Got snipped a couple weeks ago. So haven't been biking to work and back. Do bike a little bit with the kids on the weekends though, and dropping off/picking up Jackson. But otherwise still taking it easy. Might start up again next week, since Bike the Drive is in a week. nuke and paved my iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad. Been having some issues, so figured it's time. Also decided to start going without a case again, although it seems like I'm just playing with fire. It's so slick. But it's so slick, and nice without a case. Feels so much smaller. I've even started using the iPad without a case too. Also feels so much smaller. My parents took the kids for the long weekend after the procedure, so I plowed through the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. Took me 5 or 6 days. Kind of floundering on what I should watch next. I do have a huge backlog of podcasts to work through.

Had Lucy's 7th birthday party last weekend, actually on her birthday. Made her a giant chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich for a cake. The kids pretty much just ate the ice cream. First time she had a bunch of kids from school over. Went over pretty well. I think she had fun. I'm definitely slacking on the picture taking though. Didn't really have it out. Having the SecuritySpy app on the Apple TV up and running with the basement camera worked out well with parents and kids, when they found out they were on the TV. Entertaining, that's for sure. Took advantage of Take Your Kids to Work day last Thursday, even though I took the day off. When I tried working with the kids in the office, I didn't really get to work much. So instead, just showed them my office, then got the wristbands for free access to the SkyDeck. Third year in a row, and well, didn't take any pictures of them this time. I've had a cough for a while, thought it was getting better, then came back after this weekend. I've been sleeping on the couch because the coughing keeps Tracy up. I thought it was the mucus in the sinus thing, and then I felt it loosen up and drop, and thought I was approaching the tail end, and then it went back up. Annoying. Not stopping me from biking through. Need to keep that up, even if it drops to 40° F like it did today. Started reading The Diamond Age, mostly because I forgot my AirPods in the gym locker. Reading it more for nanotech and culture details, seems pretty appropriate for now.

Had spring break a couple weeks ago. Went up to Great Wolf Lodge for a couple days at the beginning of the week (April 9 - 11). Finally got Ube donuts from Gurnee Donuts. They were ok. Great Wolf was great, as always. Might have to try something different next year. Kids always liked the arcade. Lucy was especially good at getting tickets from the ball drop game. Also, because it was just the four of us, just had a normal hotel room, no suite, no fireplace, no sitting room or TV room and separate bedroom. Different. Made it over to Knuckleheads with Lucy while Jackson napped one afternoon, just another arcade, didn't try any of the rides or anything. Also went shopping at the outlet, but they didn't have any Adidas track suits. Disappointing. Al and Family came in, cousin Jenina and her new husband too on their honeymoon, all out to Woodstock for a last hurrah at the house since it's for sale. Ate a lot. Went up to The Domes in Milwaukee on Friday. Hung out at the house, kids played in the basement a lot. Had an easter egg hunt on Easter. Tried out the new Frio Gelato on Southport. I'm a fan. Have had mucus in the head for the last week or two, it's gradually been moving down, and think I'm on the last legs. Hammels are back, so the kids have been playing a lot together. Been bike commuting to work. It's nice. And it's working, weight is trending back down toward what I was. Finally hung the string lights across the backyard. Super bright, so I had to put the dimmer on, which doesn't work because they're LED string lights. Found a tip to put in 1 incandescent bulb, and the dimmer now works. So that looks pretty cool. Went to Indian Boundary Park for Flo's birthday party last Saturday. That's a pretty cool park. Went to Jolibee for the first time after that. The chicken's good. The halo-halo is too. Also been biking to drop off and pickup Jackson. Much better than driving.

It is nice riding to and from work again. It's pretty nice having a shower before working as well. Not so nice having to leave my clothes and shoes in a locker all day. It's not even summer yet and my locker smelled pretty bad. I have no idea if I'm going to use Tone, the work gym, as anything other than a place to shower and store my commuting gear. I'm rocking the Miyata 610. Downtube shifters in the city aren't the best idea in the world. I'm using the Ortlieb Front Rollers, one with my computing gear in a Gonex Ultra Lightweight Packable Backpack, and I ordered another one for my clothes. Swapped out the adapters on the top hooks to fit the narrower rack. Makes it easy to pack/unpack the bags at home. I don't have to carry the dirty panniers around the house. Also got another Tom Bihn Vertical cache for the MacBook Pro and a smaller Freudian Slip that fits in the backpacks and panniers. I'm also swapping out pedals, depending on the weather (between the toe clips and Vittoria 1976 Shoes vs. Power Grips and 45NRTH Japanther. I'm also going up and down Clark to Halsted instead of Southport because of construction. But there's creaking, rubbing, other sounds that might imply missing lubrication. And I shouldn't leave the Boeshield T-9 Waterproof Lubrication outdoors; the aerosol goes bad. Other than that, plowing through My Boys. The first 2 seasons are pretty killer, and it's not quite as good so far after that. Still thoroughly enjoying the continued Chicago references.

Yesterday, that is. Biked to and from work for the first time since I think last June. It was quite nice. I've missed it. I also miss having a server room to cool down and change in. Changing in a bathroom stall isn't any fun. I went ahead and joined the gym at work, hoping I can change/shower there, and leave clothes, especially when they're sweaty or wet. For example, I'm contemplating biking tomorrow, in the rain, except I'm not sure I'll be able to leave the clothes there all day, or if they'd dry, stuck in a locker. I definitely got spoiled by having a server room to myself. Also, I'm coming down, or have, whatever Jackson had. So mucus up in the head, cough. Hoping it'll pass relatively quickly.

Been getting off at Southport and stopping by the Amazon Bookstore that just opened up this week. I've forgotten how much I enjoy bookstores, walking around and just browsing. A couple things that make the Amazon Bookstore insteresting: 1) all the bookshelves are lit and 2) all the books are displayed showing the front cover, no splines on display. I'm looking forward to bringing Lucy, who's enjoying reading, and just hanging out there for a while. I'm probably never going to buy a physical book for myself there, because I only buy eBooks, nor will I even buy the eBook from Amazon (I purchase through Kobo (eBook) and strip the DRM so I can read it on any device I want. I've also been playing with the Amazon Fire Kids Edition to see if it'll be a good replacement when the kids current devices die. I think it might. I've played with the fancy Kindle Oasis and managed to set off the alarm on 2 different display models (the micro USB charger/alarm cable is really loose). The new Whole Foods at Ashland/Broadway also opened and Tracy checked it out yesterday. It's funny but fitting that she got excited about the new grocery store and I got excited about the new bookstore.

Fell asleep on the couch a handful of times this past week. Falling back into bad habits. Gotta break out again, and get back on a regular sleeping schedule, if I've ever had it. Been working on setting up a Mac mini (Late 2014) at work, thinking the iMac 27-inch (Mid 2010) will be dying soon because the fan sounds like it's dying. Hooked the Mac mini up to 2 27" Thunderbolt Displays, which is a lot of screen real estate. No Retina, but still a lot. Still no bike commuting to work yet, but went on a ride this morning down to Museum Campus and back. Still cold enough that it wasn't that busy. Even got a compliment on the Miyata Six-Ten. Probably need to grease as many screws and attachment points as I can, it definitely makes a lot of sound going over bumps and stuff. Started up Iron Fist. I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Photos finished importing my PictureLife via SmugMug archives, and now it's just uploading to iCloud Photo Library. Doing so made me cross the 1TB Data Usage Limit for the first time they started the limit. So it's a courtesy month, which means I should just blow the top off. I'm currently at 1097 GB with 12 days left.