Midweek Quickie

You’d think that all of the time I had at my disposal yesterday would have resulted in a quality blog today. You’d think wrong. I’m behind schedule again, so it’s going to be a short one (insert derogatory joke here).

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Walk while you make a phone call, have a personal conversation, or hold a meeting.

Standing up gives your back a much-needed rest from sitting, walking strengthens your leg and core muscles, and movement of any sort burns energy. But there’s an added benefit to talking while on the go: Studies show that physical activity flushes stress hormones out of the brain, which allows for higher cognitive functions like creativity and problem-solving. So, your brain gets a boost while you burn energy.

Come hell, high water, or back issues, my walking routine will start again this week. This statement has no relation to yesterday’s Daily
Challenge, I’m just thinking aloud.

Back Still In Black, aka “One Lump Or Two?”
The stitches are out. The doctor pushed out a bunch of blood from Thing 2 (and it’s reacting by swelling a bit again this morning) and deemed that I was healing very well. Even more strange, the doctor pulled the stitches while I stood. All was going well, but about three-fourths of the way through (by my estimate) I started to get weak-kneed and needed to sit down. It’s not like I saw blood, though while I admit I don’t like seeing blood I’m perfectly fine with seeing my own.

I had an incident last night with Thing 1 and wound up pushing out some coagulating blood forcing me to jump in the shower to make sure that I was cleaned off well.

So, nearly two weeks since surgery and I’ll score my experience a ‘C’ — there is a potential for success, but early indications are that I am unsure that this was worth it.

Damn, That Pizza Was Big
After the doctor visit I ate lunch at ITP-Reader Barb’s suggestion of Baby Tommy’s New York Style Pizza. The joint was in my old work neighborhood, which made it fun to reminisce, and my heart was warmed when I saw the logos for New York’s sports teams (including the one who got massacred by the Braves last night — good thing I didn’t go to the game). I had two ginormous slices, which made for enough food to keep me filled up for the rest of the night. I’ll return.

Too Much Time On My Hands
I was done with lunch with about five hours to kill prior to the start of last night’s iOS Developers Meetup. I knew that if I headed back to East Atlanta I’d never return to the West Side, so I decided to try and find something to do to kill five hours. Shopping was out of the question since I don’t need anything. The High Museum was an option, but I wasn’t carrying my membership card and I thought that I should be working. I had far too much time to kill by sitting around in a coffee shop or bar, so those were nixed as well.

I set out looking for a public library. You remember public libraries, don’t you? I tried to remember where I’d last seen a public library, excluding East Atlanta’s, but couldn’t envision any. I turned to the power of Google Maps and was astonished to see no red pins dropped on the West Side when I searched for “library.” I thought for sure that there must be a library in Virginia-Highland or Morningside, so I started driving that way. When I realized that the only library nearby was the one on Ponce which, given its proximity to where all of the homeless hang out, I deemed “out of play.” I gave up my quest. Pity. And yes, I understand why there aren’t more libraries in this world and the likelihood is that over time they’ll disappear completely, but I really could have used a conveniently-located one yesterday.

As I wound my way toward home I decided to treat myself to a King of Pops popsicle ice pop; I chose Orange Cream. It was the first time that I was underwhelmed with a King of Pops ice pop — the Orange Cream was neither “orangy” enough, nor “creamy” enough for my taste.

At home I napped (love it!) and made multiple attempts (and failed) at doing work. I’m in for a very long day today at the office…

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – more than a little perturbed with my back
Current Music – silence because I’m trying to bang this out as quickly as possible
Website Of The Day – STRICTLY FOR THE NERDS — Brett Terpstra is a gifted programmer with a blog. He’s created Marked, an app I own and need to learn how to use; nvAlt, a fork of Notational Velocity which I use nearly daily; and an exhaustive comparison if iOS editors.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In –

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~7.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 4
Carnivorous Days – 13
Pancakes Eaten – 3

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

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette

April Goals
– Lose at least three pounds (net weight loss)
– Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
– 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
– 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]