End Of Month Seven

As we close the best month of the year I am contemplating the changes I plan to make in the months ahead.

Today’s Personal Project
Get my laundry done.
Hopefully watch “Top Chef Masters” played from my iPad directly to a television (Part 1 of a two or three part experiment).

Today’s Daily Challenge
Give your neck an assisted side stretch for ten seconds on each side.

If you stand for long periods or spend most of your time at a desk, it’s likely that your neck needs some TLC. This stretch can prevent injuries and help relieve pain, stiffness, and soreness. Another bonus? It can help you de-stress.

I should try this. I have also been trying to get better about stretching after my walks and rides.

Monthly Wrap-up: July
All-in-all July was the best month I’ve had in ages. Sure, the date count stands at zero and the “Days Since Serious Injury On The Job, Or A Date Has Occurred” is once again reaching Cal Ripken Jr (he was a baseball player, kids) like numbers, but hell, that’s to be expected these days.

I don’t consider turning 47 a bad thing necessarily, but aging is what it is.

If you look at the amount of exercise I tallied in July however, it’s nothing but smiles all around.

I actually watched most of the Stanford CS193P sessions in July. There were a few at the end that I skipped, and now I am finding myself going back for refreshers.

While I didn’t have the best month of photography I did manage to take the camera out of its bag on a couple of occasions [note to self: do this more often].

They Make It Almost Stupidly Easy To Shop
After a trip to Target, a beer and meal at Taco Mac, and then a return trip to target to look for an Apple cable I forgot to look for, I found myself heading to Mecca the Apples Store inside Perimeter Mall.

I walked into the store and was greeted by a cute young Apple Genius and marched directly to the accessory section of the store. I know better than to hang around that candy store for too long, as my bank account shrinks much faster than my waistline. I grabbed the one item needed (an iPad-to-HDMI connector) and checked out using my iPhone and Apple’s “Apple Store” app. As I lined up the scanner in the app the same Apple Genius came up and noticed I was using the app and smiled. It’s so stupidly easy to buy

1. run app
2. scan item
3. confirm payment method
4. submit order

No lines, no physical receipts (unless you want one), no bags (unless you want one), no need to show the Apple Genius your purchase confirmation. I dare say it’s fun, and that it almost feels like stealing. I know, I know, I’ll feel the pain when I get my credit card statement.

“Luckily” for me the process doesn’t apply to high-dollar items like computers otherwise I could be in some serious trouble.

Why I Don’t Believe Our Polling Practices Are Viable
I want to vote on TSPLOST, a plan to spend a lot of money doing a lot of transportation-related projects over the next ten year — not that I plan to be in Atlanta in ten years. However, our antiquated polling/voting setup no longer works efficiently. I must vote at an elementary school near my house. In order to beat traffic and get my morning exercise done I must leave my house and drive seventeen-plus miles to get to where my office is located, well before voting opens.

If I can leave work early enough to get my afternoon chore done and make it back to the neighborhood before polls close (would someone remind me when that is) I have to hope that there is not a long line of people waiting to vote, because I have plans for the evening other than standing in line to vote.

So much of our life is done electronically, I think it’s time to move voting there as well (note: I think in-person voting is necessary too for those who either can’t nor will vote electronically.). And if you thing electronic voting is ripe for abuse let me remind you of the former poll taxes levied on blacks, Chicago’s infamous “Vote early. Vote often.” scandal, as well as Florida’s “hanging chad” fiasco in 2000.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – You may have gathered that I am building an alternate source for my entertainment. Recently I found out about the YouTube “channel” Reserve which is hosting a new video series being done by chef Eric Ripert In the first episode he shares good time and interesting food with his buddy chef Anthony Bourdain.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, ~4.8 miles
Morning Weigh-In – just might check tomorrow

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~85.3 miles
Wheel Mileage – ~182.4 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 6
Carnivorous Days – 24
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]