Later this week I will be taking a “hero” shot of our recently announced Mark Two printer. I have decided I would like to place it on a slightly undersized pedestal so that it really stands out from its environment. The pedestal will also be useful at work if it is not commandeered as a base for a permanent display in our lobby. I began construction this evening and it should be ready for painting tomorrow.
Joseph Smedley was a childhood friend of Nicolai’s. This weekend we learned that he died late last year. A student at Indiana University, his body was discovered floating in Griffy Lake near the Bloomington campus. The police have ruled his death a suicide but after reviewing the details of the case with his sister and brother-in-law this weekend, I am 100% certain that this was not the case. A note (image below) was found in the apartment he shared with brothers of the Sigma Pi fraternity. According to his sister, this is not Joseph’s handwriting. To my way of thinking it reads like an attempt to discourage a search for a missing person rather than a suicide note. Furthermore, Joseph did not have a passport or the financial means to leave the country. This blog entry would grow quite lengthy if I conveyed all the additional information suggesting that Joseph did not take his own life. Given the note was likely a forgery and was placed in his apartment it seems obvious to me that his roommates were involved in his disappearance. Jeanine has introduced Joseph’s sister to several of our contacts in Indianapolis who should be of help in reopening the investigation and solving the mystery of his death.
With no assistance from her mother, Maya did a little baking this afternoon. She prepared galette des rois as part of a french class assignment. My offers to conduct quality control testing were rejected. Instead I got a good workout with my chainsaw. I had to fell a rather large pine tree which had been badly damaged by our recent snow storm. The weight of the wet snow brought down many large limbs and left the trunk of the tree badly compromised.
Other than eating, my day was composed of exactly three activities. I shuttled Maya to and from her 4 hour ACT exam in Belmont, spent a few hours photographing the spectacular snowscapes that can be found everywhere today, and binge watched the entire third season of The Newsroom. It was the most relaxing Saturday I have enjoyed in quite a while. The Newsroom is hands down my favorite TV series of all time. The characters and writing are exceptional. The show holds up a highly polished mirror to the American news media, politics and capitalism as three couples, clearly destined for each other, pursue the most circuitous paths to happiness.
The first serious storm of the winter dumped half a foot of very wet snow over the region. Although it is the most photogenic type of snow, it can also be the most damaging. Jeanine reported a number of very large downed limbs and I left work a little early to survey the damage. The sun had just set as I crossed the Sudbury River leaving the sky tinted with a soft red brush. My chainsaw is certainly going to get a workout this weekend and one of our larger pine trees will have to come down but fortunately our house was undamaged.
Friends alerted us to the fact that Nico was featured in this week’s issue of the Concord Journal. Neither of us were able to attend his speaking engagement so it was nice to see this image of him in action.
My mother, at 87, can dance circles around women half her age. I hope I am equally active 30 years from now although I doubt I will be able to find an over 80 soccer league to play in. According to my sister, who posted this video on her Facebook page, my mom had already been dancing for three hours when this video was made of her partnering with the class instructor.
Maya’s nordic ski season concluded today with both the CCHS Boys and Girls Varsity teams winning the Mass Bay West Conference. Maya elected to compete even though she was suffering with the flu. She looked very puny but turned in a great performance nonetheless. She finished the 5.4km course in 20:17 shaving an unbelievable 3 minutes off her last race.
As a result of my annual physical exam last week, I was treated to a cardiovascular stress test this morning. I enjoyed the workout but was not so happy about having patches of my chest hair shaved off.
Jeanine is nearing completion of her memoir cookbook and has asked me to start taking photos that will be used in the publication. Food photography is a field unto itself and I don’t consider myself particularly well qualified in this area. Nonetheless, I will do my best. The unique thing about this type of photography is that you can eat your subject when you are done. We hosted a small dinner party this evening which featured the pictured menu items.
These 3D parts were not printed on a new Markforged printer which will not be announced at SolidWorks World 2016 on Monday. My team has not been working nights and weekends nor have we pushed 3D printing to a new level.
One of my favorite views of downtown Boston (click the image for more detail) can be had from a hilltop in the Mount Auburn Cemetery, just minutes from my office. I decided to spend my lunch hour enjoying the beauty of the cemetery and will no doubt be revisiting this site many times throughout the year. Their policy on amateur photography is both enlightened and respectful. The grounds and monuments are simply exquisite.
Earlier in the morning I went in for my annual physical. I try to get one every three years or so. Triglycerides were way too high and my body mass index is too high (need to lose some weight. ) John has offered to put me on a regime which I am calling the caveman diet. You can only eat what nature provides with no processing after that.
At the request of a bridge enthusiast and long time follower of this blog, I am posting a photo of the newly completed bridge renovation project near the South Bridge Boat House. The project involved raising the height of the bridge over the roadway to prevent the frequent decapitation of box trucks, which occurred with surprising regularity. During construction, one track was kept operational at all times except for one weekend when a crane placed the new steel structures in place.
Sadly, I was unable to make it to Maya’s Nordic ski racing event today. Thankfully, Jeanine was there and captured a great image of Maya after the race. In her mother’s words, “she left everything on the course.” She races again next week and I plan to be there come hell or high water.