Yes, it can be done. No, it doesn't involve warm water, because that could potentially result in turkey soup.

Fill up a bathtub with cool water and put the turkey (in its original packaging) in the bathtub overnight. The turkey can be placed in a clean garbage bag (I believe "kitchen liner" is the politically-correct term nowadays) if that helps you sleep at night.

The above (admittedly short) sequence of events resulted in a hilarious scene involving me running down the stairs with a 22-pound defrosted (still in the original packaging) turkey wrapped in a towel. However, the turkey ended up delicious.

Just remember not to take a shower in that bathtub afterwards. The water will get cold overnight, and that coldness will transfer into the floor below the bathtub. When you stand in the bathtub your feet will be uncomfortably cold, and even warm water will cause huge amounts of steam to cloud up the bathroom.

Today's Julie's birthday ... happy birthday Julie

We just got done cleaning up a bit. She's making a turkey and some pasta (her decision, not mine) and we've got family coming over. It's been a busy morning. Not looking forward to the snow this afternoon, but you can't stop the weather.

In other news, we have found a creative and somewhat disturbing way to defrost a 22-pound frozen turkey. Not going into details because we haven't eaten it yet

2009 has arrived. Hopefully it'll be easier than 2008 ... could do without flooding, power outages, and so on.

Julie and I have not made New Year's Resolutions. We figure that they're frequently broken and, therefore, worthless. However, we've set some goals. We want to get in better shape so we can go biking again in the summer. The main problem is maintaining motivation, and this appears to be the problem with a lot of people. The motivation may exist at the beginning of the year, but it falls off later on down the line. If either Julie or I were to undertake the plans we had discussed on the way home yesterday, we'd probably stop doing these things because the motivation just wouldn't be there; we're going to work together to reach our goal. It's going to take a lot more than just motivation, obviously, but we'll see how it works out.

Julie commented that our house is a lot warmer than it used to be when we got home from her mom's yesterday. The funny thing is that the thermostat was set on the exact same setting as before -- it's just running the standard weekday program -- so it looks like our new windows are doing their job quite well

Despite the fall in gas prices, I am still not experiencing any buyer's remorse. It's been 10 months since I traded in the RAV4 for a Civic Hybrid, and buying gas half as often as I used to still feels just as nice. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the brake feel, though, as I still haven't gotten used to it. It's the regenerative braking that makes it feel strange.

So ... first post of the year, and I didn't wait until February to make it Julie's birthday is coming up on the 17th, and The Melting Pot in Villa Park is closed (they're moving to Zed 451's former location in Downers Grove) so I guess that's out of the question.

Korean barbecue is the laziest form of cuisine in the world. You're given a plate full of raw meat, and a table with a grill in the middle, and told to go to town.

Freaking delicious.

It wasn't my first time going to this type of place, but because I went there last night it's fresh in my mind. We had a reasonably big group (8 people) and it seemed like everyone had a good time.

If you're looking for a good Korean barbecue place in the northwest Chicago suburbs, visit BBQ Hut in Hoffman Estates. It's on the corner of Golf & Roselle, in the strip mall behind the Denny's. If you have a Korean friend who doesn't mind being asked what things are every 30 seconds, bring 'em along ... you don't need to be Korean to order there, but it's good to have someone with you who can tell you what all the side dishes are.

Remember: red means spicy!

I don't use the word "defenestration" often. There aren't that many occasions that warrant the use of the word. Nevertheless, it's a great word that should be used more often.

I have come to the conclusion that the Dell Latitude D830 is deserving of such a fate. I've had less trouble with ECS and Biostar motherboards ... I don't believe I've ever posted on this site about my troubles with those brands, but if I'm having more trouble with D830s than ECS K7SEMs, you know it's bad. I'm not sure if it's the laptop hardware itself, or the crappy drivers provided by Dell, but long-term stability was obviously not job #1 with these things. They'd serve their purpose just as well after being thrown out the 5th floor window.

Perhaps I should wait until the 8th floor move before I start chucking stuff, though.