Met a new possible friend at April and Scott's party on Wednesday night, even though I was designated driver for the night. I do think I got to meet Billie for the first time. I think anyway. Yesterday took the long trip home to Woodstock via Metra. Good thing I got there early, since it was a short train, and I had no idea how busy it gets on Thanksgiving day. I got a seat though and watched a couple episodes of Las Vegas (tv show). Slightly smaller crowd at my parents place, but food was great as always, and my mom actually got to sit at the big table. Also snuck in a quick iChat with Al and Nicole. Kitchen iMac needs better speakers, but the little iSight stand I brought works well. Also started rummaging around the basement for old stuff. Always interesting to see the stuff that's collected from long ago. Due to a misunderstanding on my part, I took the last train into the city, instead of the second to last train, and didn't get picked up by Tracy (who had to work and then went to her parents place after) downtown, and instead up on the Irving Park station. Of course I brought plenty of food back. Thanks Mom! I finished transcoding the 3rd season of How I Met Your Mother, so that's sweet. My parents are coming in on Saturday for dinner at Think Cafe. Otherwise, need to pick up the vacuum cleaner that got fixed.

It's a big thing. I saw an episode of The Big Bang Theory where it played a role. And I've finally started adding some high school and grade school classmates as well. Always interesting to see where people end up. But Tracy's tired of it already. And I wonder if or when it'll crater. No idea if it has lasting power or not. Or how it compares to MySpace. It might be approaching critical mass. Wait and see. Went to dinner with the Russells last night at Kuma's Corner. So good. Really really good. Came home, watched a couple episodes of Eli Stone, the newest episode of How I Met Your Mother, which is so good. It's like the Kuma's Corner of television. We think it's not as popular as, say, Friends, because it's on CBS. Seriously people, watch this show. Although, I wonder if I'm missing something about how it's not broad enough in its appeal. Hmmm, something to think about. Headed out to a party at April and Scott's tonight. Headed out to Woodstock via the Metra for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Wow, missed a Monday update. That's not so good. Anyway, weekend was good. Friday night really good dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. Good stuff there. Mushrooms weren't so good. They were just ok. Saturday watched some TV, as usual, got a haircut, vacuumed, made roasted bone marrow for dinner. Interesting. Won't make it again, at least for a complete meal, but might make a nice side dish for something. Sunday pretty lazy day, finally brought the vacuum clean out for service. Watched the Apple TV rental of Sex and the City finally. And that's pretty much it for the weekend. A new version of Handbrake was released yesterday, and that did the trick for transcoding Shoot 'Em Up. So that's awesome. Added more meta info to Las Vegas (tv show) and The Office. All caught up with Eureka. Started watching Toy Soldiers. Headed out to Kuma's Corner tonight. And I think I have way too many applications on my iPhone. I've got like 3 different location check in type apps.

First off, Happy Birthday to my wife, Tracy. Also, another Happy Birthday to Jessica Jenkins, who shares a birthday with Tracy, which makes it easy to remember. We're headed out to Ruth's Chris Steak House for dinner, which was I think her best steakhouse experience so far. But that's it for celebrating since she has to work tomorrow. I think I might try and find some bone marrow to make for dinner tomorrow, since that's her favorite, and coincidentally came across a recipe for it today. Also got a haircut scheduled for tomorrow morning. Supposed to hang out with Jespy on Sunday, haven't seen them in a bit. Also still have to try and transcode Shoot 'Em Up. Finished up adding info for The Office Season 1, need to finish up Seasons 2 and 3. Then all 5 seasons of Alias. Yay. Also rented some movies on the Apple TVs to watch, Sex and the City, Get Smart, and The Incredible Hulk.

Guess what I did last night? Yup, Wii Fit. Watched TV (Housex2, The Office). Had dinner that Tracy made (sinigang). Continued to have some issues transcoding Shoot 'Em Up. I finally got a version to go through Handbrake, but ended up with a m4v that had no sounds and played at twice the speed. Odd. I'm almost ready to try some Windows solutions. And maybe this is why I don't buy DVDs anymore. If there was an iTunes Store version for $10 I would have gotten that. But there isn't. Ugh. There was a new 2.3 update for the Apple TV released last night. 2 features I'm happy to see: video playlists (have to turn on in settings) and can send audio to other AirTunes. So now you can do whole house audio using the TV as the interface, and use the iPhone as a remote. If only they could add a visualizer. Then it'd be the perfect party music device. As it is, putting together TV shows on a playlist and letting it play is awesome. If that's how it works.

More Wii Fit. Planks are hard. Didn't do any yoga last night, so I'll concentrate on that tonight. Thought I was all caught up on Season 4 of The Unit, but a new episode became available for download this morning. So I'll have to watch that. Tracy made soup for dinner last night. Watched The Big Bang Theory, which made me want to get a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings today for lunch, and The New Adventures of Old Christine. I just have this feeling they're going to pair off Penny and Sheldon. Somehow I see that happening. I also started rewatching Season 3 of Eureka. And I'm currently reading Rainbow Six on and off whenever I've got a few minutes waiting: I love having eReader on my iPhone.

Not much going on. No big purchases. No shopping sprees. No new toys. Played more Wii Fit last night. First time getting perfect balance on the body test. I'm usually .3% off. Weight and BMI is up and down around my average, no real change. I've decided to hit up all the Strength and Yoga games at least 3 times each. It makes suggestions for sets, but doesn't make it easy to get to the different exercises that go well together. I usually start out with the Advanced Step, which I'm getting the hang of on timing for Perfects, then some Boxing, and then the exercises. It's still holding my interest, which is good. After that, made a pumpkin loaf and muffins. Tracy made dinner, pork chops and a salad, and roasted some squash for a soup tonight. Watched Desperate Housewives. Almost completely caught up with The Unit. Next up is Eureka for my commuting and lunch TV watching. After that, not sure. I should do metainfo for the Alias transcodes, as well as the Las Vegas (tv show) ones. I guess that's something to do.

What? I missed updating on Friday? Odd. Well, Thursday night walked up to the Apple Store, finally checked out the new MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008), and iPhone 3G. Eh to all of them. The only one that really blows me away is the MacBook Air (Late 2008). So thin. Of course, didn't get anything, since I'm looking for some iPhone friendly ear buds (with mic) and a 400-800 firewire cable, which I didn't find. Another time I should have just ordered online. More Wii Fit, and in 2 weeks of use, haven't made any progress whatsoever with it. Feel a little better though. Got Parallels Desktop moved over to the Mac mini. Friday night more Wii Fit I think, watched Grey's Anatomy with dinner. Saturday started watching How I Met Your Mother Season 1, made french toast for breakfast, picked up more stuff from the old home, went out to La Creperie for dinner. Sunday hash browns and corned beef hash for breakfast, more HIMYM, went shopping at Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora, early dinner at Red Lobster. Kind of started holiday shopping. Also started transcoding holiday movies, since it's getting close to the season. Otherwise added more metainfo to transcoded TV episodes. Hung up some additional mirrors around the house too. Oh, and it snowed last night, and we definitely got some accumulation on the roof. That's cool.

Again, nothing really exciting going on. Dinner, Wii Fit, TV watching. Work. Repeat. I did try installed BookDesigner via CrossOver, but that didn't work. I might move my Parallels Desktop install over to the Mac mini. I don't really use the MacBook for anything anymore. After I took one of the RAM sticks out of the mini, it's been rock solid. Not sure what to use it for. I do need to get a Firewire 400 to 800 cable, and maybe I can use my old firewire enclosure to do huge batches of DVD transcoding. Hmmm. Maybe I'll stop by the Michigan Avenue Apple Store and pick one up, along with a new set of ear buds, since I lost the ones I had, and the Apple ones that came with the iPhone don't fit in my ear, and I can't use the headphones with a hat. Hmmm. I also really need to get around to converting a bunch of eBooks to eReader format so I can carry them around on my iPhone. Only thing I might have to start doing is carrying a charger with me in case I need it. Tracy's headed out to Homer Glen tonight, so I'm on my own for dinner, hence, the possibility of stopping by an Apple Store.

Sore from working out or sore from a possible bout with the flu, I'm not so sure. Wait and see. So more Wii Fit last night. Works out well, since I do that while Tracy slaves away in the kitchen making dinner. She got some mushrooms from Treasure Island, which were a little different looking. Treasure Island has a mushroom display right now with some odd stuff, like a giant block of dirt with mushrooms growing out of it in spots, and some weird looking stuff. Watched Good Eats with dinner and then Heroesx2 and How I Met Your Mother. I'm starting to look into alternative means of getting eBooks onto my Sony Reader and also to the iPhone. Oh, and saw another Kindle in the wild, this time with a cover, with a guy waiting on the el platform at Washington and Wells for the Brown Line southbound. That's 2 now I've seen. 0 Sony Readers.

So another workday, and another bout with the Wii Fit. It's a good time, especially with some of the other exercises that have been unlocked. And I guess I should use it over the weekend. I try and put in 30 minutes or so, mostly aerobic, yoga, and a little balance, but no strength, except that I should do some core stuff. Really need to work on balance. Finally picked up winter coats from the old home, and now it's supposed to warm up a bit. Figures. Tracy made a Shepard's pie with the leftover mashed potatoes. Good stuff. Watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Samantha Who?.

Kind of a busy weekend. Friday night had leftovers and played a lot of Wii. It can be a pretty good workout, especially movements that you never use, like swinging a bat, or throwing a baseball, things I never ever do. Saturday watched a whole lot of The Unit. Wanted to do some vacuuming but our vacuum is broken. Ugh. I took it apart multiple times, and can find anything obviously wrong with it. It just doesn't turn on. Power flows through it, but no lights. Next weekend we'll have to get it out to a repair place. If I had an Xtracycle I could have biked it out, but can't really carry it around myself. Ended up making Lemon Chicken for dinner. Watched Smallville. Sunday ran some errands, watched more The Unit, finally cancelled my gym membership, ended up making ribs for dinner. Watched Desperate Housewives and Eli Stone. It was weird because we were done with dinner by 7pm. An early night for sure. I did get new brake pads for my bike, and maybe I'll get around to biking back in to work again. Also borrowed my parents vacuum cleaner, since our place really needed it. You kind of get strange looks from people when you walk down the street carrying a vacuum cleaner.

More Wii Fit last night. I probably should do some additional exercises, maybe bike riding when I get back on the horse, and maybe go back to some Urbanathlon training. But it's nice having a nice system to track weight gain and loss. Probably the biggest benefit? Balance. Mine is awful, which I guess isn't too surprising, but I wonder what it would have been like back when I was still an athlete playing Ultimate. Oh well. Tracy sewed a slip cover for the ottoman, aside from making hamburger mac for dinner last night. Ended up watching Private Practice with dinner. I did reformat my Sony Reader, and I can't believe how slow it is, or how thin it is when you take the cover off of it, and I no longer have any problems transferring books to it. I should clean up some additional texts I have, but it's starting to have a pretty good stable of novels so I wouldn't have to worry about not having something to read. As long as I keep it charged. Oh, and I got Toy Soldiers off the iTunes Store. The DVD is Pan & Scan, but the iTunes version is Widescreen, and that's enough for me to purchase. It was also only $9.99. Great movie. Probably end up watching that this weekend. And probably more of The Unit. And try and make some pumpkin cookies or pumpkin spice marshmallows.

So I've been reading conservative and right wing blogs, because I want to see what the other side is saying about having a new President, and thoughts on the election. And it confuses me. But it is interesting stuff, I'll give them that. Sounds very much like they want to go to the mattresses, dig the trenches, and get ready for a prolonged war with the liberals now in charge of Washington. Had some issues with my Sony Reader, in that it's not showing up properly in the eBook Library software. I might have to do a reformat of the reader to get it to work. Oh well. Just wish they'd come out with a Mac client. Would be nice. Played more Wii Fit last night. Definitely feels like it's starting to help posture and balance. Tracy made a stir fry with leftovers, and we watched Bones. Still haven't been biking to work, plan on starting again next week, as riding the El and watching The Unit on my iPhone is a pretty good commute.

So Barack Obama is the President-elect. How about that. Had no issues getting home last night. Not overly busy, not crazy at all. Passed a polling place on the way home and it was pretty empty. No lines. Watched some coverage, kept it on CNN hoping for the holograms and more touch screen action. Hoping someone would make Michigan bounce, but no luck. Used the NY Times on the iPhone for election coverage. Played some Wii Fit. Definitely want to try and keep that up. Had frozen pizza for dinner. Wandered downstairs to the neighbors for their election party cut short, since they nabbed tickets to the Obama rally in Grant Park. Watched the SNL Bash from Monday night, and watched more election coverage catching McCain's concession speech (classy) and Obama's victory speech (I actually thought it was repetitive, but inspiring all the same). I was glad he wasn't smiling. It's like he knows what's in store. All the work we have to do. This is just a foot in the door. At least I hope.

Got my vote on this morning. Only took me 1 hour and 50 minutes. Showed up at 7am at my old place, and read Bringing Down the House while waiting. But I voted. Even used the only touch screen electronic ballot the polling place had. It was sweet. Very easy and straightforward. Here's hoping to them rolling it out next year, or at least for the next Presidential election. Curious as to what the trip home will be like, since there's that giant Obama rally in Grant Park right now. Should be interesting. Might also go to a neighbor's election party, you know, so we can actually meet our neighbors. Last night tried to setup the IR Repeater using the RG6 cable for audio that was already run through the wall in the living room, but that didn't work, so I just put it back up on the left speaker. Finally set up Tracy's early birthday present, the Wii and tried it out. It's amazing. Simple, but very interactive. Like it's from the future. Also Wii Fit, since that was an additional part of the gift. Hopefully we can actually use it. I lost to her in Wii Sports:Tennis.

Let's see, Friday night had leftovers for dinner, wandered through the Northalsted Halloween Parade, didn't push our way to the front to get good seats at Cornelia, but was nice wandering around. Did eventually see someone in a good Ghostbusters costume, with a light up backpack and trap and everything. I was jealous. Otherwise, no other costumes really caught my eye, at least that I can remember. Saturday made waffles for breakfast, then biked around some, down to Green City Market, over to Wicker Park to pick up race packets, then over to Erehwon to check out base layers with Russell, and finally a quick stop over at Smith & Hawken. Tracy made a pot roast for dinner, after getting inspired by Paula Dean on TV. Watched a couple episodes of Grey's Anatomy, National Treasure: Book of Secrets via Video On Demand. Sunday wandered up to the Hot Chocolate 5K about 15 minutes late. Ran the course anyway, and ended up beating some walkers. Had some s'mores and hot chocolate. Came back home, had some ham for lunch, wanted to install closet shelves in the 2nd bedroom, had to pick up some wall clips from Home Depot, got those installed, and some additional organizational stuff too, and put up shelves on the wall as well. Also managed to get meta info for How I Met Your Mother Season 1 and 2 set up for iTunes. Watched the Bears game after going out to dinner at Deleece grill pub. So a pretty productive weekend.