I’m fighting off a “things are starting to get chilly” cold/funk today. This is an all-too-common affliction in my life, my body just doesn’t seem to handle the chilly/warm or warm/chilly transitions well. I plan, or at least hope, to be at 100% by tonight for the fun I have planned.
Today’s Personal Project
– Change my theatre ticket for Thursday night to another night when my schedule is open.
– Put the box I need to mail into the goddamn car so that I don’t forget it again like I did this morning.
Today’s Daily Challenge
Plan one activity you can do with a friend this weekend or next week, and put it on the calendar.
Social connections are critical for our emotional health – friends are literally a life-saver! Studies find that people who have strong social relationships are happier even in old age, regardless of their physical health.
I swear that I hadn’t read ahead when mentioning that I needed to be more of a group planner yesterday. I thought that I already had this licked with the activity I’ll describe below, but that’s occurring tonight and this is referring to doing something next week.
An Afternoon Walk
With the predicted chilly morning weather my boss and I both decided to wait until yesterday afternoon to exercise. We managed a moderately-paced 5.3 mile hike around the Perimeter Mall area before heading over to Taco Mac to watch the early portion of the Jets’ defeat whilst we had beverages and food.
I was home early and sober enough to accomplish a lot last night (like, all of those things on my To Do list that I need to get done while at home) but instead laid down onto the bed an nearly promptly fell asleep.
Combining today’s cold/funk with another chilly-morning prediction I decided to stay in bed. It’s going to be a struggle to get myself out of bed and into the cold(er) air in the morning as Winter approaches.
I’m Selling My iPhone 4 To Gazelle
I’ve committed to selling my iPhone 4 to Gazelle. Sight-unseen Gazelle has offered my $135 for the phone (low-balled, but convenient) and if I can ever remember to pack it up and send it to them in the postage-paid box they’ve provided, the deal will get done. Of course Gazelle has the option of lowering their offer if they do not think I’ve accurately described the condition of my iPhone 4. We’ll see, I’ll let you know what the final selling price is once I find out.
I decided on Gazelle over eBay, Craigslist, or even in-person selling because I’m a fan of convenience and I just want the deal to be done even if the price is not the highest that I can garner.
The Third Cookbook Signing
Had I not skipped Taste of Atlanta on Saturday today would be the third cookbook signing I’ve attended in five days. Tonight I’ll be dining with ITP-Reader Betsy at Woodfire Grill for former Top Chef cheftestant Kevin Gillespie’s cookbook release/dinner. The book actually doesn’t “drop” until next Tuesday, so I am contemplating spending full retail price on it tonight so that I can have Gillespie sign it for me. If I don’t buy a copy tonight, I’ll contemplate ordering the book from Amazon at a significant discount when it becomes available.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – excited for tonight’s dinner, trying to kick my body into better health
Current Music – silence, seems to happen a lot more often these days
Website Of The Day – If not for the fact that I’ll be down at Pine Mountain (FDR State Park specifically) that weekend I would probably attend Atlanta Veg Fest to check it, and the people attending it, out. No handshaking, however… (old joke)
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, ~5.3 miles
Morning Weigh-In – check again tomorrow, that’s Wednesday, right?
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~35.4 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights
Days Of Bed-Making – 9
Vegetarian Meals – 15
Carnivorous Meals – 7
Pancakes Eaten – 0
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
October Goals
– Wear “nice” clothes to work at least twice a week, if for no other reason than to have people wonder why I am dressing up. New!
– Eat no fewer than forty-five vegetarian meals
– Take at least one load of stuff from my house to Goodwill
– Take unused electronics to recycling center
– Post at least ten new photos during the month
– Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
– Finish two books (audio or otherwise, comic books do not qualify)
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Ride no fewer than 100 miles
– Walk (or run) no fewer than 100 miles
– Do no fewer than 750 sit-ups
– Do no fewer than 300 push-ups
– Read a non-techincal book
– Find someone else who will go out on a date with me
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
Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
- Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
- God, No! — Penn Jillette
- The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
- Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore
- How We Decide — Jonah Lehrer
- Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson
- Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays) — Arthur Miller
- Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I’ll admit I think my level of social interactions is below where I think it should be…we’ll go to a party or meet up with another couple every few weeks but most of my interactions take place at the gym or on the trails…I keep saying I’m going to do better, but it hasn’t happened yet.
I’m thinking of making the jump to a smartphone, work will now reimburse me $50/month if I use my own phone. It might be worth it to only have to deal with one phone again.
So are you going to the FDR campout this year? I’m 90% sure I’m not doing the Solider Marathon, so I’m considering it (See first paragraph above)…plus it will give me some extra training time at Pine Mountain.
Yeah, I’ve already emailed Jill asking her to put my name on the list for the FDR campout (Nov 9-10-11 for those of you who may be interested in joining).
There is an outside chance that I might be down there a few days ahead as well because there is a band I’d love to see in concert playing in Macon on that Wednesday night (they have no Atlanta date scheduled) so I may head to Macon Wednesday, stay in a hotel there Wednesday night, and then head to the Pine Mountain area on Thursday — since I see little sense in returning to Atlanta on Thursday only to head south again on Friday. I could always cycle around that area Thursday/Friday (weather permitting of course). I’ll have to see if/how everything falls into place with work.
I haven’t been camping in so long I’m about to the point of either going or getting rid of much of my camping gear that is taking up much needed space. Of course I will be solo (well maybe I’ll bring the Nibbler), there is no way Jerry will want to come along.
You can always tell when the weather starts to cool down, the colder it gets the further down into the covers Nibbles goes and the longer she stays there. She is the perfect dog for this type of weather.
So far my jury service is uneventful. You do learn a lot about other people in the pool as the lawyers throw out questions trying to eliminate the troublemakers. Just the one trial so far, those not selected were dismissed for lunch at 11:15. Debbie came over and we had Thai on the square. I’m back in the bullpen trying to get some work done (and catch up on the blogosphere).
Iowa report, Barb? I guess it was Friday afternoon, Debbie came to the garage and picked me up after I dropped my car. We were heading back home and there were firemen out for a training run wearing all their gear. From where the trucks were waiting for them, it looked to be about a mile and a half or more. I shouted encouragement- they shouted something but I don’t think it was encouragement.
-FP
From the CL Omnivore blog: “Woodfire Grill Tue., Oct. 9, 6-10 p.m. Kevin Gillespie’s Fire in My Belly release celebration and book signing. Woodfire Grill hosts a special celebration for the release of Kevin Gillespie’s new cookbook, Fire in My Belly. The party is from 6-10 p.m. and includes a tasting of hors d’oeuvres from recipes featured in Fire in My Belly. Admission includes a copy of the cookbook personalized by Gillespie during the event.”
Note the last sentence.
That must be someone’s error since there were two purchasing options:
1. $35 sans book
2. $75 with book
and my ticket clearly states “GENERAL ADMISSION WITHOUT FIRE IN MY BELLY BOOK”
You just can’t trust anything you read on teh intarwebz anymore! 🙂