Right off the bat today, I have to put in a plug for how awesome the LifeSpan customer service is for their treadmills. If you are in the market, I can heartily recommend the LifeSpan treadmills not only for the quality of the machines themselves, but for amazing customer support they provide. While moving around our treadmill today (I just installed a new hardwood floor and had to wrestle it into its new home), a structural piece that holds the left support rail fractured. I called, expecting to have to pay a chunk of change for a replacement part, but instead was happily told that the part was still covered under warranty and that the new part would arrive in five days. I have already received the shipping notice, and it is in transit. How awesome is that?

In other news, I began the twentieth season of Doctor Who this morning. Let's talk about that.

Arc of Infinity - Parts 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The season kicks off with two parallel plotlines that, as of the midway point, have not yet connected. The first is set in present day (1982) Earth, filmed on location in Amsterdam. A pair of English backpackers are visiting the city and decide to save some money by spending the night in a pump room right next door to a crypt. One of them, Colin Frazer, ultimately turns out to be Tegan's cousin. During the night what appears to be some kind of TARDIS materializes in the crypt, and when Colin goes to check it out he is entranced by a weird bird-thing. His friend searches for him, and even goes to the police, but is completely ignored. Later the friend meets Tegan at the airport and enlists her help trying to find the missing Colin. One presumes that this is the path by which Tegan will rejoin the Doctor and Nyssa, but by the midpoint of the story their paths have not yet crossed.

Meanwhile over in the main plot, the TARDIS is traveling near the titular Arc of Infinity -- a black hole so large and dense that it actually provides a curve to another dimension. An anti-matter creature emerges from the Arc and tries to bond with the Doctor, but fails. Promptly thereafter the Doctor is recalled to Gallifrey, where they have noted the emergence of the anti-matter creature. The council is extremely hostile to the Doctor, and in particular the security guard Commander Maxil is remarkably un-trusting of the Doctor. The very interesting thing about Commander Maxil is that he is played by Colin Baker, who will take over as the Sixth Doctor at the end of the next season.

The midpoint cliffhanger has the Doctor apparently put to death by the Gallifreyan council, so I guess that's it for the show. No real point in watching tomorrow since the Doctor is definitely dead.

This has been a pretty good one so far. I remembered that Colin Baker appeared in the story, but I had forgotten how prominent his character is. It's kind of fun watching him be all stern an grumpy, knowing what is coming down the road. The location filming in Amsterdam is also really nice. It was fairly rare for the show to go on location outside of the UK back then, so it's always cool to get a bit of scenery that isn't an English rock quarry.

I am looking forward to the big reveal tomorrow, where the Big Bad turns out to be...  Well, you'll have to check back tomorrow to find out.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fifth
Companion(s): Tegan, Nyssa
Episode(s): Arc of Infinity - Parts 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 7,422 today, 2,033,847 total
Distance Walked: 3.94 miles today, 1,038.87 miles total
Weight: 246.02 lbs (five day moving average), net change -61.28 lbs