I liked an elliptical trainer I used at a hotel gym. At home I have a 2 station weight machine, free weights, step, bench, treadmill, exercise videos, a recumbent bike, and a Tony Little Gazelle. I hate the treadmill, it is boring and noisy, I have to blast my music to hear it well (I do have some hearing probs). I have to admit, I love the Gazelle! It is easy to use, gets your heart rate moving (as long as you move), and is silent! No noise! I can listen to music, watch TV, whatever, with no outside noise. I also like my step and videos, and my other videos. I have collected about 30 over the past 20 years (I get them when they are on sale) so I can pick whatever I am in the mood for! Some of my favorites are Kathy Smith and Leslie Sansone. I also like dance ones, and short videos with 10 to 20 minute workouts for days when I don't have much time but want to do a video. And one of the best training item I own? My staircase! I run up and down, simple and efficient, not to mention inexpensive! For weight training , I really like the free weight better than the machine, they are more versatile.

Like terriks, I also listen to NPR stuff that I missed. Also, many big public libraries have author events that you can listen to as podcasts. I listen to authors whose work I also like reading, like Michael Cunningham, Paul Auster, Mary Gordon, etc. Listening to the authors discuss their work is interesting for me. The Philadelphia Free Library has a good author series with easy to listen to podcasts but I think the New York Public library and the Los Angeles Library do the same thing.

I love the ones you mentioned and almost all from NPR. I recently discovered The Moth which is people telling stories of something that happened in their life. There was a great one recently about a mom who discovered a very inappropriate email sent to her daughter by a guy the daughter knew. It was kind of funny -- the mom's horror, then how to tell her daughter she had snooped in her email, then confronting the kid who sent it. It was told in a half-joking manner until the end when it was quite poignant. I recommend The Moth. The only thing I don't like about Fresh Air is how they have to promote all their sponsors before they get to the conversation. Here is a link that might be useful: The Moth

It looks great but I caution you against 6 skinny posts. Porch posts should not be closer together than the height of the posts. 5 posts would only work if you got rid of the useless front door. 4 posts would be good too but I would make them at least 6" square (not round). That even aligns better with the front door than what the designer drew which would be obvious if the designer hadn't moved the door over in the computer model. (I wouldn't be moving useless doors if I had a tight budget.) It also allows wider front steps. Front steps should always be wide and welcoming with room for a plant or two. If the center dormer is made wider perhaps the roof of it could continue down to the main roof forming a gable-front dormer. Not much more expensive (maybe less expensive) but possibly a lot more elegant.