Had an absolutely lovely long weekend up on Torch Lake with the Russells at the Johnstone Family Cottage. Drove up Wednesday night, Tracy took us to Grand Rapids, and I drove the second half. Got lost for a little bit but found our way via the iPhone and Google Maps and GPS. Just wish I had a car charger/mount to leave Google Maps running all the time. Otherwise, had to pay attention because of the possibility of animals on the highway. We saw at least one already hit deer getting pulled off the road by a cop, and a couple other smears that probably were deer. Sarah's mom greeted us, and settled us in at 2:30am. Did a little work Thursday morning remotely, went for a swim, a boat ride, ate at the cottage. Friday had adults only dinner in Charlevoix, and I was reintroduced to the glory that is oysters. During the day we wandered over to the Lake Michigan bay area. Also took my only shower of the weekend. Weather was cool, and got colder, and rainy, so Saturday took a trip down to Traverse City, lunch at Don's, saw a bit of a crit, jumped in the lake that night for the last time with Russell, even though it was a bit cold. Finished Soon I Will Be Invincible, might have talked Sarah's mom into an eReader. Very nice weekend, and lots of thanks to the Russells and the Johnstones for hosting. We left maybe 3 hours or so after the Russells on Sunday morning, and took the long way back. Stopped at a couple farm stands, Bear Lake, Grand Haven, and dinner in Saugatuck. Made it home about 12 hours after we left.

Completely spaced on updating yesterday. Go figure. Monday night had leftovers for dinner, Tracy was working, and I watched Mad Men which got cut off by the DVR. That's enough for me to go ahead and make the iTunes Store purchase. Also worth it will be watching it on my iPhone during lunch breaks. Also watched the pilot of Warehouse 13, which is right there with Eureka, which I also have to get caught up on. Tuesday picked up Adventureland and Sunshine Cleaning from the Redbox at Jewel, but really wanted Duplicity, since we never got out for a couples date with the Russells to see that one. I couldn't transcode Adventureland, so I just made a copy to transcode later, but Sunshine Cleaning was nice and easy. I hate companies that make it hard to transcode by messing with the standards. Although, right now, I'm the sort of person they are supposed to be messing with. Anyway, had to do some work from home last night. Had a good PT session, and maybe just a couple more left. My balance is so much better than before. Also tried out the new eBook Library Software on the MacBook, and find out later that it's not compatible with my PRS-500. So I just used calibre instead. Plan on using it this weekend. So headed up to Torch Lake tonight through the weekend. Not necessarily a summer vacation, but will be nice to get away with the Russells and the Johnstones.

Friday picked up Bottle Shock and Tears of the Sun from Redbox at the Jewel near the Gold Coast. Only a few blocks off my route, but there's easier and nicer places for me to go. But it was the only place that had Bottle Shock, so I had to go where the movie is, and I get reminded why I love the internet instead. Tracy made pork chops and a squash soup for dinner. And we plowed through a bunch of Top Chef Masters. We ended up finishing the series by the end of the weekend. Always watched them with and/or after dinner. Went to Green City Market Saturday morning, and ended up seeing Rachael Ray filming something. Rather odd. At least one vendor I bought blueberries from had no idea Rachael was going to be filming that day. JEspy came up to hang out, drinks at Halsted's, dinner at Twist, then checking out Too White Crew at Lakeview Music Fest. Sunday made a blueberry pie, and French toast, and went shopping. The Gap had a BOGO on t's, shirts, and sweaters. And got supplies to make a beef wellington for dinner, which worked out pretty well. Eased up a little bit on the transcoding, and need to add meta info to the ones I do have ready. Also need to put some books on the Sony Reader for the trip to Torch Lake later this week.

So I did get wet on the way home last night, but not as bad as it could have been. Didn't end up leaving until 6:30 or so, and I think I missed the really heavy stuff, at least from looking out the window before I left. I did get dirty from the upspray from the front tire since I don't have fenders on the Sprint. Really need to get around to putting those on. Because of that I took the Trek 7000 in this morning. That bike needs a comfy set of North Road handlebars. And an internal hub. And a chain guard. And then $200 or $300 later, I'd have a nice city bike. Or just get a new city bike. Or just use it as is. Tracy roasted chicken and veggies for dinner. And we started watching Top Chef Masters since Bravo had a marathon during the day before the finale. We're only 2 episodes in, and I already know who won because Green City Market spoiled it for me on Twitter. Awesome. Also found out Tracy is back into trying some fancy restaurants again, like Alinea and Graham Elliot. So that's cool.

Back on the bike today. All the questions from coworkers when riding the elevator down at the end of the day got to me, so I hopped back on this morning. Easy too. I picked a good day, it wasn't too hot, or windy. Took my time. I think I'd rather have cruiser style bikes, something to take my time, something more upright, relaxed, than the drop bar or flat bars I have now. Well, maybe just for the mtb. Just looked at the radar/weather report, and looks like it's gonna be a wet ride home. Awesome. And me with no fenders. Again. Or long sleeves. And a white t-shirt. Very smooth. Fixed another flat on Tracy's Whirlwind. Might be time to get her new tubes. Forgot to check the tire though. It was the same kind of hole, so there probably is something in the tire. Whoops. Again, a simple thing I should have checked. I still love the Crank Brothers Speed Lever. That's just a perfect tool. Leftovers for dinner last night. Watched My Fake Fiance on ABC Family channel because it had Joey Lawrence (who looks like Tony) and Melissa Joan Hart.

So I've been doing my PT homework late at night, after 10 and more like 11pm. I seem to forget to do the exercises before dinner, and then I want to wait until I digest a little before activity. Which of course means that I need to cool down so I don't end up showering and sleeping until late. Except for those days, like today, when I have a PT session. So I should get a nice full night's sleep tonight. Something I need to change. Ended up going out for dinner last night because the chicken that was defrosted wasn't good anymore. That stuff goes bad in the fridge quick. Went over to Rocks Lakeview, and was surprised they have Sapporo on tap. Seems like an odd choice. Good but odd. Tried to find something Asian on the menu, but settled for a burger with an egg on it. Figured that's close enough. Haven't been biking in a while, well, since Muddy Buddy. I've just been lazy. That's all. Maybe I'll hop on at some point this week. Would be nice. I do like my reading. Right now plowing through Executive Orders and sporadically watching The Thomas Crown Affair (remake).

I plowed through a bunch of episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip over the weekend. Not sure why I started watching, but it's so good. I miss it. And I don't even think I watched it live, instead just being one of the first shows I bought via iTunes Store. But seriously, so good. I enjoy it, a lot. I wonder what it would have been like to see their take on the recession, Obama, Twitter, Facebook, privacy issues. I would have been thoroughly entertained by years and years of that show. Oh well. Back on the Redbox kick, got I Love You, Man and Fast & Furious on Friday, transcoded, and watched I Love You, Man, on the deck using the screen/laptop combo. I need to name that device, and provide pictures. Stained/waterproofed the planting bench and the planter box on Saturday, good timing. Sunday got some cupcakes from Phoebe's Cupcakes after mass, and I think I'm done with that place. Cupcakes are a little too sweet and too much frosting for my taste. Sunday was a pretty lazy day though, watched a couple movies with Tracy after she finished work.

Maybe I will go back to a morning updating schedule. Anyway, switching back from WDS also fixed an interference issue with my iPhone Bluetooth Headset. I just thought it was going bad. The MacBook still can't connect to the 802.11n network. Annoying. Tracy grilled skirt steak for dinner last night along with some vegetables. And apparently my dad lost his iPhone in Las Vegas. I scrambled, tried to use Find My iPhone in Mobile Me, which wasn't working in Google Chrome, so I thought I didn't enable it for his phone, so I called and used the automated system at AT&T to turn off service to his phone. Only after that happens to I realize that maybe Find My iPhone might work in Safari, so I load that up, and yup, works just fine in Safari, except that I had already taken the phone off the network. So no luck there. I might try getting service turned on again for it just to see if Find My iPhone can locate it, and maybe send it a message. But this was just an instance of me failing as family technical support. I should have enabled that on both my parents phones, and tested it, and known to use Safari to check. Chalk it up to experience. As for the weekend, Tracy's working, so home bound, maybe a little woodworking, some chores, and some sleeping.

So I've been all over with my media consumption lately. Concurrently watched or watching Studio 60, Minority Report, Almost Famous, Harry Potter movies, reading Executive Orders, and other random things on the DVR. It's nice being able to switch states coherently, remember where I left off, and continue with the story. I do wonder what my upper limit might be. Went out to Homer Glen via Metra for dinner with the in-laws. For all the times I've taken the train out, I've only now just noticed that it goes right by U.S. Cellular Field. Ended up driving back alone since Tracy has the day off tomorrow and will hang out with family, but I have to work and didn't have a change of clothes. So a short stint at bachelorhood. Only thing I've done is switch the home wireless network back from WDS. It was way too slow when setup as such, so now back to blazing fast speeds on the wireless. So just means I really should look into those Powerline networking devices.

I went ahead and got Prowl to use with Growl to use with Handbrake so I would know when a movie is done transcoding. Took me a while to figure out that I needed to set a preference in Handbrake to send a Growl notification when encoding was done. Whoops. Just means I'll be more efficient with my transcoding sessions, especially on the weekends. I also tried using the Hardware Growler app on the Mac mini but it was sending out repeated Ethernet connect/disconnect growls, which was annoying. So no longer using that, and I don't really need to know anything hardware related on that machine anyway. But makes me wonder if something's wrong with the Mac mini. Still works though. Also computer related, the Airport Expresses are stable now, but the rest of the network seems much slower now, both the 802.11n for the laptops and the 802.11b/g for the iPhones. Annoying. Maybe I should look into that powerline networking again, instead of using WDS. Just add it to my list. More PT today. Good workout. Weather's much cooler. I'm definitely known as the biker in the office, as I keep getting asked why I'm not biking when I'm on the elevator leaving for the day. I think that's a good thing. Tracy made dinner, some pork and potatoes and Swiss chard. Cousin-in-laws Arnold and Marylou and Bianca dropped by to say goodbye as well. Looking forward to not playing Ultimate tomorrow. Headed out to Homer Glen though. Oh, also tried a new cupcake place downtown, The Cupcake Counter. Not bad. Just opened yesterday, so have to try it out a couple more times as they figure stuff out.

My schedule for updating has gotten worse and worse. I seem to have slipped to 4 days a week, skipping Fridays, and updating later at night. Odd. Not sure if I'll be switching back to my previous routine or not. Anyway, busy weekend. Friday night took the Metra out to Lemont for the rehearsal dinner followed by the rehearsal. Odd being back at SS. Cyril & Methodius. Seems smaller now, a short 2 years later. Got to play with Gabe's camera as well. Someday I'll have a nice digital camera. Someday. Saturday had to drop off Tracy at the salon for hair and makeup with the bridal party at 10:30am, so I went shopping for a new outfit for the wedding at Macy's in the Bolingbrook Promenade. Ended up getting a completely new outfit, everything except for my underwear. Went to Mike and Amy's Wedding. Took a couple of the cousins out for a White Castle run. Reception at DiNolfo's Banquets. Oh, got to see my parents too. Got to do a little video work at the reception. Sunday headed back out to the in-laws for the present opening. Then cousin Arnold and second cousin Bianca came in to the city for dinner, and they stayed at my parents condo. And then back to work on Monday, and out to dinner at El Mariachi, since a bunch of other places were closed. So pretty busy. Full.

Did I mention my brother-in-law is getting married on Saturday? Yup, same church, but different reception place. Should be fun. Tracy's standing up in the wedding, and I got asked to do the second reading I think. It comes up because family-in-law is in town, so a bunch of them ended up coming over tonight for a relatively impromptu BBQ/dinner. Actually ended up being too cold out to hang out on the roof. Tomorrow night headed out to Lemont for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Headed out early Saturday since Tracy has to get ready with the rest of the girls. I think I also get to do some video work after the ceremony and during the reception. And then there's a family BBQ on Sunday at the parents-in-law. So it's gonna be busy. Hamstring feels a little better. Actually feels better when I don't have it wrapped. However the foot feels probably the worst since I started PT. And I don't get another session until Tuesday. Now just waiting for the dishwasher to finish up before heading off to bed. Have I mentioned that I'm watching Studio 60 again? That show is really really good. Like amazingly good.

So at my last CUSL-Competitive game managed to tweak my hamstring again. Same one. And it happened early enough, and we had only 4 guys, so I just played through it. Figured it's my last game, and I have no need for my hamstring for a while after that. Never did get a layout d. Kind of sad that way. Also had a couple really bad throwaways. Ugh. Nice to leave ultimate again with that taste in the mouth. Oh well. Probably won't be riding the bike for a week or two either. Probably a good idea. Was up way too late last night doing work. Tempted to get a netbook for work purposes, and do the hack enabling tethering on the iPhone 3GS. Just for work. And figure it'd be cheap enough, and then just relegate the MacBook to being another type of Apple TV for the deck. Or I could get another Apple TV. And if I did go the netbook route, do I get one that's Hackintosh friendly? Something I don't even have to really consider until September anyway.

So, results are out for Muddy Buddy, and the Pinoy Pipers were slower this year than the last (+3:28). I wonder how much time I lost getting caught in the net. 3 minutes worth? Probably not. More PT yesterday, and the foot continues to feel better. Tracy made roasted jerk chicken and corn salsa and rice for dinner. Watched some odds and ends on TV, House, Dark Blue and Dating in the Dark. Otherwise a pretty quiet night. I'm doing overwatch for a work data load process, so I handled a couple issues there. Not sure what to call it, maybe babysitting? But not tonight. Headed over for movie in the park. But probably have to do some work when I get home.

Got muddy again this year at Muddy Buddy. Muddier than last year even. Course was muddier, which made biking a bit harder in spots, actually had to shoulder it in one spot. Didn't walk at all on the last leg, but wasn't running, and had to walk a bit of the hills in spots. No idea what our time is this year, and hoping we did as good as last year. Wait for the results and see. Drove out Saturday night with Russell, had dinner at the Bennigan's, which may or may not have been a good idea. Didn't bring a long sleeve so was a little cold, and might be paying for it now, as I might be coming down with something. Wait and see. Sunday afterward had a farewell meal at my parent's for Bryan, and his parents, and the Russells, and Thor and Liz and Leo and assorted dogs. Good times. Nice and relaxing after Muddy Buddy. Friday night went to Rockit for dinner, since we had a coupon. Not bad. And they had Matilda on tap. Saturday did some vacuuming, made a quick trip down to Green City Market, found a spare wire shelf to use for the monitor box. Sunday after I got back went to Northalsted Days to get some festival food for dinner. That was just a little crazy. I'm a little sad that I missed out on listening to En Vogue from the roof when they played the festival on Saturday night. Sounded like fun.