More bike stuff: Spent some time last Sunday working on the Xtracycle after having breakfast with my parents with Lucy and then dropping her off with them for the day. Replaced the front tube, tried to fix the front rack a little, and replaced the weather shield frame with PEX tubing. Probably should have gone with rigid PVC pipe instead. Maybe next weekend. On Saturday morning we drove down to Green City Market. Had brunch at Delightful Pastries. Made a ship out of the Bob in coordination with our Halloween costumes. Was able to attach the Bob to the Xtracycle using the bike mount from earlier, and rode down to Pumpkins in the Park. Arrived too late and missed Lucy's race, so instead we played in the leaves for a bit, before we could finally go on our 5K, as a family of pirates. Managed to do ok, in boots, in costume, with no prep work. Picked up Soupbox on the way home. Friday night stopped and picked up a pirate shirt from Beatnix. The previous weekend went out to Woodstock on Saturday via Metra with Lucy, and Tracy drove out after work. Sunday went to Edward's Apple Orchard, which was ok. Didn't actually go apple picking, just played on the playground, looked at some stuff, went on a wagon ride. Driving back in we got a pirate costume for Lucy, and fabric so Tracy could make the rest of our costumes. Worked out pretty well I think. Also while I was out in Woodstock upgraded my dad's iMac to Mountain Lion. Couldn't get the update to download and install because it kept timing out. I think it's my DSL->Time Machine->iMac hackery to allow Remote Desktop that causing the issues. Annoying.

Balance. So had my seat stolen off my Sprint on Monday. Reported it to the building, since they have surveillance cameras. Not sure if anything will come of it. It was a Brooks B17. And I've been asking for it, since the seat post was on a quick release. My bad. But all this time, and never been taken, until, finally, I took off the front and rear rack, and that day it's gone. Go figure. Rode home standing up, which was a lot more tiring and annoying. Went and picked up my Surly Pacer from Roscoe Village Bikes, dropped off a sixer of Fat Tire as thanks, and brought it home. Decided to go whole hog and finally put the Revolights on, and tried switching over my Marathon Plus tires from the Sprint over, but they ended up being too big, and wouldn't fit under the fenders. So that took a while, getting tires on and off, putting the Revolights on, putting the tires back. But all set and it works. Haven't had a chance to actually try them, but I will tonight, since it's raining. Looking forward to it. My previously sleek Pacer is now fairly commuted up. Hasn't slowed me down too much, which what I was afraid of with the fenders. Doesn't make any more noise than before either, so hats off to RVB and professional fender installation. Also got the rest of my bike stuff, so my custom Market Track jersey and additional jersey, wool hat, and toe clip covers. I think I'm all set and ready now until next year, bike-wise.

Setup the weather shield for Lucy on the Xtracycle. Thank you duct tape. And you too random pieces of wood and metal railing pieces. Yeah, I need to come up with something a little less janky. Would be nice also if I knew how to sew and could put a zipper in the side to make it much easier to get Lucy in and out. Also finally got her some mittens this weekend. Would be really nice if I could find/make her a muff to put her hands in while she's riding. And maybe some not clip shields for her feet, although we did get her some Bogs this weekend (last year's on sale clearance). We made the mistake of telling her she can splish, splash, sploosh in them, which she proceeded to do in any puddle she could find. Including the fountain next to the Lincoln Park Apple Store. We went there Sunday morning because the power/sleep/wake button on Tracy's iPhone failed. And they won't have a replacement available for 9 days. Crazy. Finally brought the Pacer in to get fenders installed this weekend. Won't get a chance to pick it up until tonight, so had to ride the Sprint in again today. Took off the front cetma rack and put that on the Xtracycle, and took off the Tubus Cargo as well, since I'm rocking the Carradice Barley. And you know what? Without that extra weight it's actually a little spritely. Hmmmm. Finally watched The Avengers Saturday night. Finally. One of these days will have to watch all the connected movies in order.

Rough weekend with Lucy. She's been itching a lot at night, and Saturday night might have eaten something bad, kind of coughing/retching a couple times. But meant for not a whole lot of sleep. That and the working thing too. Saturday morning went to watch Tracy spar before hitting up a playground. Lucy had a little blueberry muffin from Caribou Coffee, which might not have agreed with her belly. She didn't play a whole lot on the playground that day. I, on the other hand, had a pretty good banger/rasher sandwich from a place at the French Market on Melrose and Broadway. Tracy had to go to Indiana for work, so after Lucy's nap we went to the playground at the Inter American school, she seemed much better at that point. Then I got food/snacks/fruit/cookies from Whole Foods and dinner from Taco Burrito Palace, and one of those didn't agree with Lucy's belly. So that night she ended up in our bed. I tried watching Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, but my rip/transcode was off, so just watched an episode of Fringe instead. Sunday spent the morning in, but naptime went to a couple playgrounds down Racine, the ship based one at Supera Park and another at Trebes Park before dinner at John's Place, which is very kid friendly, as evidenced by the kids in all the bar seats when we walked in, as well as the magician who works 5-7:30pm on Sundays. Food was ok, but might be worth it to come back. Hoping she sleeps better tonight. I decided to switch to a lock screen on my iPhone/iPad based on the OS X login screens. Although I might switch it back to the iOS initial setup screens. We'll see. Also brought the old 3GS's out and setup as iPod touches for Lucy. Comes in handy when out at dinner. Really need to setup the cold weather shield for the Xtracycle. Had to drive Lucy to school this morning since I didn't have it ready. So much easier just biking her there.

Using Simple for food. Interesting. Wait and see how it'll be. Been watching Apple stock take a tumble. It hit $700 2 weeks ago and dropped $50 or so since then. Strange. Even after a successful iPhone 5 launch. Is Maps really that big of an issue? Realized that my paying for App.net is like paying for a premium channel on cable. But odd having to check 2 roughly equivalent services. And of course I just read both, don't really post to either. Hoping I can get out and drop the Pacer off to get fenders installed this weekend. Also got some swrve shorts and pants. Wore the pants, the lightweight WWR. They are awesome. A little loose at the waist, which probably means I should just eat more junk food. Because a 33 would be perfect, but they only have a 34 or a 32. But seriously, super comfy, great on the bike. Hoping I wouldn't have to use a trouser strap, but looks like I do. And of course, want to get more. Especially now that it's cold out. Not sure what I'm going to do about the shoe situation though. But I should be good for everything else. Oh, maybe some base layers would be good. But enough spending for October.

Rode the Sprint in to work today because I still haven't gotten the fenders put on the Pacer. And the Pacer still needs a name. Slow going, but nice to be upright. Lots of construction down Halsted, so on the way back home took my old route up Orleans. Not very fast. I wonder what other routes I could take home? Maybe tomorrow, err, today, I'll take my super old route down Lincoln to Wells. I was amazed at the difference in efficiency from just foot placement on pedals. I'm now down with my half toe clips and want full toe clips with straps now. Otherwise, not sleeping enough, working in that odd window post Lucy bedtime. So my home working time doesn't really start until after 9pm. Crazy. But getting some things done, so that's good. Actually crossing things off lists, which always feels nice. With Netbot's release I'm now actively checking App.net. And if they end up releasing an Netbot for Mac? Well game on. I was never into IRC, but from what I know of it, kind of seems like Twitter and App.net are kind of like IRC. Maybe it's just the hashtags. But sort of group public view chatting? Maybe moreso App.net. Oh, also got my Simple card today. All activated. Excited to start using it. Mostly for food to start. Then we'll see.

Got my invite to Simple last week. Waiting for my card to come in. Wondering if I should move to that full time, and instead of using a credit card, move to a debit card? But would have much better control over my spending. But then I lose, what I think, is free money through my iTunes Rewards program. But I'm paying for it with a crappy interface. It's intriguing, that's for sure. Just annoying because I see Tracy's Discover transactions show up almost real time in Mint, while my Barclay Card transactions show up in a batch days later. Maybe I'll just do lunch via Simple for a while, and then gradually move other things over. But that would entail reconfiguring direct deposits. Ugh. Involves some calculations. But probably best for me. Need to curtail my spending, although I think I'm done buying bike stuff for a long time. I should be set. Hopefully. Of course, winter's coming, and I think I have enough cold weather gear, but who knows if I need studded tires or not. Actually having a tough time dressing properly for the commute, either too cold like yesterday or too warm like this morning. Going to have to start packing leg sleeves, although, maybe I should get some knee warmers instead?