponed work until tomorrow. I used the balance of the afternoon to book air travel to Nepal for my next solo trekking adventure. I am all set to depart on Thanksgiving evening for a 3 week traverse of the Annapurna Circuit. I joined Jeanine and Maya for an evening stroll downtown and was happy I dragged my camera along.