Happy Mardi Gras (Or, Fat Tuesday Specifically)

Aaaaayy Eeeee! It’s Fat Tuesday y’all.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Write down one skill you’d like to improve that can help you in your career or volunteer activities

Too often we get in a rut, performing the same repetitive tasks and doing only what’s required to carry out the basic functions of our job. If you want to move ahead — both professionally and personally — it’s important to step back. By thinking about what you’re doing and how you can do it better, you open yourself up to new learning opportunities and experiences.

That’s easy for me. iOS development. iOS development. iOS development.

A Series Of Steps And Missteps
I left the office early yesterday to beat any possible traffic on my drive from Perimeter Mall to Stone Mountain. I planned my arrival to allow enough time to go for a walk inside Stone Mountain Park prior to climbing the mountain to set up for some sunset photography.

I arrived at the East Main Gate to find a slow-moving line of six or so cars ahead of me; I paid my $10 to enter the park; I drove around the park (slowly due to the speed limits and police presence) to the parking lot.

When I left my car walking I had no real plan for how far I would walk. Knowing the park well (thanks to the numerous rides I’ve taken there) I realized that I couldn’t possibly make it all the way around the park in time so that at some point I’d have to turn around and walk back to make my ascent.

The weather was beautiful and I saw that streaks of wispy clouds were present. My hopes for stellar photography increased. At some point I realized that I had forgotten to pack my 1.4x teleconverter which disappointed me since I then realized that I wasn’t going to be able to get tight shots that I had in the past.

Forty-five minutes into my walk I realized that I better turn around because I feared that I wouldn’t get to the top of the mountain in time. I hiked and hiked, until I reached near the top of the mountain, at which point I decided to park my gear (I used the excuses that time was of the essence, I had forgotten my 1.4x teleconverter, and that I’d already walked a little more than five miles to rationalize not going all the way to the top this time).

I was in my spot with plenty of time to set up for sunset. As I cooled down along with the weather a few people asked me about my gear, and about the sunset. As time passed however, I realized that the clouds had begun to thicken and my beautiful sunset was going to be obscured. DANGEN!

I did my best, but I didn’t get what I wanted to get. I might actually have a few good shots in camera of the red sky which occurred after sunset.

After daytime succumbed to nighttime I descended the mountain and headed home.

Sleeping Like A Bear
“It’s only 8:44pm and I’m already in bed” I thought to myself last night after I’d eaten dinner, started my second beer, and snuggled under the covers to listen to a podcast while doing a crossword puzzle. The plan was to read for awhile in bed, but that never materialized. By 9:30pm (determined by reverse calculations) I was sound asleep. I was so sacked out that I never heard the phone ring, which according to the timestamp of my mother’s message occurred at 10:02pm.

Yeesh! It’s as if I’ve become a farmer or something.

ITP Flickr Pic
Here is the sky prior to sunset — as seen by my iPhone. That little tiny speck in the distance on the horizon is downtown Atlanta.

I’ll try to process my red-sky shots later.

Now That I Have It, I Don’t Know What To Do With It
With the announcement of Mac OS X 10.8 (aka “Mountain Lion”) Apple also announced Messages — a unified messaging application. According to the hype you can now send a text message and be notified on iPhone/iPad/Mac simultaneously.

It may be the wrong thing to do I’ve set up a special account for Messages (messages@nuesslein.us) and now I don’t know what to do with it. Holy Geebus do I feel old! Anyone want to meet me at Morrison’s Cafeteria at 3:00pm for today’s Early Bird special?

Actually Tonight Is iOS Developers Meetup Night
Tonight I’ll be headed to the monthly meeting of the iOS Developers Meetup. Prior to the meeting I’ll be eating some barbecue at the barbecue restaurant at which I ate a few weeks ago with ITP-Reader John. If time and temperament permit I’ll also be swinging over to K&G Menswear in an effort to purchase a few new pair of pants/slacks (no, my waist hasn’t shrunk, I just want “nicer” pants [see also: “olive-colored Dockers”]).

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – overwhelmed
Current Music – listening to this week’s “The Ihnatko Almanac” podcast — on which he’s talking about his love of The Amazing Race this week.
Website Of The Day – I don’t understand why MapMyRide and MapMyRun don’t collapse themselves into a service MapMyExercise. I feel a little silly entering a “workout” labeled as a walk using the MapMyRide app on my iPhone.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking/hiking, 6.9 miles (according to the seemingly-misnamed “MapMyRide” app on my iPhone)
Morning Weigh-In – 211 pounds yesterday

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~27.9 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 31 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 20^*

Vegetarian Days – 6^*
Carnivorous Days – 14
Pancakes Eaten – 5

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

February Goals
– Lose at least one pound (net weight loss)
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
– Not get fired from my job, nor quit my job
– Follow up with doctors, lawyer, women in whom I have interest
– Go out on a least one date with a woman in whom I have interest
– Submit 2012 paperwork for Sharpened Stone, LLC
– Gather all tax paperwork for 2011 income taxes
– Successfully arrange for automatic payments for my mortgage
– Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]