Inside The Perimeter

I hadn’t intended on posting a blog entry today. Then I remembered that Memorial Day is my hashiversary.

In the mid/late 1990s my friend Wendy introduced me to the term “hasher.” When I told her that I was a member of the Atlanta Track Club she shrugged and said (something to the tune of) “Huh, I thought you’d be a hasher.” When she described the what hashing was, I was intrigued.

In 1999 I moved to East Atlanta and was hanging out at my (then) home-away-from-home Gravity Pub when I ran into a guy named “Catamite” who was talking about running to another guy. He informed me that the Hash were to have a happy hour at Gravity Pub the following Friday (the Friday prior to Hedon).

At that happy hour (which didn’t get happening until 8pm) I ran into “Sanitary Not,” “Bunny Banger,” “MC Hasher,” and “Whiner” who invited me to join them for darts. On that night Sanitary convinced me that I’d enjoy hashing and that she was laying the Memorial Day trail and that I should show up. Funny thing when you are drunk, you agree to do almost anything and you can remember odd details, like the Moonlite Hash would be starting at the Publix on Memorial Drive just OTP.

On Memorial Day in 1999 I became a hasher. On that night I stood next to a Unitarian Pastor (“Ultra Pastorized”) drinking beer as we watched “Goldilocks” drop his pants showing off all of the writing someone did on his ass at Hedon. Neither of us seemed offended by this action, I knew right then that hashing would be part of my life.

Who’s the young stud on the left? Moi! (circa 2000) This was with my first, and only, hash girlfriend “Arbitrary Sex.”

Young, dumb, and full of [insert your own nasty word here] (circa 2001/2002). fwiw – the toilet paper belt doesn’t work well.

Me, no longer the svelte young man pictured above, camping at Hedon (circa 2005)

Me, Boner, and Sanitary Not! busting a gut once we realized that Tastes Like Shit wasn’t seriously hurt when he spit alcohol into a fire. (circa 2007)

I’ve gone in and out of the hashing world over the past eleven years. For a while I was a twice-a-week hasher, but for some reason decided to become selfish with my time and became a twice-a-month hasher limiting myself to Black Sheep hashes and the occasional Atlanta / Pine Lake / Wheelhopper / *cough* Southern Comfort *cough*.

It is through hashing that I’ve met people I call my closest friends. Most of the friendships I’ve formed with hashers have lasted longer than most I’ve ever had in my life — there is the rare friend from high school with whom I still communicate, the Turner Kids who I started drinking with when I first moved to Atlanta, and the Penn Staters and Wendy with whom I played sports in Atlanta and saw a lot before I moved to East Atlanta. Many of you ITP-Readers are hashers, and want to thank you for being my friend past eleven years.

I’ve decided to treat myself to a hash tonight. If you are interested, it starts at Henderson Park at 5pm tonight and will cost $8. Even if I could remember and still owned what clothes I wore in 1999 there is no way in hell that I could fit into them today. Pity, that.

On-on.
Wee Little Bit

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, though my self-imposed sequestering is going poorly
Current Music – listening to a CBC Radio 3 podcast
Website Of The Day – nothing today
Mode Of Transportation To Work – n/a, it’s Memorial Day
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – ~53 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 30 (30)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 29
Marta Rides – 0

May Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

This is a placeholder for the 50/50 chance that I’ll have time to write a blog post today.

Q: Who do you know who would postpone a brake job because the weather report predicted rain on Monday and Tuesday (which never arrived) but none for Wednesday, only to be screwed over by Mother Nature and get completely drenched on his ride from work to pick up his car?

I was slightly more than furious as I pedaled madly in the rain, hoping the entire time that no lighting (there was some) would strike me dead. No need for sunglasses. No need for an iPod to motivate me to ride. I pushed and gambled with each downhill and turn. I will say that it’s a damn good thing that I chose to ride my mountain bike yesterday, for the road bike’s tires would not have handled the rainy conditions nearly as well.

A Lot Of Low-Key Living Recently
My lack of activities lately have created a rather boring blog. I’m sorry.

I understand that the joy I get out of watching The Good Life (aka Good Neighbors) isn’t exactly compelling blog fodder, but it’s really making me happy.

Fear not, I’ll be shaking things up a bit real soon.

The Jackmobile Is Ready To Roll With Nowhere To Go

• oil changed
• new tires
• new brakes

The Jackmobile is ready for a trip. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time scheduled to go anywhere. As I mentioned the other day I really want to make a long, solo car trip. I’d bring a bike, my camera gear, and my iPad Mobile Office (and probably a laptop) taking in the best sites that this country (and probably Canada) have to offer.

I have ideas… I guess Blondie (the musical group, not the dancer at the Clairmont Lounge) said it best — “Dreamin’ is free.”

ITP Flickr Pic
Even if I did want to take photos of my ride home I couldn’t have. Check this space starting Tuesday, yes I shan’t be writing a blog on Monday, for new content.

Tonight I’ll Be Holding Steady
When I saw the Hold Steady in Athens last year I assumed that it would be the last time I saw them perform for some time. Although I enjoyed the show thoroughly I assumed that they wouldn’t be touring again soon, and that I’d “Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt.” (Dangen! I meant to wear my Hold Stead t-shirt today!)

However, the Hold Steady lineup has changed with the departure of mustachioed keyboardist Franz Nicolay. I’ve decided to give the new (and improved?) Hold Steady a listen tonight at the Variety Playhouse.

Before tonight’s show I’ll be loitering and drinking beer at The Porter Beer Bar with my friend Mike. So, if you run into me there please feel free to say hello.

Virtual Friday
Unlike many I don’t feel compelled to rub people’s noses with a “I on vacation, bitches!” tweet on Twitter. That’s this blog’s function!

Tomorrow I will be taking a day-long Photoshop (CS5) For Digital Photographers workshop from Scott Kelby at Cobb Galleria. Hmm, I wonder if I need my laptop, or if my iPad Mobile Office will suffice?

Tomorrow will also be Day 1 of my six-day long self-imposed “Improve Thyself” sequestering, during which I will also be forcing myself to work on iPhone/iPad development and making some Life Decisions.

It looks like I’ve picked the best time to not want to do any outdoor activities. The weather forecast for the five days starting tomorrow calls for rain. Knowing my luck not a single drop will reach the ground but the skies will remain shitty gray and eliminate the possibility of any outdoor photography.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh, though happy I made it into the office by 6:15am to make up for yesterday’s short day; even happier that I won’t have to go to the office tomorrow.
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – Anyone ever been to the Okefenokee Swamp?.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – biking, ~12 miles
Morning Weigh-In – 201 pounds
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – ~53 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 25 (25)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 26
Marta Rides – 0

May Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

And I’m not referring to the classic Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album…

I’m fighting off another Spring cold, thus making May another 2010 month in which I’ve gotten sick. It’s not bad, but it comes at a very inconvenient time. Today I am dropping the Jackmobile off to get a brake job, and my mode of transportation from Chamblee to Perimeter Mall is bicycle — not exactly the best way to travel when ill.

My body, and all of the goddamn vitamins I’ve been for the past few months, better fend this shit off before tomorrow night’s Hold Steady show at Variety Playhouse and the beginning of my self-imposed “Six Days of Improvement” which starts on Friday.

ITP Flickr Pic
Fail again. In fact, I’m giving up this week.

A Little Different Laundry Night
I bet when I mentioned laundry and food yesterday you assumed I’d be eating at Lee’s Bakery last night. Oh no, I wanted to try something different yesterday.

Last night I took my two filled IKEA bags’ worth of laundry to a laundromat near the corner of Buford Highway and Chamblee-Tucker Road (not coincidentally near where I’ll be dropping the car off today). The plan was to try out a different laundromat and eat at Las Tortas Locas (huh, no website).

With the exceptions that I was fighting off the beginning of this fuggin’ cold, and the thirty minutes of constant crying/screaming from at least one of the three small children who were in the laundromat, the laundry experience at the new laundromat was fine.

My meal at Las Tortas Locas was exceptional. I ordered a Huaraches al Pastor and a Coke and loaded up my plate (well, basket) with some of the numerous free sides — a jalapeño pepper, some pieces of sweet potato, and some pickled carrot slices — from their sauces and sides table. I also picked up some spicy sauces in an attempt to burn out my illness. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – discouraged
Current Music – listening to yesterday’s “The Story” podcast
Website Of The Day – What’s the definition of “coincidence?” How about me using the word “torpedoes” in today’s title without knowing that Sunday Magazine : The Most Interesting Articles From 100 Years Ago This Weekend would have the title of its first article be “Torpedo Airship Controlled By Wireless Is The Latest Invention.”
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car and my mountain bike
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – ~41 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 24 (24)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 25
Marta Rides – 0

May Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Last week I had the Jackmobile’s oil changed. Yesterday I had new tires put on the Jackmobile. Tomorrow, the Jackmobile will be getting a brake job (and I’ll be driving my mountain bike to the mechanic’s shop and ride in to work from there). I have a growing wanderlust, which I won’t be able to satisfy for a little while.

I Went From Adventurous To Boring
Last night I met up with a bunch of Twitterers at a restaurant called Luqma in Decatur (near the intersection of Church and Scott). At one point in its life Luqma was a fast-food restaurant, either a Long John Silver’s or an A&W, I cannot recall which.

I planned on eating a dish called Mutton Korma, and I was going to share that with my friend Kim (@spikethecat) who was going to get the Mutton Biryani and share that with me. Unfortunately for the both of us mutton is only served on the weekends, so we were forced to change our orders. With no basis for making a new decision I settled on getting a dish called Chicken 65, which turned out to be no more than tandoori chicken nuggets. I guess I should have figure out from the photo on the wall. Dangen!

The meal was good, but nothing special. That area of Decatur houses many Indian restaurants, so I doubt that I’ll make Luqma my first choice the next time I head out for Indian.

The Apple Hater Legion Is Growing
But I’ll not be among them.

It seems that with Google’s launch of Android phones people have been jumping from the Apple iPhone bandwagon and complaining loudly about the way Apple treats developers and users. I still like my iPhone (though I’ll be getting the next version as soon as I can) and still love my iPad.

The other night I awoke at 2:00am and was wide awake. With my iPad nearby and a wireless internet connection I was able to launch the Netflix application and watched two episodes of thirty-five-year-old British television shows. The first show I watched was the second episode of Fawlty Towers, and the second show I watched was the series premier of The Good Life which was called “Good Neighbors” in the US.

I used to watch “Good Neighbors” every week back in the early 1980s. The show is about a man turning forty who decides to give up corporate life and he and his wife agree to become self-sustaining be starting a farm at their house. I was as intrigued by this notion yesterday as I was nearly thirty years ago.

I believe that I’ll be finding myself watching much more of these, along with a series called Solo which starred Felicity Kendal who played Barbara Good in “Good Neighbors.”

I must be getting old, I’m reaching into the wayback machine in order to relive my better days.

ITP Flickr Pic
FAIL!

I’ve Got Two Bags Of Laundry And A Hankering For Good Food
From the two large bags of dirty laundry which are in the Jackmobile you’d swear that I hadn’t done laundry in forever. Forever it may not be, but too long it is especially since I did some cycling since the last laundry day.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, but a bit poorer
Current Music – listening to yesterday’s “The Story” podcast; it’s helping drown out the annoying beeping that my cubicle neighbor’s computer is making.
Website Of The Day – The “AJC Reach” litters my driveway each week. I can completely understand why Stop AJC Reach was launched.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – ~41 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 25 (25)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 24
Marta Rides – 0

May Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Not this blog of course. I am nothing if not loyal (a valuable characteristic which has not gotten through to the ladies because I am not 6′ tall and handsome); I’m here to stay.

On Saturday I received an email that Metblogs, including Atlanta Metblogs, will be shuttering its doors on May 31st. I’m not sure how much it costs to run a blogging empire which does not compensate its content creators — one of the big reasons I didn’t churn out many blog entries for them, but apparently it’s more that the founders of Metblogs can, or are willing to, afford.

The Fox Was Fabulous As Usual
Early Saturday evening I headed over to midtown for the live broadcast of “A Prairie Home Companion” at The Fox Theater. As expected the place was swarming with khaki-wearing, middle/late age, mostly caucasian attendees — yours included, except I was wearing blue jeans instead of khakis. My seat was down in the orchestra pit, row O, so I had a fairly good view of the show, as well as a really cute usherette who was working the orchestra pit stage right. The seats in The Fox are generous, so generous in fact that I able to pull out my iPhone and see the text message from ITP-Reader Lisa telling me that they were listening to the show up in Raleigh, North Carolina without bumping into either of my seat neighbors.

I enjoyed the show very much. I always find it amusing to see how the sausage is made, and finally recognized the APHC sound man Fred Newman as the same Fred Newman who was on Nickelodeon back in the 1980s/1990s.

Given that the show started a little before 6:00pm (it goes on air at 6:00pm) I got the hell out of EAV early enough to miss many of the East Atlanta Beer Festival drunkards exiting the beer festival, and out of the show early enough to go get dinner. I knew that I didn’t want to deal with the EABF aftermath, so my first thought was to eat near The Fox at Baraonda. Of course Baraonda was packed after the show, so I hurried back to my car to beat the mass exodus from the parking lot in which I had parked. I decided that I was going to eat at The Shed in Glenwood Park (at which I’ve yet to eat!), but there was some large function going on that night, so I settled for Matador in Glenwood Park instead.

ITP Flickr Pic
Remember that statement about having five new photos this week? Nothing like destroying it on Day #1, huh? I had an opportunity to go out shooting cars this weekend, but decided that I didn’t want to. Instead I stuffed myself with pancakes from The Majestic and then I helped ITP-Reader Steve move some stuff into a storage unit on Saturday.

Saturday must have been “Good Deed Day” for me. In addition to helping Steve out, I was very nice to the frazzled parking attendant at the parking lot in which I parked Saturday night. When I pulled in there was no one manning the gate. So, grabbed a parking space and went to find someone (mostly so that I didn’t get towed or booted). When I found him I mentioned that I’d not gotten a ticket from him, and he then gave me one. Then, he tried to hand me a $10 bill, which I refused, and he walked away. At that point I could have parked for free! But, being an honest person (another of those “sought-after” characteristics women always pretend to want) I followed him back to his booth. “I’ve not given you any money for this ticket.”, I said, and then proceeded to pay for my parking.

Wait a minute, I guess that I’m really a sucker after all!

If your a sucker too keep staring at the text in this section to see if you can make out a photo from all of the text I’ve crammed into it today.

I Got Lost Yesterday
Though it had nothing to do with the finale of the series “Lost.”

There are times when I “get” mortality. Yesterday was one of those times. The idea of driving to Fairburn to run a Black Sheep Hash that was billed as “not for the faint of heart” and “flashlight required” didn’t appeal to me much. I’m sure that is was one of those “Oh man, that was the greatest trail ever!” hashes, but I had an option that was much closer to home — Wheelhopper.

The Wheelhopper hash started at Jackson High School on Glenwood. If you are an old-timer to life south of I-20 you know this complex better as Southside Comprehensive High School. The trail was being laid by Wil You Suck and Stiff Pisser, so I had an idea of where trail would, and would not go. I wasn’t very right with my assumptions. Most of the pack was stumped by the first of what would only be two check marks, and I, along with ITP-Reader Bob (aka Check My Bags), Lick-o-La, and Mastergator, decided to box back up Boulevard toward Glenwood Park where flour had been seen early by Check My Bags as he went to an ATM before the hash. As we rode toward Glenwood Av we discovered flour on one of Grant Park’s side streets, and lo and behold, we were back on trail! What we didn’t expect was that we’d found the very last part of trail, so we were at the on-in after riding a mere four miles. Knowing that the rest of the pack would not be in for some time we decided to go out and pick up a few extra miles before returning to the end as FRBs (twice in one hash!).

I Tried To Like LastPass, Really I Did
Yesterday I came to the conclusion that I cannot enjoy using LastPass. Perhaps it’s because I started using 1Password first so I became used to their methodology, but for whatever reason I cannot change my ways. So, it’s a shame that I forked over the $12 annual fee to become a LastPass Premium user, and that it looks like I’ll be forking over more money to have a 1Password app running on my iPad.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – good, but fat, and I guess slightly bitter
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – Today is actor Gary Burghoff’s (M*A*S*H’s “Radar O’Reilly”) birthdayRadar O’Reilly. I wish that website was dedicated to the actor, but I respect O’Reilly since I purchased four $9.99 e-books from them just last Friday.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – ~10 miles of Wheelhopper + 4 miles to get there and back
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – ~41 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 24 (24)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 23
Marta Rides – 0

May Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Ride today? Not with this rain.
Take Marta today? Nah, not interested.
Drive today? Why yes!

Speaking Easy At The Fred
Last night I met up with a friend for beers at The Fred. The Fred is a speakeasy-ish, fancy-pants-beer bar offshoot of Taco Mac and is located under the Taco Mac in The Prado. You have to know that The Fred is there because you’d never know otherwise. The only thing marking its entrance is a fanciful TM sign on a black door that holds a doorbell which must be rung to enter the establishment.

The atmosphere in The Fred is great (though the men’s room contains but a single toilet and no urinals).

The beer selection at The Fred is decent, as long as you like fancy-pants beers, and is relatively fair-priced.

The “fantastic finger” food is where things at The Fred fall down. Did I really pay six dollars for a small plate of french fries?

I can see myself returning to The Fred in the future as I make my effort toward achieving my 125 beer goal at Taco Mac.

ITP Flickr Pic
Is MIA today.
Next week I guarantee five new, original photos.

I’ve Reworked “Rework”
This week I relistened to “Rework”, the second book written by the founders of 37 Signals. The audio book is only three-hours in length, so it’s not like I’ve accomplished anything monumental, but the message they provide is very important for me to hear as I struggle to get my shit together with Sharpened Stone.

I see myself listening to it again whenever I feel a lull in my desire to keep my business efforts moving forward.

Don’t Tell Anyone, But I’m Concocting A Mobile Office
I’m slowly piecing together the workings for an “office” which can be taken with me where ever I go:

• iPad 3G (with WiFi) ✓
• picture holder that holds my iPad ✓
• Apple Bluetooth Keyboard ✓
• Apple Airport Express for use in hotels with wired internet ✓

I envision this mobile office to be most useful when I take overnight trips.

Big Weekend Ahead
Tonight I might be attending the Givers show at 529. We’ll have to see how I feel later today.

Tomorrow is all about going to the Fox Theatre for the live recording of A Prairie Home Companion. Thankfully I just glanced at my ticket and was reminded that the show airs at 6:00pm, so I need to be there fairly early.

Sunday is a conundrum. This week is the “Catch The Crabs” Black Sheep Hash, but it’s being laid down near Newnan and we’ve been advised that the trail is “not for the faint of heart” and that a flashlight is required; this means tunnels. I’m not so sure that I’m up for such an adventure. This Sunday is also a Wheelhopper Sunday, and that’s starting near Grant Park — a mere couple of miles from the Inside The Perimeter Estate.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listening to today’s “Daily Giz Wiz” podcast
Website Of The Day – Although I shan’t be in attendance at tomorrow’s East Atlanta Beer Festival, I do wish to acknowledge their existence. Feel free to park in front of my house if you desire, and if you see me please say hello.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 201 pounds
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – ~27 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 21 (21)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 20
Marta Rides – 0

May Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

That’s not such a bad day. I really wish that I had the ability to wake up this morning and do it all again (to claim the free Flying Biscuit breakfast that is being handed out at REI this morning. However, my legs aren’t ready for that grueling ride two days in a row, and my “nether regions” are also reminding me that it’s been some time since I’ve mounted a bike saddle.

I could also tell that it’s been too long since I’ve ridden by the mistakes I made yesterday. I mentioned that on the morning ride I’d forgotten my Employee ID at home. Well, on yesterday’s afternoon ride I accidentally left my water bottle in the refrigerator at work. Luckly I had stowed an extra bottle in my trunk and was able to pick it up on my way to the Ride Of Silence.

A Sort Of Silent Ride
The turnout for last night’s Ride Of Silence was really good, I’ll guess there were about forty or so riders. I was surprised to see that I knew about ten or so who participated (I shan’t list them so that I don’t leave anyone out). The ride was split into two portions — a three-mile ride which returned us to the start, and then a seven-mile ride. Of course the hashers in attendance decided that it was “Beer-Thirty” at the end of the first portion, so we rode over to George’s in Virginia-Highland.

I know that it’s been some time since I’ve been to George’s on a Wednesday night — did you know that they’ve expanded and have “real” bathrooms now? — but I certainly wasn’t expecting the oddly-jovial reception that I received upon my entrance.

In many ways it was like George’s of olden days. There were a lot of hashers there, many who haven’t been frequenting George’s the way they once did (yours truly included).

Donating Will Get A Lot Easier For Me
On my auto commute this morning I noticed that Goodwill is taking over the space next to REI that once housed Circuit City. This is really good news for me as it means that it’ll be really easy for me to load up carloads of junk and dump them off on weekdays. It also will give me extra incentive to walk to REI (and now Goodwill) to do a little shopping for needs and bargain finds during the week.

I wonder if this will mean the demise of the Johnson Ferry (at Roswell Road) Goodwill store, or if Goodwill believes that this is far enough away to maintain both.

ITP Flickr Pic
Or, “Why I Am Not A Photographer”

No photo today. It’s not like I didn’t have an opportunity to take some snaps at the Ride of Silence (there were many attractive young ladies around, and I did lug my point-and-shoot all the way to the ride). I find that when I am at events such as this I enjoy socializing with my friends more than I do attempting to capture the moment on (digital) film.

But no, I am photoless today.

Holy Shit, I’ve Made An English Muffin!
Since making last weekend’s “odd” loaf of bread I’ve not been able to put my finger on of what it reminded me. The revelation came this morning as I ate the piece I toasted and smothered it with butter.

I made a loaf of bread that tasted like an English muffin! Cool!

I’ll have to tuck this tidbit of information away for future bakings so that I can recreate it.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – sore, physically
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – Perimeter Transportation Coalition is the organization organizing this week’s free food giveaway in my work neighborhood. Get a hold of their newsletter from yesterday and you might recognize the guy in the Yoo-Hoo jersey (thankfully the photo is really small).
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 200 pounds
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – ~27 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 20 (20)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 19
Marta Rides – 0

May Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

You see what happens when I exercise? The blog is late. I hope you are satisfied…

It Was Just Like Riding A Bike
In fact, it was exactly like riding a bike. Well, it was exactly like riding a bike after driving it to a secret location where I could park my car and then ride in to work.

This morning I drove the Jackmobile with the Red Rocket mounted upon its roof before climbing on to the Red Rocket for a morning ride-commute to work. Let me tell you, the extra distance provided by the office move to the Perimeter Mall area is much hillier than I was really ready to tackle this morning. Along the way I rode past a guy who shouted “Free smoothie at Robeks this morning.” and all I could muster was a “Yeah.” I ran in to that guy — his name was Andy and he works at REI — again at Robeks, where I properly thanked him for the reminder.

I’ll have to map out the distance to see how far I rode this morning. Because it’s been so long since I’ve ridden (I didn’t have to “Spring Forward” the clock on my speedometer/odometer, if that gives you any point of reference) that I accidentally shut off the odometer somewhere during the ride.

The best part of the ride: It was a great morning to be on a bicycle.
The next-to-best part of the ride: I received and consumed a free small mango smoothie from Robek’s.
The next-to-worst part of the ride: I forgot my Employee ID at home.
The worst part of the ride: My legs are tired and I have to do it all over again this afternoon.

And so it begins…

ITP Flickr Pic
I apologize for the blurriness of today’s photo.

Just imagine how much my hands were shaking because they are not used to getting exercise.

Oh Those Blasted Mets!
My beloved NY Mets were in town for two nights. I fully intended to go to last night’s game, the weather was perfect for baseball and I certainly could have used the photography practice, but alas I had too many chores to do before this morning’s ride.

Yesterday marked the six-year anniversary of my decision to play Tuesday night poker at a friend’s house instead of going to the Braves game with my friend Mike. You remember that game, don’t you? It was the game in which Randy Johnson pitched a perfect

As it turned out, last night's game wasn't a perfect game, nor was it a Mets victory. So, perhaps I made the right decision after all.

The Day Will Keep Getting Stranger
After riding tonight I am planning on making a cameo appearance at George’s for a beverage, and perhaps some chow. I hope to see a few friendly faces that I’ve not seen in some time.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – whooped
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – I know that I’ve picked Ride of Silence before, but I’m choosing to do it again.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 200 pounds
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 19 (19)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 18
Marta Rides – 0

May Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

A late return home last night combined with morning appointments will mean that today’s blog shall be brief.

Sometimes You Win, Most Times You Don’t
I knew that my shot last night was not a winner. Thankfully, it wasn’t skewered by the critic — who I must say had a good, even-handed approach with his critiques. Compared to the other shots mine was a quality snapshot of a guy swinging a baseball bat.

The bizarre thing about Roswell Photographic Society is the way they categorize the submitted works:

• black and white prints
• colored prints
• “altered” prints
• digital (all, regardless of treatment)

Each category is judged separately; each has its own set of “winners.” Seriously? What year is this again? Are you meaning to tell me that the photos which are printed were not taken digitally, nor have they been altered in any way? And why not have categories for digital color / digital black and white? Really, I believe there should be two categories:

1. color
2. black and white

from which winners are selected.

Given the constituency of RPS I doubt that changes will be made any time soon.

ITP Flickr Pic
You know I’m struggling photographically when I keep reaching into my archives to produce my “daily” photo.

Ugh, I need to shoot.

Whatever Happened To Customer Service?
I am routinely disappointed to come home and find that the door to my mailbox is wide open. Seriously, how hard is it to close the door all the way so that the plastic latch engages?

Inside the mailbox, whose door was wide open, last night was a box of checks from my bank. Since I’ve been out of checks for about a week I was thrilled to see them in the mailbox, as well to know that they were not stolen. My joy was immediately crushed when I opened the box of checks to find out that my bank completely ignored my two requests for my checks:

1. I didn’t want “carbon” checks
2. I didn’t want the checks to start at #100, especially since the last check I wrote was numbered somewhere in the 1800′s

I’m now faced with a dilemma. Do I take the box of checks back to my bank and require them to fix their fuck up at their cost? Or, since I write about two checks a month, do I just say “Oh fuck it!” and go on to other matters? Keep in mind that because it took me so long to reorder checks, I currently have none and would be in a lurch if I returned the box of checks and needed to write one soon.

This would all be a non-issue if people would just do their jobs correctly.

Chrome For Blogging. Firefox For Most Else
My LastPass experiment is quickly becoming a fail — $12 wasted. When compared to 1Password LastPass is a less-polished piece of software. It appears that I’ll soon be coughing over more money to 1Password to purchase their iPad application. Does anyone know if it sinks to a Dropbox directory? (Speaking of Dropbox, they just updated their iPhone/iPad app. Also, did you know that you can recover deleted files? I found out on Sunday and was over-the-moon.)

Since there is still no “official” release of the 1Password Chrome Extension I was about to make a complete jump back to Firefox too, that was until I started writing this blog today and my TextExpander snippets were not expanding (again) in that browser. Ugh.

I guess I either just need 1Password to release a “1.0″ for their Chrome Extension (if they’d reduce the price of their iPad application that’d be great too). Or, I need to go back to using passwords that I can remember and eliminate the need for a secure password manager.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – ticked off
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – LastPass may not be working for me, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a valuable application for others.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 202 pounds
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 18 (18)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 17
Marta Rides – 0

May Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop
- Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
- Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
- Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]