It’s The Beginning Of The End…
…of the final month of 2008. Forgive me as I consider today the first day of the zeroth month of 2009. Sure, this means I won’t officially get to celebrate the Christmas season, but 2008 has been considerably less than stellar for me so I’m closing the books on the year early.
btw- 7am study session was canceled today, so get ready for a long one.
November: Well, It’s Over…
I missed almost all of November’s goals with the exception of not consuming soda. As has been well documented I didn’t make my running totals and I never got on my bike (it’s still awfully shiny). Because of these two things I didn’t lose any weight, in fact I feel as if I’ve gained some.
I missed my 5/7ths vegetarianism by one day (as it turned out the delicious food provided for Betsy’s birthday party did me in).
Going forward into December I’m going to keep the majority of my personal goals and I’m adding a new wrinkle into the mix. Starting in December, okay this may actually not get started until January 2009, I am going to concentrate on fixing up my house. Each month I plan to focus on a single room, figuring out all of the rooms deficiencies, and then correcting them. Not counting my attic, yards and exterior, and counting the basement as multiple rooms, this effort should have my house in a “sellable” condition by the end of 2009. Do I plan to sell my house next year? No, but I want it to be ready at any given time. Stay tuned…
I’m A Little Miffed At The Atlanta Thrashers
I don’t care that the Atlanta Thrashers lost yesterday; they played hard but in the end lost.
What I do care about is that fifteen of us showed up at the ticket booth together and they wouldn’t cut us a group deal. All of the adult tickets purchased were for full price, even though the building wasn’t even half-full and there was no way in hell that the game was going to sell out. What incentive do I have to support a team that doesn’t do business well and take care of its fans?
ITP Flickr Pics
Dog day afternoon. While waiting for runners to return, and then while we all consumed bacon and beer I snapped a few shots of the pups present.
Here is Reese, who never stays still long enough to get a good frontal shot.
Here are Nibbles and Toby 2, who stay still long enough for a shot only while sleeping.
And then here is Toby, who will pose all day long because for him moving is a spectator sport.
Call me the dog whisperer, although I’m not ready to call myself “back” with my photography.
I’m Cellphoneless
Ack! I’ve done the unthinkable! I’ve left my cellphone at home. So, if you’ve ever wanted to call me and make sure that you don’t actually speak with me then today is your lucky day.
I guess it will be at least one more day before I become an iPhone owner.
The Amazing Race: Back In The USSR
As always, SPOILER ALERT
Are you kidding me? How can you possibly lose your money and passport while on The Amazing Race?
We begin the show with Mom and Dallas taking off first, thanks to their first-place finish in the previous leg. They are followed soon by Ken and Tina, Nick and Starr, and then finally the frats. I smile at them because I am certain that this will be the last time that I see them. Off the teams go, hopping into cabs and heading for a submarine where they are to find an old geezer still trying to live off of the fact that he starred in The Hunt For Red October which came out in 1990. I immediately think of Al Bundy and that time he scored two touchdowns in a high school football game. Sad. I remind myself that I should never again bring up the fact that I was a test chef for Alton Brown‘s first cookbook “I’m Just Here For The Food” about seven years ago.
From the submarine the gang all go to a park which is a cemetery for monuments where they have to count the number of Stalin and Lenin statues present (for those keeping score at home, Lenin beat Stalin 6-2). However, we are not surprised that the Fat Frats got into a cab that takes them to the wrong city park. Poor Dallas can’t tell his Stalin from his Lenin, and he can’t figure out how to read their names on the signs in the Cyrillic which would be hard if not for the fact that they Cyrillic representations weren’t on the clue! After failing to guess the right answer twice and suffering ten minute penalties for each incorrect guess Tina arrives and helps him out. Upon leaving she utters her now-famous catch phrase — “YOU OWE ME!” Christ she is a fucking one-trick pony.
Back on track Dallas gets into a cab and upon leaving it leaves all of his money and passport behind. Fear not though, The Amazing Race camera person managed to capture a shot of it as the cab door closed and then pulled away… Dallas and Toni were left to beg for their The Amazing Race lives. Oddly, Russia is nothing like New York City as people actually give them rubles. Even more oddly, rubles are actually paper money and not the red stones that I’ve always figured them to be.
For once in the Frats’ The Amazing Race lives they do something right. After getting through the Russian version of “So You Think You Can Dance” (although I thought they got generous judging) they seek help from a local with the statue challenge. Not only that, they actually got lucky by correctly guessing the number 62 after thinking that the number was 61. With Dallas and Toni begging for change, and then getting punished for taking the wrong mode of transportation to get a clue, I realize that the Frats may actually survive this round.
Meanwhile Nick and Starr beat every difficult challenge with ease, thanks in part because Nick lives in New York City. Perhaps it’s true that if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. And for no apparent reason I come to the conclusions that Nick is a ballerina and that Dallas’ blunder is going to cost him the opportunity to sleep with Starr. Without a challenge they take first place for this leg… one spot in the Final Three filled.
Surprisingly we see the Frats getting near the end! It’s still light outside and they are racing against Ken and Tina! Not only that, they are going to be in second place because Ken and Tina failed to get the final clue and can’t be checked in! Could it be possible that we will lose “You Owe Me?” We are not that lucky as Dallas’ lost money blunder has cost them a good opportunity at winning one million dollars as the finish in last place and are eliminated from the race.
The season finale is next week when I will finally declare my love for Starr as she will have $500,000 (before taxes) in her bank account.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – fair, searching for my lust for life
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing White Denim — “Let’s Talk About It”
Website Of The Day – I was going to buy a 3ft cardboard Christmas tree from The Cardboard Christmas Tree until I realized how ridiculous it was to spend nearly $28 (w/ shipping) for a cardboard Christmas tree.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monday Morning Weigh-In – don’t know, I didn’t want to find out
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1 (1)
Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 0
Marta Rides – 0
Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4
December Goals
1) Lose no fewer than two pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 50 miles
4) Completely read no fewer than one book
5) Write at least one program using Ruby on Rails
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I may be the only one evil enough to think this…but when I read “Paulie left his cellphone at home,” I giggled and thought: ooooh! all his readers should call and leave him messages today! You know, so he has, like, 117 new voice mail messages when he gets home.
Heh.
Puppy pictures are awesome. I’d probably crop Reese at the shoulder.(er…picture of Reese, of course.)
I was trying to show Reese’s leg and paw resting on the arm of the sofa, but didn’t get it. With her it’s hard to capture a shot before she moves.
Not everyone has the natural modeling ability of Toby.
Those are some great shots.
I’m still trying to get through all the photos I took over the weekend.
Thanks. I’ll get you large versions of the pup shots soon if you’d like them.
> I’m still trying to get through all the photos I took over the weekend.
Which is why I’ve become selective with my photography. I know that I am too much of a stickler and it would take me forever to process a lot of shots.
The Thrashers need to get a clue, a trip to a game for Trick and I costs over $100 when you include food and beer. And when Travis reaches his 2nd birthday throw another $32 on top of that. I had a great time at the game and it was nice seeing everybody but I think my future hockey games will be viewed in Gwinnett. As much as I hate Gwinnett county you can get the best seat in the house at a Gladiators game for $20.
OK, off my soap box. I know I’m a whiny suburbanite.
So is Toby 2 the new stunt double for Toby the Swift? Someone’s departure from lowriders didn’t last too long!
Gotta say watching the Amazing Race is a bit frustrating… I’m all like “over there dumb ass!”… which is not fair as we see such an edited version… but still… you should have your passport and $$$ taped to your A** when traveling!
Do you think the cameraman/sound man really let the cab drive away with the money and passports? I’m thinking they knew what happened and saved the stuff, just didn’t give it back. I think they should have been freaking out a little more about losing the passports. They didn’t seem to care all that much. Wouldn’t they be stuck in Russia for a while if they really did lose them, and doesn’t it take a while to get them replaced?
According to Martha Toby 2 is a temporary resident. Given the amount of barking and whining he did while I was there I am tempted to believe her this time.
The Amazing Race is awesome! I have a feeling they got the stuff from the cab and returned it to them upon finishing last. I would have panicked Big Time if I lost it because they *know* they are returning to the United States for the finish and might have a terrible time getting out of Russia without passports — unless of course The Amazing Race can pull strings.
Bob, I might even brave OTP to try a Gladiators’ game.
Wait a second Bob. Before you trash the Thrashers for ticket prices, remember that between 2 and 12 years of age, Travis will only cost you half-price. That’s right, for the bargain price of only $80, all three of you can sit in the nosebleed section and try not to eat or drink anything until the economy recovers…
OK, while the cost of the Thrashers game was, imho, a little steep, our little guy had a great time seeing his first professional hockey game – and with a great group of friends!
Thanks again, everyone, for a great weekend. With any luck, the car will be fixed soon and we’ll be on our way back home (positive side to car trouble – we missed yesterday’s always-frustrating going-home holiday traffic).
See you all for Cheddarhead.
Gladiators game needs to be on a Saturday or Sunday, so we don’t have to sit in traffic forever. There are a few bars/restaurants right nearby, so we could eat & drink before hand, or we could tailgate? (no Gorins big beers though). My old office is within spitting distance of the Arena, I’ll get the scoop on what is around from a old co-worker.
I’m SURE the amazing race has copies of the passports/everything, which is enough to get a new passport issued in a day at the local US Embassy… and to save the AR producers buttocks in the process!!!!
… so, where you going to take Starr on your 1st big night out? I can highly recommend the Watershed in Decatur after this weekend……
Ditto.. ditto..
Were we in the $10 ticket section and just too late for the deal? We had a great time seeing everyone- especially those suprise guests!! Car trouble can be a good thing- on rare occasions.
Safe travels home to those NC ITP readers!
-FP
Bummer, had I known that the NC contingent would be checking the blog today I would have used the photo of their little one as today’s photo. Oh well, check back tomorrow.
We were told that there were only two $10 seats remaining.
I’ll let Starr choose. After all, she’ll be the one picking up the tab. LOL!
the $10 seats are way high up on the sides. if we would have just gotten to the ticket office abotu 10 minutes earlier, we could have gotten those.
But – I am thinking after just the food and cokes we bought, the all you can eat seats that were right there near us are the way to go………
I agree you cannot put a price on the joy of your first professional game with your son.
I know a guy who does group ticket sales for the Gladiators so if we can come up with a date and headcount we can probably get real good seats for a good price.
Paulie is correct, Toby 2 is only temporary…I’m not on schedule to adopt again. I just realized each dog, for the last 5 or so have been aquired after a break-up. Plus, he is a huge pain in the ass (and a beagle, not a basset).
The game was fun but I managed to drop close $70 for the evening, including the one beer I bought you for driving and not including dinner after.
As for running tonight…I wish I had an excuse, have you been outside…it will be unpleasant this evening.
Yeah professional hockey games aren’t cheap, even when I luck into free parking.
I’ve not been outside since 6:15am. It was rather windy and cold then.
O hell-to-the-no about the beagle… old habits are good, but hard, to break!
Pretty sure that former Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders aren’t used to picking up the tab… even ones that just cashed a pre-tax 500k check….. but we shall see! 1st time for everything!
Wha? She’s a former Cowboy cheerleader? Shows you how much research I do for this here blog.
Gentri has a point, even I don’t pick up the tab unless it is my date’s birthday.
HAHAHAHA! From their bio (which I hadn’t read until now)
“Nick and Starr have both accomplished their life-long dreams. Nick performs on the New York stage in an Off-Broadway musical called The Fantasticks, while Starr was a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys for the past three seasons.”
I was pretty close with my ballerina guess about Nick.
I had no idea Starr was a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.
Too funny!
Yeah, had to laugh at that section also… cure cancer, save lives or world peace as a goal? nah, I’ll be in a musical instead… not that there is anything wrong with that!
That reminds me… nothing in the blog today about the skating housekeepers from yesterday?
Martha- Paulie wasn’t buying on your date? Explains a lot…
-FP
Time escaped me and I couldn’t get any more about the hockey game in. Let it be known that for a handful of shovel girls I’d gladly spray water throughout the house and have the new air conditioner work hard enough to freeze it if they’d be my cleaning crew.
Martha must have been really drunk when we got to CNN. That’s the only reason I can conjure for her to have purchased my beer.