The handyman stayed late again, about 6 PM, but not as late as last night when he stayed until 7:30 PM. He has just a little bit more to do and will be back on Sunday to finish up. We picked Sunday because we already have some things going on Saturday, and who wants to work on Monday, Independence Day?

For dinner we did something we have not done in a long time; we went to the nearby Chinese buffet. My strategy for Chinese buffets is to have two bowls of soup first. This takes the edge off and makes it easier for me to stay away from the things I shouldn't eat. I had a bowl of egg drop and a bowl of hot and sour.

We are excited about watching the Live 8 concert tomorrow. MTV and VH-1 are each going to have eight hours of commercial-free coverage, and XM Radio has SEVEN channels dedicated to Live 8. They have one channel dedicated for each city: London, Philedelphia, Berlin, Rome, Paris, and Toronto, and another station for commentary, news about Live 8, etc. I plan on bringing the XM radio downstairs so if there is someone I want to hear and they are not on TV I will still be able to listen to them. I already have the channels programmed for fast access.

The Tour de France also starts tomorrow but the only network covering it is the Outdoor Life Network and we don't have that. Drats.

The friend of Sheri's that lives in the high-rise in downtown Chicago has invited us for game night. Last time we went there we mostly played Pictionary. This time we will take the train rather than driving. If you recall on the drive home last time I almost got creamed when I was dumped into the passing lane from a way too short on ramp with no warning. His apartment is only a couple blocks from Union Station so it makes sense to that rather than driving.

I think tomorrow while Live 8 is on we are going to do some major changes in the house. The end-vision is to make the front room a usable room. I have kind of a den in mind where I can hang out, read the newspaper, listen to my scanner, study maps, use the laptop, while Sheri is watching something I am not interested in on TV in the family room.

The big console TV in the front corner that we have been using as an end table will be thrown out. In its place will go a big comfortable recliner and a real end table with a good sized surface. A floor lamp for reading will also go next to the chair. Directly diagonal in the room from the chair will be a desk/table. This will be for puzzles, model building, map spreading-outing, writing letters, etc. etc. The exercise bike that is currently there will be moved upstairs to the middle bedroom that currently has the bunk beds. The inversion table that is in the middle of the dining room will also be moved into this bedroom. This will become kind of an exercise room. The bunk beds will be removed. The frames and springs will go in the basement for storage. I don't know if the mattresses will go there as well or to the garbage. Mom? There is also an extra-long single mattress, foundation, and its frame in that room standing on its edge. I am pretty sure the mattress and foundation will be thrown out. The frame folds up to a pretty compact size, so I will just toss that in the basement.

Back to the front room, we are going to look for a solid wood kitchen table on Craig's List or eBay to use as the "desk". And since we will have the dining room reclaimed from the inversion table we will also look for a table and chair set for in there. No hurry for that though since we don't really anticipate many dining room events any time soon.

Sunday we don't have any plans yet except that we want to cook some meat for a 4th of July celebration. We have talked about a pork loin. Spare ribs. County ribs. Steaks. Doing on the grill. Doing it in the oven. Doing it in a crock pot. I guess we won't know until we are in the meat section and see what they have.

I got to use some homeland security classified data today. It is the location of a surface-source public water supply.

Sheri's job search is going very well. I am not going to write any details here, but I excited to live vicariously through either of the two good possibilities that she has lined up so far.
The outside thermometer is currently reading 56.5°. The windows are all wide open and it feels great after the couple weeks of hot hot weather. The rest of the weekend is supposed to be in the low 80's. I'll take it.
I also want to get a bike ride or two in. It has been too long since we have gone for a ride. Maybe tomorrow morning before Live 8 starts.