So what's been going on the last month or so? Since my last post was about all the things I bought, I've taking the month off from buying from Amazon, just about halfway through. Decided to go with a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek, so we're buying outright, instead of leasing. Basically reviews came out while we were waiting for the dealer trade to come through, and there's enough good stuff there to warrant waiting and buying. Parents officially sold the house in Woodstock. I managed to sneak out for a day and take some pictures of a mostly empty home. First thought it was smaller when it was empty. Also picked up some Hong Kong Chicken from Plum Garden on the way back, because who knows when, if ever, I'll be back there to get some. Just in general, don't know when I'll ever find myself in Woodstock again. My Auntie Agnes came and visited, along with Uncle Luis, Auntie Dorothy, and Cousin Ron and family. Had a family dinner at the house. That was the same week Russell crashed in the guest bedroom, and Gabe and family were in town, so it was crazy busy for a vacation week. Cousins got to play plenty, and we hit up all the usual things, Warren State Park Dunes, Cypress Cove water park, visit in the city, crazy tame deer that stops by the in-laws yard. Been watching Game of Thrones and Talk the Thrones afterwards, only a couple episodes left for this season. Lots of swimming, either at Montrose Beach or at Lakeshore Sports & Fitness first for Jackson's swim lessons, then just for fun. Got new goggles (Aqua Sphere Kayenne) which are pretty good. The Wirecutter finally did goggles, so it was their pick. Biking has been good, although this week they had a notice in the locker room at the gym that we're not allowed to leave stuff during the day. Annoying. So I had to get some hooks so I can hang my stuff up to dry/air out under my desk. Hopefully it doesn't smell that bad. But still pretty annoying.

Been doing a lot of Amazon shopping. And returns. Sorta went on a spree after I got a flat tire on the Xtracycle a couple weekends back coming from the beach. I of course didn't have the spare tube, tire levers, or CO2 inflator on me, but we were close enough that Tracy just went back home, got the car and picked the kids, the wheel, and me up. Then it took me forever to get the tire off (broke 2/3 of my tire levers) and was extremely frustrating. So I took it out on Amazon. Got a whole new set of tire levers, mostly steel core, to help with that. Finally decided to get some a real pair of swim shorts, better hybrid shorts, and settled on O'Neill Men's Loaded Hybrid Short in black and khaki. Pretty much can wear those all summer long. Finally got Coway AP-1512HH Mighty Air Purifier to hopefully help with the basement smells. And then there was a lightning deal on a Drobo 5D, so I went ahead and upgraded to that. And that's an upgrade I've been putting off for a while. So much faster. Feels like a real HD now. I think Plex streaming will work better. And went ahead and am all in on Ubiquity, and got a Ubiquiti Unifi Cloud Key which I configured today. Working well. And now no need the UniFi Controller on my server. Also got a bunch of different shoe smell stuff; deodorizers, a UV sterilizer (which I think worked pretty well) and a spray that showed up when I searched for bowling alley shoe spray (which might have worked the best). Also got a FMUSER H.265 HDMI Video Encoder so I can stream any in home source to VLC, that's another finally thing that I've had on the list for a while. And then today, went car shopping, really, just went to Evanston Subaru to check out the Crosstrek. Seems to fit right. But of course, model year is ending, 2018's are like 2 months away, which will have Car Play. But we're leasing, because we'd rather have a hybrid, or even a full electric, and maybe better options available in 3 years. Also considering how little we drive, would be nice to have newer cars more often, instead of the 2005 Volvo we've got now. So slim pickings in terms of stock, and have to make a decision on the 1 color that is available in the area.

Random note, I've started just wearing the Sport Band on the Apple Watch all the time now. I was using a Nike band for a bit while biking, and switching over to a Classic Leather Buckle after biking to work and showering. But just lately switched back to the Sport Band and not switching at all. Kind of nice. Still wish there was a Charcoal Gray version. Still rocking the iPhone and iPad without cases. Still nice. All the way up to middle of Season 6 for Game of Thrones. Will probably finish up in the next couple of days. Altered my commute route, going over to Lincoln to bypass the resurfacing of Southport. Not sure when that's going to be done. Jackson hasn't been sleeping well, and not wanting to go to his swimming lessons. Not sure if more structure like at Goldfish would have helped at all. Maybe he just doesn't like taking lessons. Hard to believe the year's half over.

Found out my parents got and accepted an offer on the house in Woodstock. Still want to get out there just before closing and do the walk through and walk around when it's empty and there's nothing there. Crazy. Happy for my parents too, got pretty close to expected, which is always nice. Last weekend went to Montrose beach with the kids on Saturday, then the water feature at Weisman Park on Sunday, along with Soupbox for lunch, since Lucy wanted hot soup on an 80 degree day. Go figure. Put Brooks Cambium Bar Tape and matching Brooks Cambium C17 both in Slate on the Miyata 610. Monday got a Sackville TrunkSack Small in grey for the front rack and put a double water bottle holder off the saddle. So yeah, the Miyata is in a good spot, except for the rear brakes squealing. Tried cleaning it, but that didn't work. Need to try something else. Bike does need a good overall cleaning too. Lucy's done with 1st grade, last day was yesterday. Already on season 5 of Game of Thrones. Way ahead of the Binge Mode podcasts. I guess after I finish I'll go back to Alias. Kinda want to do Chuck again as well, but I'm guessing I'll be all spyed out after Alias.