Friday Fail, But At Least It’s Friday

This morning I tried to call my mother from the Jackmobile using my Blue Ant Supertooth 3 bluetooth hands-free phone device (what does one call these?). I tried twice each time hearing my mother’s voice clearly say “Hello? Hello? Is anybody there? Who is this?” before I gave up and called her without the hands-free “convenience.” I had to make that third call quickly to allay any fears that she might have had thinking she was getting prank calls at 7:15am on a Friday.

Ugh.

Today’s Personal Project
Get a decent night’s sleep so that I’ll be well-rested for tomorrow’s code retreat. Oh, and one other secret solo task about which I cannot speak.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Toss a small ball, book, or pillow into the air and clap before you catch it, and repeat four times.

This exercise helps to develop your fine and gross motor skills, by forcing you to coordinate your large and small muscle groups to successfully throw, catch, and clap. Good coordination helps your body work more efficiently during everyday tasks, and can also help prevent injury.

Perhaps I’ll try this tonight with a bottle of beer.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others
Last night at Chuy’s a large group of people, perhaps a dozen, arrived to sit together. What struck me first was that all of the people were dudes (foreshadowing for tomorrow’s code retreat?). Finally one, cute, young lady (attached to one of the dudes) arrived an sat with them. I made a joke to my boss and we both turned to look when she turned and looked at us with a “WTF?” look, to which I could just say “We’re pleased that your table finally had a woman arrive and sit with them.” which disarmed the situation.

ITP Flickr Pic
Poop, Friday Fail!

ITP Consumer Tip
I like peanuts and peanut butter.
I like cashews and cashew butter.
So when I saw Archer Farm’s natural peanut/cashew butter at Target I immediately bought it.

What.
A.
Mistake.

I know that stirring is necessary for most natural “butter” but in this case the stirring doesn’t seem to do more than incorporate the oil back into a very loose base. I wan’t my peanut/cashew butters to be spreadable, but not make an oily mess while doing so.

I’ve stirred the jar completely, and am now putting in into the refrigerator to see if this helps matters. If not, the nearly-full jar will immediately go into the trash.

Fish On Friday
No, it’s not Lent or anything. Instead I’ll be headed down to the Georgia Aquarium tonight for their music/alcohol/fish night (oh wait, I just found out that they call these “Summer Soundwaves” nights). My boss is a volunteer at the aquarium and can get me in for free tonight, and you know, I like free.

Big Weekend Ahead
It’s supposed to be another hot one in these parts. Tomorrow I’ll be indoors all day for a code retreat (nerdfest) that I’ll talk more about on Monday. I’m planning on doing a long bike ride on Sunday, from where I do not know yet, though I reserve the right to not do the ride if I so desire.

From the look of my lawn it may be time to run the mower over the lawns on Sunday too, especially since I’ll be headed out of town mid-week and who knows how high the grass will be when I return.

Somebody Has A Birthday Today?
Today is semi-ITP-Reader Lisa’s XXth birthday! I’m assuming that she’ll be stopping by the blog today knowing that I’ll be cheering the day of her birth, as well as embarrassing her by announcing that it’s her XXth birthday.

Hey, why doesn’t her age show?

Many happy wishes Lisa. I’ll be sure to give you more shit when I’m in Raleigh next week. 😛

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listening to last week’s “The Incomparable” podcast
Website Of The Day – A lot of people seemed to be stoked that the London Olympics start today. As for me, I couldn’t give a flip.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, ~5.3 miles
Morning Weigh-In – still not checking

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~75.1 miles
Wheel Mileage – ~143.9 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 5
Carnivorous Days – 21
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
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore
6. How We Decide — Jonah Lehrer
7. Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson
8. Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays) — Arthur Miller
9. Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury

July Goals
– Take at least one load of stuff from my house to Goodwill
– Post at least ten new photos during the month (let’s try this again)
– Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
– Finish two books (audio or otherwise, comic books do not qualify)
– 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
– Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course
– Ride no fewer than 150 miles

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]