I woke up to a glorious fall morning, a more perfect day for soccer than one could wish for. I arrived at the field with plenty of time to stretch and warm up. My legs felt strong and I played a rock-solid game, committing no turnovers, making several nice attacking passes, and guarding my mark like white on rice. With 20 minutes to go and a comfortable 3-1 lead in hand, I left the field because both my calve muscles were beginning to cramp up. I then watched helplessly from the sidelines as we gave up 3 goals to suffer our second loss in as many weeks. My perfect morning was perfect no more.
Later in the day, Jeanine and I returned to the high school to see a project that Nicolai had created for his Rivers & Revolutions class. He built a massive gateway to delineate the entrance to the classes study area and worked with peers to add a sign and decorate the 2×4 frame. Students in this course study the writings of Aldo Leopold and Annie Dillard, canoe the Concord River, examine the development of early civilizations along floodplains, stroll through Minuteman National Historical Park, contemplate the relationship of circles and lines, hike across glacial deposits, discuss human conceptions of time, and revel in the waters of Walden Pond. It is the first time this holistic approach to learning has been introduced anywhere in the state and Nicolai has been enjoying the course immensely.
I spent the bulk of the day working on a project for our master bathroom. Jeanine has asked me to build a frame to surround the large mirror over our vanity and to replace the existing single-lighting array with a pair of nicer fixtures. Building and painting the frame took less than an hour but the same cannot be said of the lighting project. I needed to replace a single wall box (and patch the resulting opening in the drywall) with two new wall boxes and run the associated wiring. As can generally be expected with any renovation work there are always surprises. In this case the presence of several vent pipes, three shouldered 2x4s (very hard to drill through), and a rat’s nest of wiring in exactly the locations where the new boxes needed to be installed. It will take another day or two to complete the work.
Maya invited several girl friends to spend the night and as I walked into our family room this is the scene I encountered. I am told they were doing “pencils”. I do not know what a pencil is or why teenage girls find this so entertaining. Perhaps it is some form of warm up for the game of Jailbreak which ensued with girls alternatively hiding silently and then flying through the house screaming as only girls of this age can do. Fortunately all the activity seemed to help them all get to sleep at a reasonable hour.
Coverage of Nicolai’s amazing goal earlier this week has gone viral thanks to the YouTube video posted by his coach. The last time I checked it had over 1,800,000 views.
Four local TV stations picked up on the story and interviewed him before his game against Boston Latin this afternoon. I left work early to provide video and picture files to the various stations and to generally try and manage the media frenzy. Nicolai handled the interviews wonderfully. He was confident but not boastful. He spoke eloquently and from the heart. Jeanine and I could scarcely contain our pride and joy as we switched from channel to channel watching the coverage.
Although I missed the big iRobot party yesterday to attend Nicolai’s soccer game I had a chance this afternoon to partake in one of the product shaped cakes prepared for the event. Maya, a stalwart fan of a show called The Cake Boss will be very impressed with these edible works of art.
Pure Joy! The only words I can use to describe what Jeanine and I felt when we watched Nicolai score his first goal as a member of the CCHS Varsity Soccer Team today. No doubt this was a feeling he was also experiencing. This afternoon iRobot celebrated the 10th anniversary of Roomba and the 5000th deployed PacBot with a huge party in downtown Boston. The entire company was invited along with local dignitaries and VIPs. I opted instead to attend Nicolai’s game. My reward was a chance to witness, first hand, a milestone that I would have never believed possible when he was born. Not only did he score, but he did so in style with a magnificent overhead full volley (the one legged equivalent of a bicycle kick).
Nico can add this accomplishment to his list of “firsts”. I believe he is now the first person with one leg to ever score a goal (or even play) in a high school varsity soccer match.
Coincidentally, the Boston Herald just published a story on Nicolai which includes a great video interview and more than a dozen photos. The link can be found below. Once on the site the photos can be found by following the Photo Gallery link.
iRobot announced the acquisition of Evolution Robotics today. This explains my recent trip to Pasadena where I was conducting due diligence for the deal. They bring some nice products and very sophisticated technology to the company as well as a team of very talented engineers. Integration of east and west coast cultures is always a tricky affair but will be made easier by the common passion for robotics that runs deep in both companies. I attended a security briefing this morning given by Ray Semko, the D*I*C*E man, a former counter-intelligence officer who now makes a living giving high energy, motivational talks on the subject of corporate security. Although it was often very funny and did leave everyone with some indelible lessons, it was a bit over the top for me in terms of his overly nationalistic views. I was tied up at work till after 8pm but still found this beautiful salad and the family waiting to have dinner with me when I returned home. Am I a lucky guy or what?
A disappointing result this morning as my soccer team suffered its first loss in over a year. The 0-3 score did not reflect the closeness of the contest but there is no arguing with the outcome. I played poorly and their first goal came from the guy that I was marking off a nice header. He placed his hands on my shoulders and used them as a platform from which to elevate himself. Illegal for sure but a common tactic which I have admittedly used myself on occasion. My teammates were also in lack luster form and we failed to finish on several opportunities. The trick now will be to bounce back next week.
I spent the afternoon doing projects around the house. Maya assisted me with repairing a videotape for my mother. The tape had been partially eaten by the VCR and contained precious footage from my grandmother’s 90th birthday. It turned out to be quite a tricky affair and Maya was absolutely essential to the projects success both in terms of reverse engineering the assembly sequence and lending her small and dexterous hands. When we completed the hour-long task she immediately asked if I had anything else that she could take apart. I gave her an old keyboard and a screwdriver. In minutes she had it deconstructed and could largely explain the principles of operation. Another few minutes and she had it reassembled perfectly. There is little doubt in my mind that Maya would make a fine engineer should she decide to follow that path. Still not sated I found her an old four-tone doorbell to play with. She extracted a solenoid plunger which we used with a power supply to experiment with electromagnetism.
Maya’s ankle is still not back to full strength but felt good enough to play on this morning. Her technique continued to improve and she made many fine plays including a powerful shot on net that was just wide to the right. Her team trailed by one goal for most of the game but managed to equalize with about 3 minutes left to play. The tie felt like a win and made for a nice start to what turned into a marvelous day. Jeanine and I took an evening stroll around the neighborhood while Maya Rose was out having dinner with her friend Maia Rose at Walden Kitchen.
I am a huge proponent of developing staff through organized challenges designed to surface opportunities for creating exceptional teams. At work I lead our program management, systems, mechanical, software and electrical engineering departments. Today the later conducted a team building event in which participants were asked to design and construct a car from cardboard, duct tape, a pair of axles, and four tires. Once built these vehicles were raced down the Nashoba Ski Area “bunny” hill in heats of three to determine the winning team. The primary goals are to not kill anyone and to have fun. Learning about the importance of a winning strategy, the value of good planning and communication and the efficient utilization of resources; priceless.
Yesterday I walked into work to find this scale on a table marked “free stuff”. There has been a good bit of housekeeping going on in recent weeks as a large number of folks have relocated their offices and cubes to be closer to their respective program teams. I remembered that Jeanine has long wished for a kitchen scale of this size (0-5 pounds) and immediately laid claim to it. I forgot to bring it home yesterday and was asked about it repeatedly as it sat at the center of my conference table, clearly not to be confused with a piece of artwork. It was well received on the home front and will be put into service after it receives a thorough cleaning. While I tried to take this photograph Maya kept piling on various fruits and vegetables. I decided that a single apple would be the most photogenic.
Nicolai got his first minutes today against Waltham. The team fell behind 0-1 despite dominating play on the field. Two goals during the second half, however, secured the win. Nicolai looked very comfortable on the pitch and had a powerful shot on frame from just outside the box but is was also directly at the keeper who was able to handle it. While shooting from the sidelines, I noticed a professional sports photographer (gear tells the story). He eventually moved near my shooting position and I could tell from the sound of his shutter that he was shooting Nico exclusively. I inquired if he was from the Boston Herald and my guess was correct. We spent the rest of the game shooting and chatting and I agreed to send him some early soccer photos of Nico for the piece that they are planning to run.
Nicolai was interviewed today by the Boston Herald. He may well be the world’s first one-legged high school athlete to make a varsity soccer team. I am not entirely sure that he appreciated the attention. Nicolai has never craved the limelight unless it has been in support of a worthy cause (Free Wheelchair Mission, American Amputee Soccer Association). He is not one of the starting players and did not get any minutes in the team’s opening match which no doubt dampened his enthusiasm for the interview. Nicolai went in with realistic expectations about how much playing time he would get but I can only imagine how hard it was for him to watch from the sidelines. First and foremost, Nicolai is a fierce competitor and wants to earn recognition for his accomplishments on the pitch and not his anatomy. The team’s coach is highly motivated to take this team to the state finals and will put the players on the field needed to win every game. I am confident that will include Nicolai in some matches and will do my best to attend every game as I did for Kyle who also played varsity soccer for CCHS.
Pictured above is his player profile from the school’s website (either a very poor photographer or Nico’s attempt to look really intimidating).
I rather like this portrait of Maya that I literally shot from the hip. These days it takes a certain amount of creativity to obtain her photo. She has settled back into school nicely and we are thrilled to see that her commitment to school and her homework remains as strong as ever. Her ankle is still tender from the injury she sustained yesterday but it is clear that it is minor and she will not be sidelined for too long.
After having last weekend off I returned to the pitch for my team’s second match of the season. We faced Acton-Boxborough in a hard fought 0-0 tie, our second of the season. On the bright side we remain undefeated 🙂 Looking at it another way we have yet to win a game. Before leaving the house I did not bother to check my e-mail because the weather had cleared up and it was evident our game would not be cancelled. Had I done so, I would have learned that there had been a last minute field change. I wanted a really good warmup so I left early and was first to the field. With 30 minutes till kickoff I was the only one there which was not a good sign. As I was set to leave, a member of the opposing team arrived so I returned to stretching. As the minutes ticked away, I asked repeatedly if he was sure that we had the right field. He insisted we did. When we were down to 15 minutes, I told him I was leaving and called Kyle from a nearby Dunkin Donuts. Kyle checked my e-mail and gave me the new field address. I arrived ten minutes after kick-off and went straight into the game on the very next substitution. Despite having zero touches on the ball before starting, I played very well. I didn’t have any shots on net but did a good job of pressuring the defense, winning balls in the air and passing smartly.
Maya started her fall soccer season this morning in fine form. Although she left the game with a turned ankle she played very well to that point assisting her team as they won 2-0. Although I had to carry her from the field to the car, a bit of ice and rest had her up and about by the end of the day. During the afternoon I went on a 3.5 mile hike with Kyle in the Wright Woods. We climbed up the Devil’s Staircase for a nice view of the surrounding area and then down to Fairhaven Bay before making a somewhat circuitous return to our car.
This website is dedicated to sharing, with family and friends, the day-to-day adventures of the Calabria family.
