Inside The Perimeter

I guess this is my perfect season for sleeping because I am doing a lot of it these days. I’m doing so much sleeping that I have little time for anything else, like blogging.

Ride Of Si
When I’ve previously ridden the Ride of Silence the ride went down Charles Allen, turned right on Ponce de Leon, right again on Peachtree, and wound its way back to Piedmont Park. When last night’s ride went over Ponce de Leon, through some of that sketchy area between Ponce and the capitol, continued heading south over Freedom Parkway, the hashers decided to break off and shortcut back to George’s (well, three of us went to George’s and the fourth went to the Highlander [want to venture a guess as to who this was?]).

I spent a couple of hours having a couple of beers and a burger with fries at George’s before heading home and nodding off.

Tonight? Farmers Market And Perhaps A Show
My initial plans for tonight are to hit the East Atlanta Farmers Market, and if I’m feeling sprite will be seeing my first show at “The Basement” at Graveyard Tavern in East Atlanta. The band Sleeper Agent is playing there tonight and I’m hoping to check out there show.

Okay, time for me to get things done…

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

With May coming to a close (well, quickly anyway) I’ve come to realize that this blog has been suffering for a long time. I am ill-prepared to blog again today, late, with little time and content.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Boost your energy and pledge to replace an alcoholic or sugary drink with water or sparkling water.

Of course, an occasional drink may not be all bad. But alcohol can lead to dehydration – which can cause headaches and sap energy – and make you feel tired the next day. Sugar-sweetened beverages can cause a big post-sugar crash that can stand in the way of your get-up-and-go. Making a one-time switch to water lets you evaluate how your energy level is affected – and may encourage you to switch more often!

I kind of did this by drinking Yeungling last night.

Took Me Out To The Ball Game
Our outing started out badly with misfirings about when and where to meet my coworkers to head to the Braves game. I wound up getting on a train before they did, and wound up getting off at Medical Center and waiting for them to arrive.

While waiting I watched the curiosity of nature as a squirrel dug around for nuts while being no more than one foot from an apple core. The squirrel finally “discovered” the apple core and I watched with amusement as it attempted to walk with it in its mouth, only to have to stop and eat some of the apple prior to moving to the trees.

Except for two things, maybe three things, the Braves game was fun.

1. The wrong team (the Braves) won, and handily.
2. I discovered that Taco Mac is now a vendor, with many taps, at Turner Field when I was leaving the game (which is why I forced myself to drink Yeungling).
3. Beautiful women were abundant, unfortunately none were my companion.

To be a part of my group I rode Marta from Perimeter Mall to the game and back even though it would have made more sense for me to drive to Turner Field so that I could make the short drive home from there instead of riding the train all the way back to Perimeter Mall.

ITP Flickr Pic
I should have taken a photo at the game last night. But I didn’t.

“Silence” Will Consist Of Huffing And Puffing
I’m also ill-prepared to ride my mountain bike tonight. I’m packed (another reason I had to go home last night instead of spending the night in the Perimeter Mall area) but in fair physical shape.

My plan for the evening is to drive my mountain bike down to Virginia-Highland, ride to Piedmont Park, do the Ride of Silence, ride back to George’s, and then head home. Whew, even just typing that has worn me out.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – Fair. I’d like for my mouth to stop hurting.
Current Music – listening to this week’s “MacBreak Weekly” podcast
Website Of The Day – Georgia Locations for Ride of Silence. Looking forward to seeing some of you there — for my first ride of 2012!
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – not checking again

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 10.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 3
Carnivorous Days – 12
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore

May Goals
- Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
- Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
- Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
- Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
- Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
- Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
- Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
- Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
- Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Run in no fewer than one one 10K
- Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
- Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
- Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
- Eat smaller portions
- Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
- Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
- See more live concerts than I did in 2011
- Eat more pancakes
- Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

And 100% more useless intro!

(I forgot both of these with the today’s first publishing).

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Pick a theme song to provide the soundtrack for your day.

Anything that helps you feel more in control is bound to help as you make your way through the day. It’s easier to face the challenges of a tough boss or huge load of laundry when James Brown’s got your back! And if you sing your theme song, it can even help to improve your mood, because singing releases feel-good hormones called endorphins.

Perhaps I should have picked a James Brown song instead of Radiohead’s “Just (Do It To Yourself).” Lesson learned.

Lavenderia y Mexican
I did laundry last night because it was the only non-committed night I have until Sunday.

While at the lavanderia I started to re-listen to Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone because I realized that I had no retention of the four hours’ worth that I listened to on my drive to Black Mountain last Friday. Bummer. I probably listened to ninety minutes’ worth last night and recalled just how statistics-dense the book is, which is probably one reason I didn’t absorb much of the content.

Following my task I decided that I wanted a sit-down Mexican meal which included complementary chips and salsa (like I don’t get enough of this with the many times I go to Chuy’s…). Being that I did laundry on Buford Highway I figured that I should be able to satisfy my desire.

I wound up at El Potro, a Mexican restaurant on Buford Highway that I’ve been to on a handful of occasions. El Potro is located near the corner of Buford Highway and whatever that access road is that takes you from Buford Highway to REI (Briarwood? I’m going from memory here folks). I had a burrito and enchilada combo plate for dinner and sucked down a Coke and a half with my meal. It’s not exactly what the doctor ordered, but it did the trick for me.

Had I been able to complete my laundry and meal sooner I would have popped into REI and sought out a raincoat with the 20% off coupon sent to me in the mail this past weekend, and the whopping $10 dividend that I have currently.

ITP Flickr Pic
I actually did take a photo this past weekend. I had just forgotten that I had.

This was the monitor which greeted me as I entered the Georgia Vistors’ Information Center on I-85 South on Sunday. Seeing a BIOS screen made me shudder as I recalled the pain of my Windows days.

Spend It Like I Have It
Big Spender Paulie dropped $3.98 in the Apple App Store yesterday. Where my gold diggers at?!?!

$2.99 of that total went to buying 5by5 Radio because I want to support 5by5 since I listen to so many of their podcasts for free.

The other $0.99 when to buying Where’s My Water? so that I’ll know how to play the game the next time I’m around Team Raleigh’s oldest (and so I can school him!).

The latter game has once again convinced me that Apple has too many services which require logins. The iTunes Store, iCloud (which potentially required a different login than MobileMe), Find My iPhone/iPad/Mac, and now GameCenter. I bet there is an easy way to tie these all to the same login — unless you are an old-school iTunes user like me whose iTunes Store ID is not an email address and fears that conversion to an email-address-based account will forfeit all previous purchases. So with each new service I create a new account, and in the case of GameCenter I think I have accidentally created two new accounts. Dangen!

I’m Calling Shenanigans On RoundUp
Last Thursday I sprayed an entire jumbo-sized bottle of RoundUp on the ivy around my house. “See results in just 24 hours!” it said on the bottle. It’s now four days later and I’m seeing results — the shit isn’t killing anything; that’s the result I am seeing. I think that I wasted $17 and an hour of my life attempting to kill the ivy growing around the house by spraying weed “killer.” On Sunday I will have to suit-up head-to-toe and go out with the pruning shears to see what I can do about killing the ivy which climbs the trees “the manual way.”

Take Me Out To The Ball Game
I should be going to the monthly meet up of the Atlanta iOS Developers tonight, but instead I’m supposed to be going to tonight’s Reds v. Braves game with coworkers. I’m hoping that the 30% chance of rain that has been forecast is incorrect.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh. I’m trying to forget about a new pain in hopes that it’s just a passing ship in the night. We’ll see…
Current Music – silence because I’m not in the mood to have anything being pumped into my ears at the moment.
Website Of The Day – I’ve loved Aida Mollenkamp since I first saw her on Food Network’s “Ask Aida.” Now I love reading her food blog.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – don’t know

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 10.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 3
Carnivorous Days – 11
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore

May Goals
- Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
- Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
- Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
- Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
- Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
- Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
- Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
- Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
- Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Run in no fewer than one one 10K
- Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
- Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
- Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
- Eat smaller portions
- Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
- Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
- See more live concerts than I did in 2011
- Eat more pancakes
- Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Since I am not the knight in shining armor for any woman my day was fairly simple yesterday. I knew that my Mother’s Day card had arrived at my mother’s house on Thursday of last week so that base was covered — all I needed to do was to call her yesterday. After a weekend away I fell asleep super early (8:30pm?) and was surprised to be awakened by the sound of the phone. Even more surprising it was my mother calling me. “I’m supposed to be calling you” I told her, but she was at bingo and made the assumption that the call she had just missed was me calling her (I did not lie and told her that it wasn’t) but I did wish her a Happy Mother’s Day while I had the opportunity.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Broaden your horizons and read about a part of the world that interests you.

Our brains are designed for learning from the moment we’re born. Whether it’s about where reindeer like to graze in Sweden or the star players of Sierra Leone’s soccer team, there is always more to know about the world around us! Learning new things makes you a better conversationalist – and it keeps your brain in good shape, too.

ITP Flickr Pic
Oops, the camera never left the trunk.

A Weekend Away, No Pancakes Eaten
My goal was to hit the road early and stop for pancakes along the way up to Black Mountain, NC. I passed several Cracker Barrels as well as several more Waffle Houses, but I never saw a sign for an IHOP or any diners along the way. By the time I new it noon had arrived and I was near Black Mountain, so I gave up on my pancake hunt.

Except for the rain that arrived early Sunday morning the weekend at LEAF was a lot of fun. Packing up one’s camping gear with even a light rain sucks. I made the drive home in spitting rain and promptly set up my tent in the basement and turned a box fan on the flattened rain fly.

Highlight of the weekend (other than hanging out with friends): Ziplining into the lake.
Lowlight of the weekend (other than the rain): I hurt my knee running — nothing serious, but painful nonetheless

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – tired, hurt, fat, concerned
Current Music – listening to last week’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” podcast
Website Of The Day – I have a feeling that I will be using Calm a lot in the near future.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – I should have weighed in this morning, but I really didn’t want to know.

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 10.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 3
Carnivorous Days – 10
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore

May Goals
- Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
- Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
- Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
- Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
- Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
- Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
- Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
- Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
- Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Run in no fewer than one one 10K
- Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
- Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
- Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
- Eat smaller portions
- Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
- Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
- See more live concerts than I did in 2011
- Eat more pancakes
- Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Because I am!

While I am not heading to Black Mountain, NC until tomorrow (weather forecast for Friday and Saturday looks great; I’m hoping Sunday’s rain holds off until tents can be packed) I’ve decided to take today off from work as well. I’m not even going to attempt to write code from home today!!!

Instead I plan on lounging around (I’m accomplishing this as I type), head up to Lowe’s to buy some weed/ivy killer and some Damp-Rid. Swing by Best Buy to see about obtaining an FM transmitter so that I need not have a earplug jammed into my ear for the entire drive tomorrow while I listen to an audiobook, and then over to Target to get some necessities for the trip. If you guessed that I’ll accomplish all of this at Edgewood Retail District you would be correct. Hell, I can’t get a Caribou Coffee there any longer (it closed last week) but I could also get lunch, though I’m seriously considering showing some love to East Atlanta Village today.

Yesterday Today’s Daily Challenge
Hold on to a table or chair, extend your arm to the side, and raise and lower your heels ten times.

This stretch is based on one that ballet dancers do at the barre, a horizontal bar that’s used for support during exercise. Although ballet dancers get fit through intense dance workouts, much of their strength is developed by doing this type of daily exercise at the barre. This exercise provides a great workout for muscles, including the oh-so-important heart. It also helps to increase coordination and stability.

Farmers Market Yes, Farmers Market Purchasing Probably Not
Since I’m hitting the road early tomorrow morning it doesn’t make much sense to buy perishables at the farmers market tonight. I will be heading up to the farmers market (maybe I’ll get a King of Pops) to see which vendors are there, see what vegetables are coming into season, and spend a little time with friends like ITP-Reader Betsy.

There May Be No Blog Tomorrow
I’m hoping to skip town early enough to miss most of Friday’s rush hour traffic. I also hope to find a restaurant along my travels which will serve me up a stack of pancakes and some coffee as well. This will likely mean that there shall be no blog tomorrow, and if this turns out to be true have a great weekend every one.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, looking forward to getting away
Current Music – listening to a recent Mac Geek Gab podcast
Website Of The Day – It requires Flash (hence the Chrome browser for me) but Incredibox is a pretty fun website.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, 2.5 miles
Morning Weigh-In – 210.8 pounds yesterday. Meh.

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 10.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 9
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore

May Goals
- Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
- Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
- Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
- Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
- Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
- Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
- Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
- Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
- Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Run in no fewer than one one 10K
- Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
- Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
- Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
- Eat smaller portions
- Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
- Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
- See more live concerts than I did in 2011
- Eat more pancakes
- Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Never mind shutting it off. And that’s why I am late this morning. And because of that I’m just going to have time knocking out a short blog.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Learn about signs and symptoms of depression.

Although we typically pay close attention to the health of organs like the heart and skin, misconceptions about mental health mean that we may not give the brain the attention it deserves. Depression is a very common and treatable illness that affects millions of people each year – and it has its own signs and symptoms, just as heart disease and skin cancer do. By learning what depression looks like, you will have the tools to potentially recognize it in others or yourself.

See also: Inside The Perimeter

Nuggets
- I’m still bummed about yesterday’s corporate decision, but am going to right my own personal ship today.
- I should have been on “The Price is Right”, or at least played the lottery yesterday. The Jackmobile’s repairs, taxes included, $330. Did I not mention $300 in yesterday’s blog? I know, still far cheaper than a car loan…
- I had my version of a “celebrity sighting” last night. While driving past The Shed in Glenwood Park I saw former Top Chef cheftestant Kevin Gillespie entering.
- I had a good night and was pleased to be able to help a friend out.
- Lavanderia night went well, except I forgot to change into the pair of shorts that I had brought with me so that I could be cooler inside the lavanderia, as well as wash the pair of jeans that I had worn to work yesterday.
- I packed clothes and sneakers for a walk later — weather permitting.
- As I pulled out of my driveway this morning I realized that I really need to tackle the English ivy (and probably some poison ivy) that is attacking the trees in my front yard. Damn, I hate house and yard maintenance.
- As I pulled into work this morning I finished up another audio book — “Here Comes Trouble” by Michael Moore.
- Me, my clothes, and the Jackmobile are ready to skip town on Friday. I’m so looking forward to a weekend away, hanging with the Team Raleigh at LEAF.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – In my dream world I live in a space featured in Dwell magazine.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – I might weigh in today

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 8.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 7
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore

May Goals
- Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
- Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
- Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
- Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
- Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
- Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
- Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
- Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
- Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Run in no fewer than one one 10K
- Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
- Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
- Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
- Eat smaller portions
- Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
- Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
- See more live concerts than I did in 2011
- Eat more pancakes
- Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Just a quickie today. Even though today marks “the last day to get changes in prior to this week’s trade show” it doesn’t mean that I get to rest. To make my life even more hectic I am dropping the Jackmobile off at Lam’s to get the once-over so I can have some semblance of confidence taking it up to Black Mountain, NC at the end of the week. There shouldn’t be any cause for concern (though I’m starting to wonder about my brake rotors) but this being the Jackmobile, as well as my life, I’ll guess today’s trip is going to cost me around $300 (gee, I hope none of the guys at Lam’s read this…)

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Take a one-minute imaginary bike ride.

This exercise spins two kinds of physical activity into your day! The muscles in your abdomen and legs get a workout as you pedal, and the effort you expend makes your heart beat faster. All without the trouble of finding the key to your bicycle lock or worrying about a flat tire.

Screw that, I need to remember how to take a real bike ride.

My Return To RPS
I’d been a few months (three to be exact) since I headed up to Roswell after work to join my buddies at the Roswell Photographic Society. For our pre-meeting meal last night we tried a new burger joint called Stax Burger Bistro. The place, which is tucked in a small shopping center at the corner of Holcomb Bridge and Grimes Bridge, is hard to see from the road.

Stax follows the tried-and-true-and-reinvented formula for burger joints — you buy a highly-priced burger and a moderately-highly-priced side for your meal. I ordered the “blue” burger (I think you can guess what’s on that, right?) and a side order of sweet potato fries. With my beer (which was a Fat Tire, reasonably priced at $3.50 for a pint) my meal came to about $12.50, and once you throw in a tip…. yeah, kinda expensive.

If you are into trying the latest burger joint around head to Stax, but do it quickly. We were earlybirds on a Monday night and had the place to ourselves until a foursome arrived near the end of our meal. With its difficult to find location (and no signage yet on Holcomb Bridge), a product which can be found anywhere, and a price which doesn’t make you go far out of your way to get it, I fear that Stax might not stack up for long.

The meeting itself was the same as it ever was. Last night’s presenter discussed sports photography and covered the basics, most of which I already know.

Do They Know It’s Mother’s Day Time At All?
On my drive home from Roswell last night I tuned into the Braves’ game. Radio broadcasts of baseball, imho, have way too many commercials. With the rising costs of everything each team has bartered hundreds of deals, shoving commercials in between batters and pitchers, having every nuance of the game “sponsored”, whatever. However during the game I heard something remarkable. Last night there was a Home Depot commercial talking about how dad would just love a Home Depot gift card for Father’s Day this Sunday.

What?

I know that I’ve had my head up my corporate ass for the past few months, but really? This is May, correct? And isn’t the parental celebration which occurs in May Mother’s Day? Yeah, I thought so. I guess “mom” can’t appreciate Home Depot, or getting a gift card from Home Depot. But then again what do I know, I’m no Mad Man.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, way fat, need to start portion controls and exercising again
Current Music – the sound of a box fan whirring at high speed as I try to draw in the cool morning air
Website Of The Day – I have probably mentioned Evernote in this space before. Regardless, they may one of the tools that I am using / going to use again to organize my life. They are also a fast-growing company, just acquiring a company called Cocoa Box, makers of the handwriting recognition iOS editor “Penultimate.” Very interesting…
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – tomorrow? Maybe

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 7.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 7
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine

May Goals
- Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
- Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
- Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
- Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
- Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
- Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
- Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
- Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
- Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Run in no fewer than one one 10K
- Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
- Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
- Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
- Eat smaller portions
- Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
- Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
- See more live concerts than I did in 2011
- Eat more pancakes
- Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I hadn’t intended to play recluse this weekend, but that’s what happened. On Friday night I walked with my boss after work and then headed to Taco Mac. We actually attempted to head to Chuy’s after our walk but it was so crowded that we decided to go to Taco Mac. Here’s the crazy thing, I didn’t have any beer while I was at Taco Mac.

On Saturday I woke at a reasonable time but never really got into gear. The original plan was to head to Midway Pub (something about a football game being shown there) to celebrate ITP-Reader Terri’s birthday and hopefully meet up with ITP-Reader Betsy there. I had planned to ride Betsy’s coattails to May Avenue for their May on May block party since Betsy is friends with people who live on that block. I started working on some code and before I knew it noon had arrived and I had yet to shower. That’s when the recluse in my emerged. I continued working on code, listening to podcasts, and catching up with my brother and mother on the phone. In the end I never left the house.

On Sunday I started it all over again, but around 9:30am I headed outside to do some yard work — branch trimming, ivy pulling, “lawn” mowing. By the time I was done the heat was starting to arrive and I was dirty and hungry. I returned inside, showered, and then proceded to take a nap. By Sunday afternoon I had decided that I wasn’t going to make it out to the “Stinko de Mayo” hash so instead I started watching lectures from the Stanford iOS Development class, as well as catching up with Modern Family and The Office. As 8pm and the Amazing Race finale was due to start I got comfortable on the couch as well as with the idea that I had not spoken to any one in person since Friday evening. Weird. Yes, I am weird.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Part with a piece of clothing that always makes you feel uncomfortable or unattractive.

Obviously, it’s the inside that counts! However, what we choose to put on each day can affect our mood and how we feel about ourselves. If you wear something that doesn’t fit correctly anymore, isn’t comfortable, or just isn’t “you,” it’s bound to make you feel less at ease. When you’re wearing something that’s flattering and makes you happy, it can help boost your confidence.

I have a lot of things which could help me successfully achieve this challenge.

It’s Going To Be A Long, Hot Summer For This Disgruntled Homeowner
This weekend required air conditioning in the ITP Estate. Unfortunately air conditioning is yet another thing with my house which is lacking. The air conditioner ran and ran, doing its best, but in the end it can’t compete against the heat. Apparently the system I had installed a few years ago is still not sufficient to cool the house down quickly — not that all of the air leaks help either.

It’s a good thing I prefer warmth to cold, but it is yet another reason I need to move.

I’m Not Sure How It’s Pronounced in Italian, But In English It’s “FAIL”
Even though I get NBC Universal over the air and on Dish Network I decided that I was going to pay the $20 to NBC for their online access to their coverage of the Giro d’Italia. But then I discovered that they require Flash to watch their video, no problem I’ll use Chrome. Then I found out that the sign in process using Chrome inexplicably didn’t work. Nothing I did, including turning off ad blocking, worked so I decided to save my money. I’ll have to figure out a solution before the start of le Tour de France.

Printing Like A Pro, Well, Sort Of
On Sunday I finally got around to setting up the printer I purchased. You may remember that I bought a Brother HL-2770DW about a month ago; this printer is network-capable either wired/wirelessly and I had made sure that it was Mac compatible.

Given that I the printer is network-capable I figured that it would be easy to configure without having to install software — wrong. Even worse, the CD shipped with printer did not contain software for Mac OS X 10.7. So I had to download drivers and installation software from Brother’s website, which oddly required me to connect my laptop to the printer via USB in order to configure the software. Even after getting the software installed I had to jump through a couple of more hoops in order to print. It seems as if printing from a personal computer should be nearly seamless by now.

I successfully configured the mac which I can’t easily move, but I decided to call it quits without trying to print from my iPad.

RealiTV Update: Another Amazing Race Is In The Books
SPOILER ALERT
I’m not sure how I came to dislike Rachel and Dave so much, but over time I really had. It’s not because they won so many legs, I can respect that, it had something to do with the way they interacted with one another.

There is no way that I would be able to hoist myself up a forty-five story building and then repel face-first. No way at all. The lure of $500,000 (before excessive taxation of course) would help.

In the end I could not believe that Rachel and Dave somehow missed the final roadblock, and I would have loved to see them fail to win The Amazing Race because of it. However, once again Rachel and Dave proved to be the best team and won it all.

I had no problem taking a little joy watching Team Big Brother mistakenly read the clue and all-but take themselves out of the game.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, though not great
Current Music – I have the Giro on my tv at work
Website Of The Day – Have you heard of Google Art Project? You can virtually tour some of the world’s are museums from your browser.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Friday = walking, 3.5 miles
Morning Weigh-In – may weigh in on Wednesday even though I know that I won’t be pleased

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 7.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 6
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine

May Goals
- Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
- Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
- Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
- Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
- Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
- Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
- Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
- Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
- Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Run in no fewer than one one 10K
- Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
- Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
- Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
- Eat smaller portions
- Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
- Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
- See more live concerts than I did in 2011
- Eat more pancakes
- Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Hmm, last night’s Tweetup sure was fun but I am paying dearly for it today. I slept poorly again and I’m still worn out. I need a vacation, or at least a vacation from alcohol. The body bounces but it doesn’t bounce back the way it used to.

When I finally rolled out of bed I had to fight traffic in order to get to QT to buy gas for the Jackmobile. With the gas I bought some orange juice, which I am hoping will kick me in the right direction.

Have a great weekend all.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Somehow I wound up being the last one to leave Bike Maintenance Night last night — at 11:15pm. I successfully drank four sixteen-ounce beers (which made for another fitful night of sleep), ate one barbecue sandwich, an a half of a s’mores brownie, and unsuccessfully tried to convince two women that I am dating material (which made for another disappointing night of non-sleep).

I’ve overslept again and I’m going to be “late” to the office. Whoops.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Choose a new fruit or vegetable that you can pick up the next time you’re at the supermarket.

People typically stick to what they know when shopping, and that’s OK. But by finding something ahead of time and committing to trying it, you’ll expose yourself to new flavors, textures, and tastes – and you may end up making your new fruit or vegetable part of your regular rotation! Your new, exciting piece of produce may also contain vitamins and minerals that you don’t normally get, either. Whatever catches your eye on the list – from persimmons to purple peppers – don’t be afraid to give it a try.

This would be easy if I were heading to the East Atlanta Farmers Market tonight, but I’m not.

The Problem With Password Changes
Last week I received an email from Yahoo! telling me that a password change request had been made. Problem was that I didn’t make it. Naturally skeptical I decided to change my Yahoo! password to something much harder to guess, just in case someone was trying to gain access to my account.

While changing passwords is an occasional necessary evil, it doth sucketh. My Yahoo! password is for Yahoo! mail. And because Yahoo! bought Flickr and required everyone to use their Yahoo! login for Flickr, it also is for that service. And now that I’ve changed this password none of the third-parties to whom I’ve legitimately given access to my Flickr account via Flickr’s API can get to my photos. So each morning as I lie here in bed and glance over at my Chumby I see a message “Flickr API Unavailable” instead of my photos — at least until I can remember how to configure that app with my new Yahoo! password.

And I just noticed that the small Flickr photo viewer in the right-hand galley doesn’t seem to work any longer — though that might also be because I no longer have Flash on my computers.

Whatta pain in the ass.

Tweetup At The Marlay House
Instead of a farmers market evening (which I will resume again next week) I’ll be heading to Decatur for a one-time Tweetup reunion at The Marlay House. When Twitter was first gaining popularity my friend Maigh started organizing monthly meet ups (Tweetups) at local bars.

Unfortunately Maigh’s life became too busy and when the responsibility of organizing the Tweetups was passed to someone else, the Tweetups were never the same. Shortly thereafter I stopped attending as well.

Tonight I’ll make attempts to curb my alcoholic intake so that I don’t wind up in the same condition in which I find myself today.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – low
Current Music – listening to this week’s “The Talk Show” podcast
Website Of The Day – Did you know that Atlanta now has a permanent Food Truck Park? I’m thinking about checking things out this weekend.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – I’ll weigh in again next week

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 2
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine

May Goals
- Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
- Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
- Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
- Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
- Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
- Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
- Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
- Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
- Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Run in no fewer than one one 10K
- Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
- Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
- Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
- Eat smaller portions
- Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
- Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
- See more live concerts than I did in 2011
- Eat more pancakes
- Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]