The Series 7 exam, also known as the General Securities Representative Exam (GSRE), is a test administered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) that must be passed before stockbrokers are issued a license to trade. One-third of those taking the 6-hour test do not pass on their first attempt. Kyle, whose continued employment was contingent on passing, did so on his first try with a very good score. We are very proud of his achievement and congratulate him on the milestone.

I found myself in the vicinity of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge this afternoon and decided to walk around the Water’s Edge trail. It was cold and windy and there was not much in the way of wildlife to see. Even so, I enjoyed the fresh air and exercise. In the coming weeks, this place will become alive with a great variety of birds.  I will return with a long lens when things warm up a bit.

I had a meeting in Cambridge this afternoon and had a chance to photograph the Boston skyline from a high vantage point.  For the first time since I can remember there is a new skyscraper on the horizon. Located on the left side of the image above (beneath the “C” in my watermark) is the 60 story Millennium Tower. It is nearing completion and at 685-foot tower will be the tallest residential building in Boston.

I received a notification from Tesla saying that my Model X will be delivered in the April/early May time frame.  Based on my experience with the company so far, I am setting my own expectations for June/July.  All the reviews I have read so far suggest that my two-year wait will have been worth it. Time will tell.

The opening game of my spring outdoor soccer season was postponed because our home field was covered in 3 inches of snow. Given that my trip to Asia prevented me from training with my team, I can really use the extra week to get my soccer legs back.  The forecast says we are in store for even more snow over the coming days.

My nephew, John William Quinn, pictured above with his sister Rachael, will start working for Nielsen Media Research the week after next as a Product Manager.  Jeanine decided we would celebrate with a dinner at the restaurant of his choice. Live Alive in Cambridge was his selected and the plan was to have Rachael join us there as a surprise.  The problem was that no one bothered to tell me about this plan and I spilled the beans.  It was just as well since Rachael went to the location in Lowell rather than Cambridge.  In the end all worked out and we had a wonderful meal.  Sadly, this probably means that Johnny, who has been living with us since graduating, will be moving to a place closer to his new job.  He has been a great addition to the household and we are going to miss him. Below, Maya decides to pose with her dinner. She remains a very odd but lovable child.

Maya had several friends over this evening including Sarinnagh  who is celebrating her 17th birthday.  With my photo collection fairly well organized now, I was able to quickly put up a slideshow featuring the 400+ pictures I have taken of Sarinnagh over the last 13 years. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane and I have rarely been so proud of my efforts to document the lives of my children and their friends through photography. I believe the girls were equally inspired so it took little persuasion to add some new memories to the collection.

At around 5pm I received a distress  call from Jeanine.  She had dropped her collection of keys (car, house, mailbox, work) into a storm drain as she was unloading food for Open Table. I arrived with a spare car key, a crude fishing wire, and surveyed the situation.  The keys were not visible and were probably submerged in the water at the bottom of the sewer some 9 feet below the grate. I returned home and fashioned a proper retrieval device from a 10 foot long 1″x1″ piece of scrap wood and three rare earth magnets affixed to the end of the stick with Gorilla tape.  I returned to the grate, happy no one had parked on top of it, and proceeded to conduct a grid search on the base of the storm drain.  My first pass was just below the surface of the water.  The second was 3″ below the water where I skimmed along the top of the sediment at the bottom of the drain.  On the third pass, at about 6″ under the water and well into the sediment layer, I felt the magnets mate with the keys.  I then gingerly lifted the keys up to the bottom of the grate and ever so slowly grabbed onto them and pulled them through.  The entire operation took 25 minutes with me seated on the ground as rush hour traffic streamed by.  I have little doubt that half of the town of Concord witnessed me fishing in the storm drain and are convinced I have gone mad.  Returning home with the lost keys, I was greeted by Jeanine with hero status. Her Facebook post on the outcome can be found at this link.

Maya decided she was going to shower Nala with affection this evening (for reasons not apparent to me) and requested that I take this photo of them together. Nala is slowing down as she gets older but Maya’s love for her only seems to grow. She is one lucky dog.

I stopped into the office today to retrieve my bonsai trees.  They were in great health having been well cared for by my colleagues during my one-month absence. Even more satisfying was the news that the Mark Two printer which began shipping just as I was leaving has sold in excellent numbers and has been preforming well in the field.

Kyle has returned from his three-month stint in Thailand a little ahead of schedule due to the timing of an audit in California which requires his supervision. It is unclear where his next posting will take him.  We are rooting for Boston but it is more likely that he will wind up in Menlo Park where his small company already has an office.  Until this decision is finalized he has furnished his office with an inflatable mattress so that he does not need to find temporary housing until the decision is made.  In addition, he now has one of the shortest commutes in all of California.

Jeanine was up before dawn to attend the non-denominational  sunrise Easter service at the Old North Bridge.  Maya and I needed a little more sleep and joined her for the 11 AM service at our church.  In a departure from tradition Maya received an Easter “bucket” instead of a basket.  It mattered little to her as the contents seemed more the priority. She was kind enough to share some of her more tasty gifts with me.  Later in the day we joined Alan and Sarinnagh for lunch at the AKA Bistro where I had my first burger in over a month.  Never has one tasted better.  I spent the balance of the day beginning the long process of post-processing the images I captured over the last month and deleting the less compelling ones.  The total now stands at 4,000, down from the 10,000 I shot.  I have started updating posts (you may have to go back a page or two) and hope I can get fully caught up in about a week.

As much as I enjoyed my adventures in Southeast Asia, I am delighted to be home again.  Jeanine and Maya picked me up at the airport and I was happy to clear customs in record time (so happy I enrolled in the Global Entry program).  During the ride home, I shared the highlights of my travels which made the trip go quickly. On the home front Jeanine, Maya, and Nicolai’s girlfriend, Karuna had readied the house for Easter with a beautiful Easter Egg bouquet that now graces the picture window in our kitchen.

The third Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great (1555–1605), commenced the construction of his own tomb in around 1600. It was completed by his son after his death.  Today the Tomb of Akbar the Great serves as much as a wildlife sanctuary.  Deer roam openly and birds of every variety can be found singing in the trees.

I had originally planned to spend Holi in Mathura. Virtually everyone I met with advised against this because my safety could not be assured.  Mathura is where the hardcore come to celebrate and drink.  Think spring break.  I still wanted to see the city so we stopped there on the drive back to Delhi.  The birth place of Lord Krishna, Mathura is an ancient city of India known for its various monasteries of the Hindu religion and various pilgrim spots and temples. Most archeological sites are closed on Fridays but I did manage to find a massive reservoir that was pretty interesting.

With a check-in time of 1:30am for a 4:30am flight, I decided to sleep in the airport rather than stay in a hotel for a few hours. Kuldip, my faithful driver, dropped me at the airport.  Even though we had only exchanged a couple dozen words over the past week (he spoke very little English) it was funny how well we had got to know each other.  I have enjoyed my time traveling but am happy to be headed for home.