Inside The Perimeter

One more work day for me this week……

Yesterday was another of the mundane days that occur around the ITP Estate these days. I managed to put in 45 minutes on the trainer yesterday afternoon, and cooked up a tasty and intriguing pot of “BBQ Lentils” in my Instant Pot. I essentially followed a recipe (for which I have no link?) and made some substitutions and additions as I deemed fit. I cooked up some vegetarian hot dogs and had fancy-pants “Franks and Beans” for dinner.

Betsy and I did a long-distance Virtual Top Chef last night. Yesterday I upgraded my Disney+ subscription to include Hulu and ESPN+, so I was able to watch along with Betsy and experience the commercial breaks she has; I was previously watching commercial-free downloads of iTunes purchases.

I need to figure out how stream ESPN+ because I understand that they will be showing Bundesliga games starting next season. Speaking of Bundesliga, my beloved Werder Bremen has a chance to stave off relegation; they play the first of two Relegation Playoff games today. Unfortunately I can’t watch the game because Fox has already discontinued their soccer service.

There may be four days of hashing starting today. I’ll have to see how my body holds up as I’m battling some nagging injuries and spots of poison ivy.

I was hoping to pull some English ivy this morning, but it is huuuumid out there today and that is no bueno.

It’s now 7:00am, my morning chores have been completed so I suppose I should commute to my home office and start my work day.

Stay healthy friends. Yes Dear Reader, I expect that there will be a blog post tomorrow.

Okay, it felt a bit weird typing a 7 for the month. If not for Tasty China night, June would have been my first (ever?) vegetarian month. I do not regret eating meat that night.

COVID-19 finally claimed someone I knew personally, a former coworker who lived in Denver.

Yesterday was a fairly mundane day for me otherwise, laundry, work, masked haircut, and wasting time. “XYZ Corp” had an All Team Zoom meeting yesterday, as of now I am still employed, and for the foreseeable future will be able to work from home.

I was not stunned, but perhaps disappointed, to see so many people inside LA Fitness working out, unmasked of course. Had I planned better I would have gone inside, masked, and finally canceled my membership since I will not have the comfort to work out and shower amongst others for a long while.

I awoke to the thought of filling yard bags with pulled English ivy. Alas, apathy set in quickly thereafter when I saw the humidity outside. There is always tomorrow, and Friday. I miss the days when I awoke to thoughts of early morning bike riding this time of year, but the humidity would mean that less fun as well.

I accomplished about 69% (11 out of 16) of my June chores, and have rolled the other 31% into July. Some of the unfinished chores would take me less than an hour to perform, but somehow I never made time to do them.

June Summary

06/01 – ?, V, walking (3.58 mi, 69:22) 🙂
06/02 – 206.4, V, trainer (50:00) 🙂
06/03 – ?, V, yard work 🙂, walking (1.54 mi, 30:24) 😐
06/04 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 🙂
06/05 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 🙂
06/06 – ?, V, cycling (26.91 mi, 184:00) 😁🍺🙄
06/07 – ?, V, hiking (5.32 mi, 143:00) 😅
06/08 – ?, V, nothing, rest day 😕
06/09 – 203.8, V, walking (2.1 mi, 42:43) 🙂
06/10 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😕
06/11 – ?, V, yard work 😅, trainer (50:00) 🙂
06/12 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😕
06/13 – ?, V, yard work (180:00) 😅, walking (1.53 mi, 31:16) 🙂
06/14 – ?, V, hiking (3.91 mi, 96:09) 🙂
06/15 – ?, V, (7.61 mi, 118:43) 😅
06/16 – 201.6, V, nothing 🤨
06/17 – ?, V, yard work. (150:00) 😅
06/18 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😀
06/19 – ?, M, cycling (33.34 mi, 175:09)
06/20 – ?, V, cycling (11.27 mi, 71:21) 😕
06/21 – ?, V, hashing (5.88 mi, 130:00) 🙂
06/22 – ?, V, nothing 😢
06/23 – 199.8, V, trainer (50:00) 😅
06/24 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😀
06/25 – ?, V, yard work (~120:00) 😅
06/26 – ?, V, yard work (~120:00) 😅, walk (1.98 mi, 38:38) 🙂
06/27 – ?, V, cycling (23.03 mi, 179:13) 😀
06/28 – ?, V, walking (4.98 mi, 196:01) 😀
06/29 – ?, V, yard work (a lot) 😅
06/30 – 197.0, V, nothing 😢

Shame on me for ending the month on a low, but I had other things to do, like wasting time!

Oh yes, that’s right!
Originally this blog post was to be written at 5:00am as I was awake then, but alas the AT&T internet tube was clogged and I could neither transmit nor receive data. Pity there isn’t a better option than what I am tied to currently.

My HVAC installation was finally completed around 9:30pm. At that time the technician found a problem with the work, and also updated the firmware on the new thermostat. I thanked him for getting me set up, especially given the hour of the day. I will have to spend some time with the system this week, including trying to figure out how to get the thermostat screen to shut off since I don’t have a need for it to be constantly alit. I’ve also discovered that this system has a proprietary air filter — printers and ink cartridges anyone? 😒

If not for the ant bites yesterday’s multiple hours of yard work would have fantastic. Because I didn’t want to sit and code while the crew worked on the HVAC I chopped down a bush, mowed the front yard and weed whacked the curb, pulled some English ivy from the front of the house (ant bite land), and for a little closer to finishing the patio area. However, my workload has been increased by the discovery of a newly-dropped limb from my neighbor’s Sweetgum tree lying in my backyard. Ugh.

While waiting for the technician to arrive last night I may have rediscovered a lost appliance, my clothes dryer. Yesterday I moved a bunch of crap that sat in my basement for too long, vacuumed and swept around, behind and under the dryer, cleared the lint screen and exhaust tube (including the pipe that penetrates the wall to the outside), and the ran it for a few minutes to see what would happen; I think it still works!

Today I must dedicate all my time to the chore that allows my to afford the nice things in life, like beer. 😂

Today marks the end of the first six months of 2020. How has the first half of the year treated you? My first six months have been stressful, mostly due to things out of my control, otherwise not too bad.

Tuesday Tale of the Tape: 197.0 pounds (-2.8 from last week’s weigh-in); I think elves are coming in during the middle of the night and recalibrating my scale to make me feel better.

They say that one should live in “interesting” times, this weekend was “interesting”.

I didn’t do much on Friday. Mainly I kicked around the house doing minor tasks.

On Saturday morning I did a short walk with Betsy and her dog Bella before heading out on what would turn out to be a cycling adventure with Bonnie. The forecast I saw never mentioned a chance of rain greater than 5%, so I had already spent time washing and hanging clothes, and put an old nightstand on the curb in hopes that someone would claim it. I met up with Bonnie and the plan was to do a revised “reverse” BeltGrind, stopping midpoint to meet up with hashers at Fire Maker Brewing. All was well, we rode clockwise along the Beltline and navigated some dicey streets to get to Chattahoochee Industrial. She and I were early, so we stopped at Steady Hand Brewing for a half beer before Fire Maker. A lovely time was had consuming beers and seeing some hashing friends, and then Bonnie and I decided it was time to leave to finish our ride. The sky looked ominous, but I was hoping it would be all north and west of home. She and I pedaled as fast as we could, I missed our turn at 17th Street so we took 14th and went through the Georgia Tech campus (not realizing to how close to the day’s other major “interesting” event we were) and then the rain started. By the time we reached shelter at the Georgia Aquarium parking garage the skies had opened wide, blowing wind gusts and dumping water. After assessing the situation I determined our best course of action was to push on, after all we were already soaked to the bone. The ride via downtown took us through major waterways of street runoff, and we managed to make it to Bonnie’s garage and wait out the rain, which had mostly gone north of us by that point. Soaked, I finished the ride only to find out once at home that the City of Atlanta had (another) water main break (near the Georgia Tech campus) and that I would be under a cautionary “boil water” advisory until late last night). Needless to say, my laundry was not dry and my nightstand was threatened to never be adopted.

Yesterday was not nearly as hectic. Once again Bonnie and I joined forces, this time to do a five-mile walk starting at Medlock Park, and then rewarding ourselves with some beer at The Lost Druid, before returning to my house where I grilled up some veggie burgers and ate them with salad, all food provided by Bonnie.

And, while sitting in my carport we saw a car stop, back up, and tote away my nightstand! Woot!

I am hoping today goes smoothly. You may have noticed that I’ve not been whining about the heat, that’s because I have been keeping my pie hole shut until today, when I am scheduled to have a new HVAC (heating and cooling) installed. It’s far more money than I expected to spend, but I am looking at it as a necessary cost of home ownership that I will be paying off, interest free, over the next five years. And if I decide to sell the house at some point, making “recently updated HVAC” a feature…

How “interesting” was your weekend?

Hope you are staying well.

Good Friday morning. In my world it’s currently 05:30.

My original plan for the day, washing and hanging clothes before dawn, has already been scrapped due to the overcast forecast I have seen for today. On my To Do list is to see if my dryer still works after so many years of not being used. Yes, I know that I need to clean the tube that goes from dryer to outdoors, and to check the lint screen before turning it on.

Yesterday’s yard work was interrupted by whatever inset managed to get up the inside of my jeans and bite/sting me a few times. Stupid bugs. I will attempt to get back outside again today, working other parts of the yard, to keep making progress.

Today wraps up this year’s WWDC, and my last day of watching videos as part of my job. I really need to put my head down and start coding again soon.

With nothing on my agenda this afternoon I may make a trip to Goodwill to get some stuff out of my house, and then follow that up with a stop at Home Depot (look at me continuing to play home owner with another stop at a hardware store!).

No solid plans for the weekend yet, though I intend to find fun on both days.

Have yourself a fun and healthy weekend.

Late June.

Already?

Of course in some respects time has no consequence other when the sun rises and sets.

Well that sucks. I have just found out that with this latest “update” of WordPress I can no longer write my blog post using my iPhone because once the text goes under the virtual keyboard I cannot see it, nor can I scroll to the bottom. If the iPhone were some obscure device I’d understand why things aren’t tested on it, but IT’S THE FUCKING IPHONE!!! certainly someone developing WordPress has access to one.

Speaking of things not working well, my AT&T internet service continues to fail me this morning. I’ve considered switching to AT&T fiber, assuming it’s available on my street, but haven’t yet. Looks like I am going to have to put off downloading the 9.75 GB package for Xcode again.

You may recall that I was going to be working in the ARD his morning. I decided to put his chore off until afternoon due to the amount of rain we received overnight, combined with a fitful night of sleeping.

One thing that has appeared to gone well was the gutter cleaning yesterday. The rain that occurred shortly after the first rainfall proved that my gutters can do their job, they were just clogged, or in some places covered with tree debris. This was the first time I have been home when the company cleaned my gutters (it’s been some time since I called on them). I found it amazing how quickly they could get the job done with a leaf blower and a hose (I believe they used a hose). Were I not afraid of heights I’d do the job myself.

Hope you all are staying well.

With my two nearly-daily chores — dish washing, clothes washing and hanging — behind me, I’ve rewarded myself with breakfast. Since mentioning a couple of weeks ago that I had not hard-boiled eggs since Shelter In Place started I have done so twice now; both times using my Instant Pot. Delicious!

Though warm and humid I did manage 45 minutes on the trainer yesterday morning. Still trying to keep that weight under 200 pounds (at least on my scale).

I had to venture out into the world yesterday afternoon to pick up an online order at Target. Since I knew I’d have to go inside to retrieve my purchase, thus requiring the wearing of a mask, I also knocked out a trip to Lowe’s to buy some hardware store items and to think about future ITP Estate projects I will attempt to accomplish.

Upon returning home I hopped onto an impromptu Zoom Happy Hour with a few of my old German classmates, attempted to knock out a few minor chores, and then passed out on the bed.

For dinner last night I once again used the Instant Pot (shocker!) to make Instant Pot Green Lentils and Spinach Curry. Of course I am rarely satisfied with recipes as they are written, so I threw in chunks of tofu that I had roasted in my toaster oven.

I was hoping to pop out into the yard this morning for a couple of hours to keep knocking back the jungle, but alas I couldn’t motivate myself to do so. Unless it’s raining buckets at daybreak tomorrow expect to read that I was out there fighting the good fight.

Finally, I have been alerted that the gutter cleaners I have hired, a project I am no longer willing to attempt, will be arriving today between 2-4pm.

Hope you are remaining well friends.

Tuesday Tale of the Tape: 199.8 pounds (-1.8 from last week’s weigh-in). WHAAAAT?!?! I am never returning to office life!!! 🙄

Yes, I normally end the blog post with this information but c’mon, the scale read less than 200 pounds this morning!

Even better, I took yesterday as a rest day and did very little more than spend hours watching Apple announcements. Of course the biggest non-surprise surprise announcement Apple made yesterday is that they are moving away from Intel CPUs to those designed in house, temporarily called “Apple Silicon”. I guess I will defer a new laptop purchase for a while longer.

As time permits this week I will be watching some of the videos released that go in depth about the software changes to be expected later this year.

That’s all for now, I have to start doing the things I ignored yesterday.

Hope you are all doing well.

Hope you all had a good weekend; mine was nice and long, and filled with fun.

With the day off from work on Friday I joined Bonnie on a bike ride to Stone Mountain and back. We rewarded ourselves later with a trip to a new-to-us package store, My Friends’ Bottle Shop, and journey to the Garage Mahal for fun times and Tasty China consumption. I buckled and ate meat for the first time in June.

Saturday saw me catch up with Betsy during a morning walk, and then tool around on bikes with Bonnie. We finished early at my house and spent some time in the shade of my carport drinking beer and cooking up fake chicken patties.

Yesterday I attended Black Sheep, which started and ended no more than two miles from the ITP Estate! Woot! Trail was decent, not without some questionable decisions, but was a good time overall. Naturally Glory Mole and I were virtually DFLs.

Today is the Super Bowl of Apple Nerddom, WWDC Day! Normally today’s keynote event is jam-packed with journalists and conference attendees, obviously this year things will be a little different.

With some of my morning chores done it’s time for me to tackle others.

Hope you are staying healthy.

Cheers, all!

It’s Juneteenth, a day about which I had never heard as recently as two years ago. As of late yesterday I have the day off from work, so Happy Juneteenth!

Yesterday I managed to get in 45 minutes on the trainer, and a small bit of yard work.

With my laundry task done I’m taking in some pumpkin bread in preparation for a bike ride this morning. My bike ride will be the foundation on which I lean when I stuff my face with beer and Tasty China tonight at Barb’s when I pick up my mountain bike.

This weekend I hope to get more yard work done, have some fun tomorrow night, and go to Black Sheep on Sunday.

Hope you all have a fun weekend and stay healthy.