Earlier this week I discovered that the Good New Garage owned by Tom and Ray Magliozzi, of NPR’s Car Talk radio, is only a few steps down the block from Superpedestrian.  While researching that bit of trivia I learned that Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers actually named their business corporation “Dewey, Cheetham & Howe”. Their corporate office was located at the corner of Brattle and JFK Streets in Harvard Square on the third floor above the only Curious George store in the world.  Check out the window which still bears the name of their dubiously named business.

The John Harvard Statue, located in Harvard Yard, honors his substantial deathbed bequest to the school which now bears his name. Some refer to it as the “statue of three lies” because of all the inaccuracies inscribed on it. (1) Even though the name “John Harvard” is written in stone on the statue’s base, the likeness is of Sherman Hoar who sat as a model for the sculptor since no living representations of John Harvard exist. (2)  The engraving on the statue states “founder,” but this is also not true. He was the first major benefactor to the University, donating half of his estate and his 400 book library. Harvard University was officially founded by a vote by the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (3) Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, was founded in 1636 not 1638 as inscribed on the plaque.  My morning walk took me to the campus where I photographed the statue from a high angle to show off the polished boot toes, the results of tourists and students rubbing them for good luck.  I did so as well. 

In 1973 before their rise to fame, Tom and Ray Magliozzi (“Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers”) of NPR’s Car Talk started a do-it-yourself shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts called Hacker’s Haven. The idea was to rent space and tools to folks wanting to work on their own cars.  The idea did not pan out and a few years later they decided to start a new enterprise called the Good News Garage. They still welcomed do-it-yourselfers but focused the majority of their attention on competent and honest auto repair for those who didn’t want to get greasy.  It has been in business ever since.  Only today did I put two and two together and realize that the Good News Garage located some 20 paces from the front door of Superpedestrian is THE Good News Garage. Sadly Ray is no longer with us but Tom is said to still stop in from time to time.  Rest assured I will keep my eyes peeled for a photo opportunity.  Our whole family has spent countless hours enjoying Car Talk on the radio and I would relish a chance to personally thank Tom for all the laughs.

Three days into summer it is hard to walk down a street in Boston and not encounter the most beautiful flowers and plants.

Jeanine attended her first professional baseball game courtesy of a colleague at Open Table who offered her a pair of field box seats. The Red Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 5-0 and we were treated to a home run, a stolen base, a marriage proposal on the Jumbotron, and all the sounds and smells of a major league ballpark.

We belong to the Clark Farm CSA and this is where our food comes from.  This morning I made a pick up which included a visit to the strawberry patch (foreground where people can be seen) to pick some very yummy fresh berries. We chose to live in Concord for the school system not realizing the secondary benefit of being in such close proximity to prime farmland.

Chatham Lighthouse

Nauset Lighthouse

Highland Light

We have lived in Massachusetts for almost 15 years. In all that time, I have never visited Cape Cod. Today I rectified that situation with a grand tour of the more prominent lighthouses that terminated in Provincetown and a visit to the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Having access to a metal lathe is a huge benefit of working at Superpedestrian. This morning I machined one of my favorite ball heads down to a much smaller profile for use on my travel tripod. I also fitted it with a new quick release. The new version is 60% of the weight, 75% of the volume, and nestles perfectly between the reverse folded legs of my tripod. Below is the original version.

Have you ever seen such a forlorn dog? Nala’s most recent visit to the vet has netted her this humiliation. Little wonder she fights us every time we try to coax her into the car.

Hard to believe that Maya turns 19 today. It seems like only yesterday that she was a tiny little cherub who loved riding horses. Now she is a rising sophomore in college working a summer internship in far-off Indianapolis on her way to a career in engineering.  We are missing her more than usual today.

I walk past the EMF Building every day on my way to and from breakfast and lunch. Today, for the first time, I notice a tiny little alcove in the brickwork. Inside was a small Absolute Vodka bottle and a pipe emerging from the building.  I am left with many unanswered questions.

Today my over-56 soccer team accepted a forfeit to complete a perfect season (10-0-0) and secure promotion to Division 1 next fall.  As a new team, we had to start in Division 2 as a matter of policy.  Over the next two weeks, we will play the winners from the other regions (North and South) to determine an overall champion.

Although I did not spend any time on the field, my day was full of soccer action as I enjoyed watching the day’s full line up of World Cup action with Kyle. The only way to improve on this Father’s Day would be to add Nicolai and Maya to the couch.lineup

Kyle requested a new headshot for his LinkedIn profile and I was happy to create this for him. I think the result was pretty good but we both felt it could be better and will try again.  His hair is quite beautiful and I did not do a very good job of lighting it.

We then spent an embarrassingly large amount of time watching World Cup soccer, sometimes with Jeanine and sometimes with her sister Susan who is visiting us for the weekend with her friend Jean.

Visiting us for the weekend is Jeanine’s sister, Susan, and her friend Jean. Kyle joined the four of us for dinner at El Huipil, a Mexican restaurant in Maynard.  Susan, an Associate Professor at the University of Vermont and Chairperson of the Social Work department in the College of Education and Social Services will be retiring in the coming months.  In lieu of a retirement gift, Susan has requested that a wall within her building be dedicated in her name.  Kyle and I enjoyed brainstorming with her about different ideas for how to memorialize it.