Inside The Perimeter

Before you go scouring my Flickr stream for photos of this weekend’s destruction — don’t. I chose not to take any. Plenty of people have uploaded great photos, just go to Flickr and search for “Atlanta + tornado”.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

It is equally as useless for me to be disgruntled about having had the thought I just had as it is for me to criticize myself for something I did last year. Okay, that is what I just thought — now this us what I am thinking.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Damn The Torpedoes Tornadoes
Friday night’s tornado which ripped through downtown Atlanta on its way to Cabbagetown and East Atlanta completely altered my weekend. Luckily my house was relatively unscathed. I live in one of the cities worst power grid. I lose power whenever a squirrel walks the wrong way across a wire, but from what I saw on Saturday I completely understood why I didn’t have power restored until about 11:15pm Saturday evening.

Oh Hail No, Times Two
With the power out on Saturday I started reading “The Making Of A Chef” (ironically as I noshed on Triscuits and Cheez-Wiz), and later napped. Around 3:30pm I awoke and decided that I shouldn’t let the weekend’s situation get me down and that I should go out for my scheduled five-mile run.

The weather was warmer than I expected it would be and the sun even seemed to be breaking through the clouds. I started the run in my new(ish) sneakers then the sunshine was replaced with drizzling rain. Since I had already started sweating and was committed to running I made a decision to push on. At the two-mile mark the rain increased and I followed with an increased pace; I was now drenched. In the next half-mile I detected small hail and then increasingly larger hail. Because I knew that I couldn’t make it to Tony’s (Niplets) house in order to get out of the hail I quickly headed for a porch of a stranger’s house in Grant Park (who thankfully was either not home or didn’t see me out there) and waited out the hail. With the sun returning I started up my run again, struggling due to the energy spent elevating my speed earlier. I made it to Glenwood Park when I had the correct premonition that hail was going to hit again. This time I found a breezeway and waited out the hail as the wind blew through the breezeway making me cold. When the sun returned again I hightailed with all I had back to the house. I have no idea how long it took me to complete the run and I frankly did not care.

I’ve now run training runs in sub-freezing temperatures, darkness, windy conditions, traffic, rain, and hail. I’ve also all-but-given-up photography time, as well as canceling routine plans such as some hashing in order to train. This better be one damn good half-marathon in a few weeks.

ITP Flickr Pic
Because I was without power for over twenty-four hours I had to turn to “alternative” sources of entertainment.

What you see to the far left is soon (or so they say) is to become a dinosaur — it’s a battery powered, analog television. Once analog signals are turned off next year it will become obsolete.

Will ATL Be Ready For ING?
It dawned on me as I headed out for my eleven-mile training run on Sunday that the ING Half/Full Marathon is a mere two weeks away. It also dawned on me that the start and end of the race is Centennial Park, arguably one of the hardest hit areas by the tornado. With windows sucked out of buildings and damage in and around the start/end area I wonder if Atlanta will be ready for the race. Of course I also wonder if I’ll be ready, but that’s another story…

Like A Magician I Turned An Eleven-Mile Run Into An Eight-Mile Run
Cleverly I constructed my eleven-mile run using two of my regular routes, a six-mile route which takes me around Grant Park, and a five-mile route, which takes me through East Atlanta Village. This decision was made in part because I had yet to replace the bladder in my (imitation) CamelBak so I needed two water bottles in its place.

I headed out at a moderate pace and was not doing too poorly, although I wasn’t setting any land-speed records either. Toward the end of the six-mile loop I felt fortunate that I was near the house because a pit-stop was in order. I contemplated not going out for the remaining five miles, but didn’t want to be a quitter.

The other reason I wanted to complete the eleven miles I had scheduled was that the EAV loop was to take me through some of the hardest hit sections of East Atlanta. The path of the tornado was fairly evident and as I covered the first mile I saw no fewer than eight large trees downed. Around the seven-mile mark I started to experience gastro-intestinal difficulties, and a half-mile later was forced to make a tough decision — cut the route short. I walked back to my house through even more tornado-torn sections of East Atlanta, and barely made it back to the house before internal mayhem ensued.

The last leg of the run proved to be disappointing, but it also taught me how lucky I was that the storm did not come even a quarter-mile south of its path, because had it done so I don’t know what would have happened to my house.

I’ve Had It Up To Here With Online “Security” Questions
On Friday I tried to log on to my State Farm account to pay my homeowner’s insurance. I entered my user name and password and then was presented with three “security” questions. In order to access my account I had to answer each question correctly. The problem I had is that I can’t recall ever supplying answers to these initially, so even though I answered the questions correctly I was denied access to my account.

Of course I then tried to call customer service to get some technical help and was told that the wait was more then ten minutes. I promptly hung up the phone.

I am really tired of this false security. These open-ended questions are hard to answer correctly online, especially if the answer is case sensitive, and answering three correctly is nearly impossible. I could use some crazy scheme to answering them like typing in the last word of the sentence, but then I have to remember what scheme I use for each website. Enough already!

UPDATE: If you call companies like State Farm don’t tell them that their policy is “fucking stupid” because the voice on the other end of the phone might threaten to end the call if you don’t stop using such harsh language.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - okay
Current Music - listening to the “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day - Damn! It’s St. Patrick’s Day and I forgot to wear green. Go find out all about this holiday at St. Patrick’s Day.
Exercise (b)Log - Saturday: running (disjointed) 5 miles; Sunday: running 8 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 59 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In - 196 pounds
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0

March Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Thanks to all of you who have expressed concern.

I am alive and well. I have past the thirteen hour mark of being without phone and electricity. That’s mildly frustrating…

Cheers and best wishes to all!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It’s like home schooling, but just not as creepy…

I guess that my body is still resisting the change to Daylight Saving Time as I slept in an hour longer than I normally do. Therefore I made an executive decision to make some coffee and write the blog before leaving the house for work. I am also hoping to miss the majority of the Friday morning commute because of this decision. Who knows, by the time I am done I might decide to take a vacation day — eh, probably not because it’s supposed to rain all day.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

Both my body and my emotions were given to me and it is futile for me to condemn myself for feeling scared, insecure, selfish, or revengeful as it is for me to get mad at myself for the size of my feet. I am not responsible for my feelings, but for what I do with them.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

A Monumental Day
For the majority of you the following will produce no more than a “Eh, whatever.” My scheduled training run was a short three-miler last night so I decided to forgo the music I normally take with me. Including the time it took me to adjust the laces on my new shoes (each new pair goes through experimental tightening for comfort during the few handful of outings) and one short stop for the traffic light at Flat Shoals and Glenwood I ran my course in about 26:30.

26:30!

26:30 over three miles averages out to 8:50 per mile. I admit that by most runners standards this is “slow” but this is the first time I’ve sustained a sub-nine-minute per mile pace in ages. I will also admit that the last mile or so was an anaerobic, ugly huffing and puffing display of running but I could not have cared less. I set out to best nine-minute miles and I did. Besides, today is a rest day so I had to push myself harder than I normally would.

If I Hadn’t Been So Hungry
There would be a new section in the blog today called “Hey Paulie, What’s Cooking?” (look for it on my electronic newsstand in the future).

By the time I got back from my run and showered I was famished. Because I had to stop at Whole Paycheck to pick up the necessary ingredients for my red curry chicken on my way home from work, dinner was even later than it is normally.

The dish, which I served over a bed of jasmine rice and an amazing side of steamed green beans, was good but not stellar. I will have to tweak the recipe for my tastes however because the recipe was vague on some of the quantities (One can of coconut milk — great, don’t they know that there are varying sizes of cans of coconut milk? How about giving me a measurement?)

My kitchen was a mess and I was in no mood to fiddle about with taking photos while cooking, so there is no recorded proof of my efforts.

ITP Flickr Pic
The other night I took my camera to the Built To Spill show. I learned a lot that night, including that I need to shoot more because I am forgetting technique as well as how to change some of the camera’s settings, especially in the dark.

One of the interesting and pleasing discoveries was just how well the D300 handles high ISO shooting. The shot above was taken at ISO 2000 (!), yes 2000. As expected there is some grain in the shot, but not an appreciable amount. I’ll be processing the rest of the shoot this weekend and will see how the rest turned out.

Top Chef And Survivor Spoiler City — You Have Been Warned
Top Chef — Game On!
Top Chef has returned! W00t! On Wednesday night the season premiere aired.

Positives
- Two ITP chefs: welcome Richard (FauxHawk) Blais currently pimping his own place called Trail-Blais, and Nimma Something-or-other line-cook at Decatur’s Repast (although my inside sources tell me otherwise)
- Chicago: we’ve now seen pizza, is sausage making far behind?
- Anthony Bourdain: what more do I need to say?

Negatives
- Rocco DiSpirito: ugh can we shelve this guy already?
- No Gail Simmons: c’mon Bravo, I want to see one of Canada’s prettiest exports on each and every show!
- This product placement sponsored by…: fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck! I had just blocked out how much product whoring Bravo did and now I have to see and hear contestants use brand names like they are going out of style.

To spice up the viewing a group of us on the EAVBuzz have been assigned a chef through random selection and will be watching and commenting all season long. Me? I am getting in touch with my feminine side as Antonia.

Do these boots and frumpy dress make me look fat?

With the exception of the product placement I really enjoyed the episode. First off the contestants had to create a deep-dish pizza and Blais went and screwed some South Floridian asshat named Andrew right off the bat by using his pizza pan. Then in the elimination challenge Blais and Andrew went mano-a-mano and there was visible angst between them.

Remember how I said that there were two Atlanta chefs? Well thanks to Nimma’s poor efforts there is now just one. Nimma was told to pack up her damn knives and go, which is why I didn’t even bother to try and find out her last name today.

Survivor — Is That A Fake Immunity Idol In Your Pants, Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?
Alternative choices for the titles could have been
- “Hey, Does This Look Infected To You?”
- “Crying? There’s No Crying In Survivor!”

I will preface my recap with the complaint that because of the time that I started watching tv last night I accidentally knew which tribe was at tribal council before I even started watching the episode. Dangen!

In last night’s episode we got to see Penner limp about like he had a massive boner, and then watch him be forced to leave the island because his leg was infected and the medical staff told him that he was in danger of complicating matters if he stayed. Poor Pennar, I knew ya and you actually deserved better — even if you did wear a stupid hat and sound like Alan Alda.

Later in the episode we got to see Jason shove a crudely-carved “Immunity” Idol down his pants with glee. When he returned from Exile Island he cagily stated that he thought that Ozzy had found the Immunity Idol — I can’t wait to see his face if he finds out just how right he was…

I was once again entertained by James. That man, he’s something else. Not only do I chuckle every time he speaks, I am amazed at his physical strength. His ability to keep the post erect (draw your own Freudian conclusions) in the elimination challenge was astonishing! I bet you that the people who invented that challenge were all sorts of pissed when they saw how James’ team pwned that challenge.

In the end the Chetster got what he has been deserving for weeks. However, this was the first time that I thought that the Fans should have taken out a stronger player in either the form of Ozzy (who never would have expected it) or in Cerie (please, do it soon so that if for no other reason I don’t have to see that family portrait t-shirt again).

What happens next week? I cannot remember the teasers.

Remember How I Was Complaining About Car Rental Prices?
It turns out that car rentals are still somewhat reasonable unless you are like me and want to rent a car in Denver.

This is a snippet from an email I received from either Hotwire or Priceline yesterday.

What the fuck? Seriously, why is the destination that I have chosen so much more expensive than all of the other western cities? It’s a good thing that I am not an internet conspiracy theorist or anything.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - okay with the way things are today
Current Music - listening to the “CBS Radio 3″ podcast
Website Of The Day - While even my fastest pace may seem to be turtle-slow to some I don’t care. I identify with turtles so much that today I’ll send you to Sea Turtle (dot org).
Exercise (b)Log - running, 3 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 46 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0

March Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Bob Mould, Built To Spill, what’s the difference??? Thanks to all of you who corrected my error in yesterday’s blog.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

If I truly accept my behavior I no longer see it as a fault.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

I Want My $3
Last night I ate at The Corner Tavern in Little 5 Points. While it was third in my food chain (Yacht Club and The Vortex were ahead but both were packed to the gills) I do enjoy the food at The Corner Tavern. Last night’s meal was a hamburger with cheese and Sriracha hot sauce with almond green beans, which were wa over-salted but otherwise delicious, as a side. I made a pseudo-mistake by ordering a second side of garlic mashed potatoes. The potatoes were tasty, but the the presentation was really bad (think “spoonful slapped onto a plate”) and the side dish cost $3! Yikes! Shame on me for not asking how much it cost beforehand.

No Country For Jam Bands
Last night’s Meat Puppets / Built To Spill show was quite enjoyable (and if any of my photos come out then it will be elevated to a “great” show.

I like many non-fans of the Grateful Dead I enjoy masterful guitarmanship but tend to out lose focus when multi-minute long guitar solos occur. I stayed around for the encore only to be dealt a jam session. Bummer.

ITP Flickr Pic
Work in progress

This is the best until I can see what I shot last night.

Just When I Thought I Was Out
I’ve been trying to break up with magazine subscriptions for some time. For the most part I’ve been successful, with the exception of Photoshop User which comes with my National Association of Photoshop Professional membership.

Yesterday I got sucked back into the world of Cook’s Illustrated in part to kick-start my cooking. Cook’s Illustrated is much like the Consumer’s Digest for cooking, accepting no advertising in their magazine and working through recipes and product reviews in a semi-scientific fashion. Now I just need to force myself to read it cover-to-cover and cook the recipes contained within.

A Night Home Alone
After another long night of going out and having a fun time I am really looking forward to staying in tonight.

On tap for tonight’s activities are cooking, photography, and tv watching (specifically last night’s premiere of Top Chef and the latest episode of Survivor).

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - fine
Current Music - listening to the “MacBreak Weekly” podcast
Website Of The Day - With enough time tonight I will also be catching up on some of the episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” that are living on my DVR.
Exercise (b)Log - running, 5 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 43 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0

March Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I’m set to purchase two things from Amazon today, both are bamboo related. One item is a bamboo cutting board, and the other is a travel graphics tablet from Wacom called the Bamboo Fun. Who would have know that such diverse products would share something in common?

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

Unless I accept my faults I will most certainly doubt my virtues.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

It’s Kinda A Small World After All
Yesterday I had two people tell me that I looked familiar and ask me if I used to work at Scientific Atlanta. On both occasions I politely smiled and told them that I had not.

The second person followed her question with a discussion of work and what my company was seeking. This led into a discussion of her past in which she said that she worked for ZapMedia (the company which once employed my co-worker Sean who was working the career fair with me) and that led to a discussion of my friend Shane (Dr. Doo Doo to you) who she knew, and who had also worked with Sean at one time. It turns out that this is the same person who had also decorated Shane’s house. I’ll stop now because this whole thread is starting to confuse me, and I lived it!

Even A Bad Hockey Game Looks Good From Great Seats
Last night I went to see one of the worst efforts that the Atlanta Thrashers have mustered in recent memory. Luckily for me I was able to upgrade my seat to club level thanks to my friend Mike (not the Mike I referenced yesterday). While I brought my camera, the seats weren’t close enough for my gear, but the beer was good (but really fucking expensive! $8.50 for a cup of Sweetwater 420) and the food was also pretty good at club level (I had bbq pork nachos from the Nava booth).

I tried to harass my friend Gamache (aka “BWanA”, “Bitch”, or “Harold”) but he claimed not to be able to hear me on the phone. I know that I wasn’t drunk by the time I called him, but the same might not have been true for him.

ITP Flickr Pic
You will laugh….

…when you realize that what you just looked at was one of two photos that has frustrated me because I’ve been unable to upload it to Flickr for the past two days.

I’m Floored About Flooring
All this thought of bamboo reminds me of a conversion I had recently about flooring options. When I was in Raleigh I attended a party at a house where the homeowner had redone the kitchen. We were talking about the flooring options he had and he said that he considered cork. Cork? Like the thing that’s been replaced by synthetic plugs in wine bottle cork? I thought that there was a cork shortage, and that’s why the wine industry changed. If this is true, then how can there be enough cork to make flooring? I am confused.

And What Did You Find During The Writers Strike?
I’ve been digging this independently-produced episodic comedy called Break A Leg which can be downloaded through iTunes or watched via their website. The sitcom is based around a guy who is trying to get his tv show made. There are a few other sub-plots within the show, but you should watch it and discover them for yourselves.

No George’s For Me, I’ll Be At A Show
Tonight Bob Mould Built To Spill (I should learn to read my calendar) is playing Variety Playhouse and I’ll be in attendance. If all goes to plan I will get a training run in around the work area before driving down to Little 5 Points.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - okay
Current Music - listening to the “Sound Opinions” podcast; on this podcast they are interviewing Bob Mould.
Website Of The Day - I know some folks who are about to spawn children soon, so I am here to help them choose a baby name using Nymbler — Your personal baby name assistant.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 38 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0

March Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I, like many, have an abnormal fear of heights. So it was no surprise that my ass tightened, I turned around and found an alternative route when the hash went well above ground last night. I am proud of all of you who conquered the challenge and am equally thrilled that I was able to find an alternative (read “lower”) solution.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

It seems that I have to get in touch with my desire to hurt before I can get in touch with my desire not to hurt.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

I Told So Many People That I Forgot To Blog It
While sitting around the office last week I noticed a new blog entry from a blog that I’ve been pimping for a while called Amtrekker. In case you haven’t been following closely, Amtrekker is a site that follows this guy named Brett who created a list of fifty things he wanted to do before returning to his home in California. He’s traveling around the country using many forms of transportation and couch surfing.

His blog entry last week had a familiar title — Hashing. Knowing that Brett was somewhere in the Southeast I cringed because I knew that this was probably referring to a local (Atlanta) hash and that I could have met him (which for me would have been cool since I’ve been following his travels for months). I was right; Brett hashed with the S.L.U.T. hash last Thursday night. From all accounts of his blog entry it sounded like he had a good time.

I’m Below Double-Digits
I received an email that just cracked me up yesterday. I know that it’s hard to believe, but after only nine short years of hashing with the Atlanta Hash I am but nine hashes away from my mug. A hash mug is a reward for doing one hundred hashes (or fifty in the case of Black Sheep which only hashes twenty-seven times a year) with a single hashing group. I passed the fifty-hash milestone with Black Sheep last year after only six years of hashing with them.

Let’s see, I am busy this Saturday, Oh and then I am busy the Saturday after that….

Perhaps Facebook Is Misnamed?
I’ve groused about the value of Facebook often, mostly because I stink at Scrabulous. If Facebook would simply rename itself “Findbook” then I’d understand its value better…

Yesterday I received a Facebook message from My Former Best Friend Mike and I could have been knocked over with a feather. I seriously haven’t seen Mike in more than fifteen years! The fact that I am one of four Dunedin High School graduates from the class of ‘83 (more about this later in the year) listed on Facebook probably helped too. This makes two people who have tracked me down via Facebook. Now, if only my old high school friend Eric Hoppe would join so that I could reconnect with him it would be completely awesome.

As an aside, starting in April I am going to strive to resurrect the “Stuck On The Connector” in-depth blog entries and write at least one a month.

ITP Flickr Pic
My attempt to upload to Flickr failed again today. Yesterday it was Flickr’s fault, today I don’t know what the hell is going on. I’m frustrated and tired of trying.

My photography will be picking up shortly. I am going to attempt to carve out time each day to shoot and learn Photoshop. Also, weather permitting I have arranged for a photostroll with Stacy and Phil this Saturday.

The Great Basil Shortage Of 2008
Sometime last year I went shopping at Kroger for basil but could not find any in the store (I thought that I had blogged about this but cannot find any reference to it.) The other day the same thing occurred at a different Kroger. There were two pegs meant for basil, but no packages of basil to be found. WTF? Is there a world wide shortage of basil that we are not being told about? Why can’t I find it in the stores when I want it? I am visible perplexed…

Today’s A Half(ish) Day Of Work
I’m in the office for the first part of the day and then I am headed to Cobb county (yikes!) to the Galleria to work the Georgia Tech Alumni Career Fair. I’ll be the guy in the khaki pants, wine red colored Dish Network shirt, and the hippyesque long hair and beard — come talk to me.

CD Pick Of The Week
Another Tuesday where I am not finding anything that thrills me. I am beginning to think that it’s “them” and not “me.”

Because I don’t think much of today’s offerings I will take us down another road and suggest you fill your collection with some back catalog. Did you know that Merge Records has opened up a digital download store? Think you don’t know any bands that Merge put out? You should think again. I was going to list the “big name” indie artists, but there were too many to list.

You can thank me in the comments…

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - pretty good although I wish I hadn’t eaten that last slice of pizza last night.
Current Music - listening to the “The Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab” podcast
Website Of The Day - How could I not highlight a site called Real Beer?
Exercise (b)Log - hashing, ~4 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 38 miles (no credit taken for hashing)
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0

March Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

On Friday I failed to mention that this weekend we moved our clocks ahead an hour. I’m sure that you’ve figured it out by now, right? I have to admit that last night I was a little confused to see so much light after 7pm.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

The bully in me always bullies in the name of principle or in the name of rules. The bully in me always has a reason for its actions and that reason is always idealistic. This part of me is a sissy — it hides behind “what is right” so I won’t have to admit my desire to hurt.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Theater Of The Mind
On Friday night I ventured into Little 5 Points to head to Horizon Theatre to see “The Missionary Position.” The plan was to meet up with Stacy at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club. Much to my surprise when I walked in to the Yacht Club I saw my friends Wil and Amy (Wil You Suck and Fairy Juice in hash parlance). After eating an incredible brisket sandwich Stacy and I walked over to the theater for the play.

“The Missionary Position” is a four-person play which centers around a political aide who has staunch Christian beliefs and tries to apply those to all around him. He has numerous encounters with a male enemy, a female comedic foil, as well as with maids who are working in each of the towns he visits. The play was interesting and well-acted so I enjoyed it very much. However, I will warn you that if religious humor or the use of fowl foul language bothers you, this is not the play for you. fyi - The play runs through the end of the week.

Nothing Like A Little Spring Cleaning To Snow Flurries
On Saturday morning as the faint snow occurred in Atlanta I started my Spring cleaning which ended as quickly as the snow.

The goal of Saturday was to cook a Red Curry Chicken dish. I drove out to Buford Highway to shop at my coworker’s family store Hoa Binh Grocery. After picking up most of the items for the dish I headed over to my friend Betsy’s place to attempt to fix a dvd player that I had given her. I failed. To buoy our spirits we walked over to The Righteous Room in order to get some wings and beer.

A few beers and a long nap at home later I realized that I wasn’t going to make the Red Curry Chicken…

ITP Flickr Pic
None today. Mostly because I took no pictures today, but that’s not the only reason. I took a photo this morning at work but the internet here today is shite so I am unable to upload it to Flickr.

I’m Losing My Patience With Firefox
My disgust may have something to do with the hideous internet performance here at work. Regardless, I have had to manually kill Firefox on my Windows machine because it has locked up solid more times in the past two weeks than all of the times combined since I’ve started using it. It seems that Firefox is starting to suffer the same pains of all of the maturing software that has come before it. Rats!

I’m A Big Fan Of Rounding — Numbers That Is
9.5 miles seems a lot like 10.
198.4 pounds seems a lot like 198.

Lying with numbers can be so much fun!

Yesterday morning a small group of two headed out for a ten-mile effort. Not even a mile into the run I discovered that my imitation CamelBak was leaking my Gatorade onto my butt and I knew that I couldn’t have this dripping occur for another hour and thirty minutes. So, the two of stopped for a minute as I abandoned the pack on the side of the road.

Here’s a tip for you…. Never run a 10 (or even 9.5) mile course set out by skinny people who are also good runners. The course went up and down and up and down and up and down — I think you catch my drift.

Sure, I could have added another half mile to the run in order to complete my scheduled ten, but I really didn’t care by that time.

Happy Almost March 11th!
Every March 11th the Black Sheep Hash holds it Founders’ Day hash. Through somewhat faulty logic involving the occurrence of February 29th, the March 11th hash will be held on March 10th. To be fair, the Black Sheep was a Monday night hash when it started seventeen years ago (before my time) and having a hash on Monday night followed by one on Tuesday night seems silly. Regardless of the date I wouldn’t miss this event.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - frustrated
Current Music - listening to the “Car Talk” podcast
Website Of The Day - While it focuses mostly on the West Coast, OpenRoad TV has the potential to be a really neat website. I only wish that it had videos for East Coast drives.
Exercise (b)Log - running, 9.5 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 38 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In - 198 pounds (oops, I knew things weren’t held in check last week)
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0

March Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

And that’s my biggest problem; I just don’t get it.

On a serious note there has been a recent trend with this blog that I have not figured out, nor have I figured out how to defend against. It seems that spammers have gone from flooding the comments to linking to posts. What does that get them? Higher Google rankings? Can anyone out there help me out?

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

Don’t fight a fact, deal with it.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

You Say EscovEEdo, I Say EscovAHdo
I’m just glad it didn’t get called off again.

Last night I fought my way around I285 to make it into Decatur early enough to queue up for a decent spot for the Alejandro Escovedo show. The show was fantastic, consisting of two men (Escovedo and another) with their acoustic guitars. At one point in the show they left the stage to play three songs at different locations within the room. We were also treated to a little storytelling about the “old” days of touring the southeast.

In the crowd I saw hashers (Redneck Mutha and Mary Sidney — whose hash name I do not know), EAVBuzzers (I definitely recognized MRice’s husband), and local business owners (noticeably Warren from Decatur CD).

As an added bonus the food I ate at Eddie’s Attic was delicious. I consumed three “sliders” (one bison, one tilapia, and one fried chicken) along with some sweet potato french fries.

If you are bummed that you didn’t get to see the sold out show, Escovedo mentioned that he will be back to Atlanta with the full band in the May/June time frame to support the album he is putting out this summer.

I Asked The Right Questions… At The Wrong Time
Following the Escovedo show I drove back to East Atlanta to attempt to revive my concert photography by seeing Gringo Star at The EARL. I thought that my timing couldn’t be better as I arrived around 10:30pm and it appeared that the stage was being set up with Gringo Star’s drum kit. It felt suspiciously wrong however because there were only about eight people in the room (all “hipsters” smoking cigarettes to their hearts’, and my entire body’s, discontent). I decided to inquire about the night’s lineup at the ticket desk, and sure enough there were three bands on the bill and the one setting up was the second. Seeing how I’d already seen a concert, I had no desire to stand amongst the smokers, and that it was a Thursday night — requiring me to get up for work this morning — I exited the building thus pissing away $8.

I suppose that I should have asked the question about the night’s lineup before paying my money.

ITP Flickr Pic

That’s A Nice Free Shout-Out; Wish It Had Been For InsideThePerimeter.com
While listening to the most recent Coverville podcast a guy called in to make a request. His voice message went like this…

This is some name in Decatur, Georgia here at Sweet Melissa’s restaurant…

Nothing like a little free advertising.

Tonight, Tonight, Whoa-Ho
Theater season starts tonight! But first, I’ll be getting my brisket and beer on at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club.

Post Yacht Club, newly-OTP’d (booo! hiss!) Stacy and I will wander over to Horizon Theatre to watch the performance of “The Missionary Position.”

I’ll Never Understand Survivor
Here’s your spoiler warning…
WTF? Why would you vote out someone like Troy Joel so early in the competition — especially if you think that you might have a challenge during which he can go mano-a-mano with James?

I’m also completely done with Cerie! All of the reasons why I disliked her the first season she played poured into my mind last night as I watched the episode. How she is/was able to convince people to change their votes to suit her astonishes me. Is she like a high school guidance counselor in real-life? That’s the only profession that I’ve encountered that hands out as much bad advice.

Next week we get to see Penner’s leg get amputated! Seriously, there are many reasons I didn’t go into medicine so I didn’t really appreciate CBS giving us the up close and personal documentary of Penner getting stitches. I don’t care that it was shot by infrared cameras, I didn’t like it. We also get to see one of the “Fans” get duped by Ozzie’s false idol. My theory is that since Ozzie was stupid enough to tell people that he found the real Immunity Idol this information will get leaked to the kid that found it. Hopefully (for me) we’ll also get to see Cerie get the boot.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - good, although I don’t think that I’ve done a good job of weight management this week
Current Music - listening to the CBC Radio 3 podcast
Website Of The Day - When I finish reading “Digital Food Photography” and I get back into shooting regularly, I want to have a website as cool as Teri Shoots Food.
Exercise (b)Log - running, 4 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 28.5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0

March Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

About the only thing that I did wrong last night was to hang around George’s for one “too many” beers. My lingering caused me to head home and eat some food (not needed) and then go immediately to sleep.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

Accept what it is. That is what is required. Accept reality as reality is to me now. Recently I have been feeling anxious abut every little decision — what should I wear? — what shouldn’t I eat? — did I lock the door? — am I worrying too much? Right now this anxiety is my reality.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

I Finally Won A Game Of Scrabulous!
However, the game still frustrates the hell out of me and I plan on removing the game from my Facebook account once I complete the one game I have in progress.

I wonder what use I will have for Facebook once I am no longer playing Scrabulous.

ITP Flickr Pic
Here are my new running shoes. These are the ones that I purchased from One Step at a Time last weekend.

I actually really don’t like this photo because I think that it is too soft. I bumped up the ISO and dropped the f-stop in order to get a reasonable shutter speed. However, I didn’t have the time to perfect it. My recent photography, as well as the lack thereof, has frustrated me greatly recently.

If You Wonder Why I Seem Harried
Here is a snapshot of my March calendar

(click here for a bigger version)

I know that I am the person responsible for creating such havoc, I just can’t stop finding things to do.

Look Closely And You Will See
I am scheduled for two concerts tonight. I will definitely be at Alejandro Escovedo concert starting at 8pm at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur.

If I am still feeling up for live music I will swing by The EARL to catch Gringo Star.

Tonight’s A Survivor Night
And I won’t be around to watch it…. Therefore I am going to make a prediction for tonight’s Survivor eviction. The easiest guess would be Jonathan (aka “Penner”) since they showed that preview of him needing medical attention, but we all know that we are being put on by CBS’ editors. We know that the tribes get mixed up tonight, but I don’t know how they are going to perform the task.

I am going to go out on a limb and predict that tonight’s biggest loser will be — Eliza.

As an odd side note: I wonder why CBS doesn’t gray out the survivors who have been voted out?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - good
Current Music - listening to the “Net @ Nite” podcast
Website Of The Day - I seem to be on an online magazine kick… Today you should check out False Magazine. People familiar with Atlanta should also drill down to The Map Project.
Exercise (b)Log - running, 4.5 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 24.5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0

March Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It would have been four consecutive days of running, occurring on the fourth day of the month. It would have been the eighty-fifth birthday of my father, who would have just passed his sixtieth wedding anniversary to my mother on February 28th, had he not passed away twelve years ago. With all of that going through my brain I decided to pull back the reigns, and spend the night home alone doing nothing more than reading some of a new book I purchased recently about food photography, watch a little television, and catch up on some sleep. My lifestyle choice last night makes for shitty daily blogging, but helped my mental state immensely.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

The comment, “You’re lucky; it could have been much worse,” is the kind of “helpfulness” I can do without. It also could have been better, or actually, it couldn’t have been any other way than the way it was.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Guess Who Had A Nearly-Perfect Meeting With His Accountant?
*Paulie is now patting himself on the back*

I met up with my accountant yesterday to drop off my tax paperwork for processing. I felt incredibly unprepared for my meeting, but being a pack-rat for storing documents it turned out that I forgot only one document (my City of Atlanta property tax document). the face-to-face meeting was also beneficial because I got clarification out how she wants to handle my charitable donations. She also took that Federal Government check that was returned to me and is handling the situation.

Guess Who Will Be Avoiding Western Digital’s Hard Drives For The Foreseeable Future?
I might have figured out the weak link in my data backup strategy — the external Western Digital drives that I’ve purchased last year. These are the drives that I plan to take off-site in case of catastrophe at my house. Sadly in both of the attempts I’ve made to copy all of my data to these drives I’ve received errors which have caused me to have to do a lot of manual copying; not exactly what I want to have to do in an automated process.

When I get some time (ha!) and a penchant for change I am going to see if I can swap the drive from the enclosure with another brand to see if the problem is cleared up.

ITP Flickr Pic
Hey look! A photo! I did a quick snap of the Girl Scout cookies which were delivered yesterday.

The sad part of my transaction was that no Girl Scout was involved in the process. The cookies were bought from, and delivered by, a parent of a Girl Scout.

You Can See Me At George’s Tonight
I’ll be battling whatever weather occurs tonight by getting out to run (and I just realized that I forgot to bring the Yuengling AGAIN!).

According to the weather forecast it should be sunny and fifty-four degrees around 6pm, but I don’t trust weather forecasts so I’ve packed a wind-breaker, a long-sleeve running shirt, and a short-sleeve running shirt so that I have my pick of the litter.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - good
Current Music - listening to Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac” podcasts
Website Of The Day - Poetry Magazine is a great resource for literature. I only wish that I had more time to read it.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 20 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0

March Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]