Inside The Perimeter

You know how sometimes you are convinced you are doing the right thing, and then Life tells you otherwise? Such was the case last night. Feeling unprepared and overwhelmed I decided to skip German class. Instead, I was going to write code to help better my skills. Seemed plausible. When I got my laptop I saw there was an update available for macOS Catalina, so I kicked off the update process as I do every other time — mistake 1. With about a half hour or so to spare, given the update required a 2GB download, I decided to wash my dirty dishes — mistake 2. While washing the dishes a butter knife slipped out of my hand and broke one of my Monday Night beer glasses.

Dangen.

I returned to find the download complete and watched the Mac reboot itself. It was taking a scarily long time for the normal update process to show on the screen, so I touched a key and the Mac kernel panicked (no need to explain if you don’t understand, just know that this isn’t good). The Mac then rebooted again and showed an update screen I’ve never witnessed before, and after about thirty minutes seemed to be updated successfully. The only reason I didn’t completely shit my pants while all this was happening was because I knew (at least I hoped) that the full backup I performed yesterday morning would (should) save my ass. Back up your data, friends!

It’s funny how quickly I can change my plans. I awoke this morning at 4:45am and decided that this morning I’d be the first one at Lowe’s at 6:00am to buy some stuff for the house. My goal was to do a crossword in bed and then scarf down two hard boiled eggs before hitting the road. As I finished the eggs I rescheduled my day, deciding to stay at home instead so that I could start work early and get in 45 minutes on the trainer at lunch. Lowe’s will happen either tomorrow, or more likely Sunday, morning.

Now when am I going to do yard work again?

Hope you are remaining healthy and have a wonderful weekend.

It seems that there are just not enough waking hours in my day. Sure, my afternoon nap doesn’t help matters, but I assume it’s vital most days.

You’d think by waking no later than 5:45am as I did this morning would give me time to do everything on my list of chores, but you’d be wrong. This morning I once again relegated yard work to a lesser priority in order to wash a load of laundry (which due to today’s iffy weather forecast will require the use of the dryer later), make and eat breakfast (dirty dishes are still in the sink), and peck out this blog post. I am going to try to wedge in a trainer ride at lunch, and, hopefully will have enough time to study some German (which I should be doing daily in order to actually learn) before tonight’s class at 6:15pm. Oh, and I can’t forget that I also have a job.

See what I mean?

My one free pass yesterday was watching an old Top Chef “with” Betsy. We have not started the latest Top Chef All Stars season yet because we were amped to do so when it was going to start in mid-March, and well, I don’t have to explain what interrupted that plan. We’d put watching the latest season on hold “until this blows over”. Remember when the mental genius in the White House said this would all be gone by April?

Person
Woman
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Look at me! I’m a mental genius too! 😏

As I was pre-COVID Days, I am attempting to clean out my refrigerator, freezer, and pantry by eating as much from them before returning to the supermarket. Of course things in the world, and with my body, have changed since the beginning of March, so this chore is a little more difficult for me now.

Hope you all are well and staying so. Barb, continued good wishes to your family, hope things getting resolved soon.

6:45am. I have been awake for a little while, and have already consumed breakfast. Again the plan was to go out and work in the yard this morning, and again I have talked myself out of doing so. 😕

Yesterday I felt the need to get out of the house and did satisfied it by running a couple of errands; not all mind you, because that would have been sensible.

I decided to drive to IKEA to look at a few things, none of which I actually “need”. Normally IKEA is a bad idea because I hate the people who meander all over the store, this is amplified during these mask-wearing COVID Days. FFS PEOPLE PUT ON A MASK AND ENSURE THAT IT IS ALSO COVERING YOUR NOSE!!! The “shelves” of IKEA are currently fairly barren, as if it is week two of a going out of business month. I didn’t find much, so I was in and out as quickly as I could be.

My next stop was at Target. I was there to pick up three items, one of which was to be a new globe lightbulb for my bathroom fixture. Newsflash, you can no longer buy just one, and all globe bulbs in this Target were overpriced LEDs. While in Target I ordered a package of four LEDs globe bulbs from Amazon for half the price. I will either replace all of the bulbs at once, or have a mishmash of two incandescent and one LED.

I considered going to Lowe’s to see if I could get one incandescent globe bulb, as well as price a few other things for the yard/house, but by that time my need to be out of the house had expired.

Last night I finally started reading Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood”, a book which I borrowed from Betsy almost three years ago. I don’t read much. Oddly she’s never mentioned the book’s return. I should have been studying German at this time, but couldn’t be bothered.

Today I need to work (duh!), need to exercise (duh!), and need a major attitude adjustment for the better.

Hope you are healthy and happy.

Ack! Once again I have awakened early on a Tuesday morning and consumed breakfast before remembering that I need to do a weigh in.

Yesterday was a mishmash of doing work while trying to chip away at regathering my camping gear so that I can take it all back down to the basement. I kept an eye on the weather and was extremely happy to know that I had already pulled in my drying tent components and had put the tent up in the basement prior to the deluge that arrived around 3pm. My goal today is to finish putting all of my camping gear back in its long-storage space.

Even with the tent assembled in the basement there is enough space to keep the trainer set up. With it in place I was able to put in a good 45 minutes on the trainer yesterday.

I had two other “wins” last night. After letting it dry completely I took the camp stove outside and was delighted to see it function again. I was also able to get my tent string lights working again after reattaching the wires that I accidentally snapped (long story) on Saturday.

I am pecking this post out at 5:40am. At this time I am trying to determine if I am going to do some yard work before starting my work routine. The longer I sit here the less likely this chore is going to occur today. If I don’t get out in the yard I will attempt to restart my minimizing and organizing of the house.

Tuesday Tale of the Tape: 193.2 pounds (-2.0 from last week’s weigh-in); weight loss after a hash campout? Inconceivable!

Well, that certainly wasn’t the weekend for which I was hoping. Even though there was a very low percentage of rain predicted, it rained heavily each day. On Friday and Saturday the rain started at 7pm, because of this regularity I felt I had until around then to pack up yesterday when it became apparent that unpredicted rain was going to happen again. However, the rain came down in buckets as we were just about finishing the cooking of dinner at 5pm. Because my camp stove was still hot I didn’t think that I should put it into my tent or in my car, so I put it under a camp table hoping to keep it dry; that didn’t work. Unfortunately, the rain seemed to damage my camp stove as after the rain it refused to light, I’m guessing it’s the electric igniter that isn’t working. I have put the stove in a place to try dry out completely before I give another shot. This was the second item to get damaged this weekend, the first being a string of lights whose wires I snapped when I forgot I had tied the battery pack to my cooler’s handle.

The rain yesterday also cemented the fact that all of my camping gear would be dirty and wet upon arriving home. I had planned to hang the tent to dry upon arriving home, but of course it started raining as soon as I pulled into my driveway as well.

The ITP Estate currently looks as if an a tornado has passed through, with all of my camping gear strewn about inside. Unfortunately I can spend the day cleaning, reorganizing, and repacking since it is a workday after all.

Like I said, it certainly wasn’t the weekend for which I was hoping.

Bonnie had the luxury of staying one more night. Bonnie, if you are reading this, I hope that your evening was dry, you can get out for a nice hike today, and that all your fancy new gear is dry when you pack out.

Hope yours was a better experience, and that you are remaining healthy.

I am taking the day off from work. I want today to be relaxing, but currently am up to my neck in chores prepping for the weekend. In the dryer are clothes I washed last night, the sink is full of dirty dishes that need to be washed, and the car is filled with almost everything I need for the weekend except for the clothes that I need to pack and my now-empty coolers. My daily hustle and bustle is really wearing me down, I just want to RELAX…

I hope that you are relaxed, have a great weekend, and remain healthy.

I expected to be out in the yard again this morning. Yesterday’s hard afternoon rain would certainly make pulling weeds (English ivy) in moistened soil easier, but honestly I am feeling a bit tired and lazy, am a bit time constrained again, and do not want to suffer any more ant bites prior to going camping this weekend. Assuming the grass is dry tomorrow I’ll get my fill of yard work tomorrow morning by mowing the front lawn after packing up the car for the weekend.

Yesterday was a busy day, unfortunately I was not as successful at being productive as I hoped. I was able to put in 45 minutes on the trainer in the morning (something I wish I was capable of doing when I am done with this post but I am too tired), went out running errands for awhile, did work, and did a little German studying.

I may have found a replacement for the bins that I attempted to buy at Lowe’s yesterday. The replacement bins are from Amazon, aren’t as large, and may not be as sturdy, but are a few bucks cheaper and are almost guaranteed to be in stock when I go to Amazon.

Today will be all about work, gathering camping gear, and getting through German class. Oh boy!

Hope you are remaining healthy.

Once again I am pecking out a blog post the night before posting it. This time I am not out getting bitten by ants, but rather am in the basement riding the trainer first thing in the morning. [update at 5:55am – ugh, the vortex fan I use while riding to trainer quit on me this morning. I guess I’ll have to add another To Do item to see if I can fix it before my CHaRM appointment mid-month.]

There have been many days since March that I wonder where the time has gone since I have so little to show for my waking hours. Sure, there were three bags of ivy filled, I did a load of laundry last night, and took a trip to Aldi (where I ran into Martha), but I have little else to show. My work effort was less than stellar, my German homework effort followed suit, and I can’t even complain that I wasted a whole lot of time corking, cleaning, or watching videos. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I have been slowly working my way through a book called Flight Path: A Search for Roots beneath the World’s Busiest Airport, which I bought after hearing the author speak at a virtual Creative Mornings Atlanta presentation in May. Here is the blurb about the book on Amazon:

In the months leading up to the birth of her first child, Hannah Palmer discovers that all three of her childhood houses have been wiped out by the expansion of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Having uprooted herself from a promising career in publishing in her adopted Brooklyn, Palmer embarks on a quest to determine the fate of her lost homes—and of a community that has been erased by unchecked Southern progress.

Palmer’s journey takes her from the ruins of kudzu-covered, airport-owned ghost towns to carefully preserved cemeteries wedged between the runways; into awkward confrontations with airport planners, developers, and even her own parents. Along the way, Palmer becomes an amateur detective, an urban historian, and a mother.

Lyrically chronicling the overlooked devastation and beauty along the airport’s fringe communities in the tradition of John Jeremiah Sullivan and Leslie Jamison, Palmer unearths the startling narratives about race, power, and place that continue to shape American cities.

Part memoir, part urban history, Flight Path: A Search for Roots beneath the World’s Busiest Airport is a riveting account of one young mother’s attempt at making a home where there’s little home left.

Due to my scheduling, today could prove to be hectic. After cleaning up after the trainer I will work for a few hours before I go out to get a haircut, pop into Lowe’s on the way home, and then return to working. I may reclaim an hour or so of free time tonight since Betsy had to delay her drive home due to the hurricane by a day and will be (should be?) occupied by that.

Hope you all are remaining safe and healthy.

I’m writing today’s blog post on Monday night as I do a little mindless YouTube watching. The reasons for my early penning is that this morning I am out in the yard continuing my improvement efforts.

Yesterday was mostly a mundane Monday. I worked, managed 45 minutes on the trainer, and did a little German homework. The highlight of my day was visiting My Friends Bottle Shop with Bonnie where we purchased beer for this weekend’s camping extravaganza. Woot! Once again I read the weather tea leaves correctly and pulled in my drying laundry before the rain, which was rather substantial, came down.

When I wind up today’s yard work I’ll take a quick shower before starting my work day. Hi ho. Hi ho. It’s off to work in my home office I go.

Tuesday Tale of the Tape: 195.2 pounds (-1.6 from last week’s weigh-in); satisfactory result.

Hope your week is going well.

Oh, hello. I got started right away this morning and I temporarily forgot that today is Monday and that I needed to write a blog post; I interrupted my laundry chore for you. 😉

Another summer weekend is in the books. While things obviously are far from returning to “normal”, the activities I did this weekend helped hide that fact for a little while.

On Friday I joined Bonnie in celebrating a birthday of one of our friends by doing a mini-pubcrawl at Lee+White; we had beers at Monday Night Garage, Wild Heaven Brewery, and Best End Brewing.

Saturday was a early morning trying to get to Florence Road to meet Steve for a Silver Comet ride. Bonnie, Steve, and I rode a little more than 42 miles, sometimes pushing ourselves harder than we probably should. 🙂 The ride was harder than I expected it would be and by the end I was completely spent. Perhaps my dreams of riding to the Alabama border are a thing of the past? After recovering a bit Bonnie and I had an early dinner at Red’s Beer Garden. Nothing says “You deserve this because you worked out today!” like a vegan hot dog smothered in squeeze cheese with an order of fries. Oh, and beer. 😀 To say that I fell asleep early that night is an under-statement; when I was awaked by the sound of fireworks (not gunshots), wondered who the hell was doing this in the middle of the night, then looked at the clock to see that it was 9:30pm, even I was surprised.

Yesterday was a Black Sheep Hash day. This trail, the annual Lyon’s Day Run, followed the for of those from year’s past. However, we were rewarded with a mile float down the South River to end the trail. If the river had more water in it the float would have been completely enjoyable and I wouldn’t have hit so many rocks along the way. Thanks to Bonnie I was able to use one of her boogie boards for the float, which was a great way to get down the river.

July 2020 Summary

A completely vegetarian month? During my birthday month? Who am I?

07/01 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 🙂
07/02 – ?, V, walking (2.50 mi, 58:46) 😕
07/03 – ?, V, yard work (~180:00) 🥵, hashing 🙂
07/04 – ?, V, jogging/walking (9.64 mi, ~177:35) 😀
07/05 – ?, V, hashing 🥵
07/06 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 🙂
07/07 – 195.2, V, trainer (50:00) 🙂
07/08 – ?, V, yard work (~120:00) 🥵
07/09 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😅
07/10 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😅
07/11 – ?, V, cycling (43:26 mi, 181:00) 😅😁
07/12 – ?, V, yard work (~150:00), hiking (4.50 mi, 103:00) 😁
07/13 – ?, V, nothing 😢 (hurt knee)
07/14 – 195.4, V, nothing 😢 (one more day for knee)
07/15 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😕
07/16 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 🙂
07/17 – ?, V, yard work (~120:00) 🥵, trainer (30:00) 😕
07/18 – ?, V, yard work (~240:00) 😮🥵
07/19 – ?, V, hashing 🙂
07/20 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😐
07/21 – 193.2, V, yard work (~60:00) 🙂
07/22 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😀
07/23 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😀
07/24 – ?, V, walking 🙂
07/25 – ?, V, walking 😐, SUP 🤔
07/26 – ?, V, walking, hiking 🙂
07/27 – ?, V, nothing 🙁 (travel day)
07/28 – 196.8, V, trainer (50:00) 😀
07/29 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😀
07/30 – ?, V, walking (4.10 mi, 74:29) 🙂
07/31 – ?, V, trainer (50:00) 😀