I’m exclusively driving the Jackmobile again, for how long I do not know. When I can finally put my trust into it (read “by Monday”) I will contact my dentist and reschedule my checkup. Hell, if my mouth isn’t bothering me much I may just put it off until me regular appointment in mid-December.
Today’s Personal Project
Get out of the office early enough to make it down to Glenwood Park by 7pm without driving like a maniac or going insane.
Today’s Daily Challenge
Learn the signs and symptoms of stroke.
Each year 15 million people worldwide have a stroke, a condition in which the blood supply to the brain is disrupted. Treatment for stroke can be much more effective if it is given early, making it all the more important to be familiar with the most common signs and symptoms.
Mine tended to slice the golf ball into the woods. Oh, not that’s not the type of stroke about which they are talking…
About Tuesday Night
Tuesday night’s Dish Crawl was interesting… At first I thought there were going to be a lot of women with whom I had an interest in talking, but most of those women were merely eating dinner at The Big Ketch in Buckhead. There were two women who I wanted to chat up, one I actually did and quickly found out that she just bought a house in Brookhaven with her boyfriend; the other was clearly with the man to whom she talked all night. I spent the evening having good foodie talk with the boyfriended one and her friend (in whom I had no interest, not that I can say that she had any for me either). Oh well.
The real reason I went on the Dish Crawl was the food. Though we didn’t know which restaurants at which we’d be dining we knew that there would be four and that we would be walking from one to the other.
As I mentioned we started the night at The Big Ketch in Buckhead. As its name suggests The Big Ketch is a seafood restaurant, and is located on Roswell Road. There I had a glass of Terrapin beer while I waited to get server an appetizer of two grilled oysters. It’s now that I should mention that I am not a fan of oysters, but I was hungry and I didn’t want to look like a food luddite by passing on them. They were actually really good (they had a breading/garlic topping), though I doubt that I shall be ordering up a mess of oysters any time soon.
From The Big Ketch we walked (past Allan’s old fire house) down to a place called Instanblue — which was not once named Constantinople though I would have laughed had it been. Istanblue is an odd club/hookah/restaurant sort of place. There we were served some traditional Middle Eastern fare (hummus, tabouli, etc). Service was a bit slow (more on this in a second), and when we were all getting up to leave they served us each a plate of rice and delicious meat (not sure the type — I’d so fail that test on Hell’s Kitchen or Top Chef). As we finished up we were escorted out the back door like celebrities, mostly because the place had become jam-packed with people there for a hip-hop private party.
The next stop was the (new to me location of) Fado. Did you know that Fado has a new menu? Seriously, and not just because it’s been about fourteen years since I went to Fado when it was in its previous location. At Fado I had a lamb slider, two chunks of pork belly (with some sort of reduction sauce), and perhaps the night’s worse dish — a flatbread thing with vegetables and a sweet potato. Oh yeah, I drank a Smithwick’s.
As a night-ender we wandered up to Cellar 56 where we were served dessert, a Krispy Kreme bread pudding. Had the glass of red wine I ordered been delivered while I was eating the dessert it would have been divine.
Overall the experience was fine, though I’d be reticent to jump on it and do it again. If asked if I’d return to any of the four bars/restaurants, the only definite would be Fado (though I have many better Irish pub options these days), and perhaps The Big Ketch just to try an entree. Istanblue’s food was good, but I didn’t care for the atmosphere and Cellar 56 may be nice, but I never even saw their menu.
About Last Night
Worked until about 7pm and then headed over to Taco Mac for beer and dinner. Taco Mac no longer requires their waitstaff to wear name badges. That’s too bad (for me) because I like knowing the names of the people serving me and reading the name off the of the name badge helps reinforce that for me. Oh well.
About Tonight
If things go to plan I will be heading down to The Shed for a Wild Heaven Brewery beer dinner. I’ve forked over a decent amount of cash for tonight’s activity, well, at least I think I have, and am sort of looking forward to it.
Sort of?
Well, let’s just say that my anticipation for the previous two events at which I was hoping to have fun and meet women were not very productive. And besides, this is a beer dinner and studies have shown that, much like with the computer industry, there are far more men than women interested in beer. Also, I’m fat and perhaps suffering other ill fates because of that so another night of eating and drinking is probably not in my best interest…
The Eyes Are Starting Not To Have It
I find myself struggling to focus on text when I am not wearing my glasses these days. I’m 47 and well aware that the body tends to diminish its senses in order to increase the likelihood that the human being would be attacked by a predator such as a lion or bear (depending on which continent you are living). Sure, it sucks, but I plan to get a new set of eyeglasses next month and wonder if I will finally be talked into getting “progressive” lenses.
GET OFF MY PATCH OF DIRT WHERE A LAWN SHOULD BE YOU DAMNED KIDS!!!
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – weather is blah and so am I
Current Music – the sound of a desk fan as I try not to sweat too much in my nicely pressed shirt that I wore for tonight. Perhaps I should have worn another shirt and put this one on prior to going down to The Shed.
Website Of The Day – If you really want to learn more about the symptoms of a stroke the Daily Challenge website suggests going to the World Health Organization’s page regarding cerebrovascular accidents.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing, and I’m starting to feel the affects as well as starting to miss doing something to improve my shitty health
Morning Weigh-In – not checking
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~11.7 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights
Days Of Bed-Making – 8*
Vegetarian Meals – 17
Carnivorous Meals – 24
Pancakes Eaten – 0
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
November Goals
– none
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
– 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
- White Jacket Required — Jenna Weber
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I forgot to mention that I am now playing around with an iPad Mini at work. It’s what I do… I like it a lot though I still can’t see myself forking over the price that Apple is charging for them.
So, you got a little excercise from the Big Ketch to Istanblue, not much to Fado, but where is Cellar 56? I went to Fado for the first time last week, and saw Istanblue as we looked for free parking – thought it looked interesting, but I’m not a huge fan of that type of food, so figured I’d never go there.
Sounds like an interesting evening at aleast.
It just hit me that Thanksgiving is a week away last night, I guess I need to go buy some turkeys. I talked my boss into letting me take a half day sick day to go to my dental cleaning this afternoon, so basically, I have the afternoon off. Our sick days are separate from PTO & I never use them, so with all the OT I’ve been putting in this fall, I could really use the time for my mental health.
Hmmm.. The Ketch sounds interesting. Always looking for good seafood. And once you walked to the last place, were you expected to hike back to the first one to get your car?
Fado moved? Were they on the block that got demolished?
You actually spoke to other people at this event and some of them were female? Way to go!!! Small steps..
This year, T-day is as early as it can be. Next year it will be as late… amazing.
And don’t forget, next Wednesday is the 3rd one this month, so I expect to see all of you at Georges, unless you are going out of town. Baste the turkey in brine before you leave the house, then come and baste yourselves. With Allan being the possible exception, I know you all have the next day off.
-FP
Cellar 56 is on East Andrews, and was no more than two blocks from our original location (and hence our cars).
Fado is about a block from where it used to sit, and is *very* different that it once was. The old Fado was like being in a cave, this is one has a nearly two-story high ceiling.
Oh, and it’s too weird walking around Buckhead now, it’s like being in a ghost town.
well Steve – Allan is actually off work on T-Day, so we might, actually might, make it to George’s next Wed. We are having some folks over to the house Thursday, pray the weather is nice, I really want to have dinner on the deck again, otherwise we will have the feast in the garage. (not enough room inside). If any of you folks don’t have plans, let me know, the more the merrier. (well, to a degree that is)
Oh, did you get free parking at least this time? I actually like Buckhead, though yes, it is a ghost town it seems. There are plenty of bars down there (especially by the firehouse), it is happening on the weekend, but not so much during the week.
I was able to park for free at The Big Ketch.
Say hi from me to Cindy and Todd tonight!