It’s not even 8:00am and I’ve started preparing lunch. Of course I am making the Crock Pot Spaghetti that I linked to yesterday, so having a four-hour cook time was essential.
Today’s Daily Challenge
Plan to straighten your wrist the next time you use your mobile phone.
Holding a phone with a bent wrist makes your fingers work a lot harder than they have to in order to get the job done! If you’re a heavy texter, bent wrists can also lead to muscle strain. By taking a moment to check your position, you’ll keep your hands and wrists happy.
I don’t know how I hold my phone when I am using it. I will pay attention to this today.
High Fived!
In the past I have mentioned Merlin Mann — a one-time productivity guru — because of the similar background and tastes that we have. Like me, Mann spent his formative years in Florida (though he attended New College in Sarasota), listened to a lot of Hüsker Dü, cites “Glengarry Glen Ross,” as one of his favorite movies, and has taken his Twitter handle “hotdogsladies” from my favorite book, “A Confederacy of Dunces.”
For shits and giggles I’ve tried to make contact with Merlin Mann in the past (I came to find out recently that the concert promoter here in town once knew Mann in Tallahassee as well) but have never received any response.
Yesterday I tweeted the similarity of my favorites to Mann’s and got a “Hive Five” reply.
Simple recognition — some times that’s all it takes to satisfy me…
The Queso Is A Lie
I wound up joining my work drinking club at Taco Mac last night because one of the group had gotten a coupon for a free order of queso ($5.79 value) and I had no better offers.
The evening was interesting, being surrounded by a white-collar work group of about fifteen whose dynamic was fun to watch. Even with all of the rain discussion in yesterday’s blog I was caught off-guard by the ferocity of the storms that rolled in, and caused me to order a third beer (Willpower? What’s that?). Unfortunately the queso came with a catch — someone had to order an entree in order for it to be free, and neither of the two orders of tacos placed by my coworkers qualified as an “entree.” Oh Taco Mac, you cheap bastards…
I made a quick stop at the Emory Kroger to pick up the vittles for today’s lunch. While there I also picked up a cooked chicken to augment the chips and queso that had previously been declared “dinner.” I did manage to show willpower with the chicken, eating only the wings and one breast before placing the remainder into the refrigerator.
ITP Flickr Pic
The dark cycle has returned.
Don’t Know What Trouble I Will Seek Tonight
At first I considered using my Scoutmob at The Barrelhouse tonight. Honestly, I’m already feeling fat, and am dressed as frumpily as I ever do (black t-shirt, jeans, “hiking” shoes) so I’m not in the mindset of seeing and being seen.
If my blasé attitude persists I see tonight as being a great night to setting in front of a television or computer screen and watch videos — assuming Netflix doesn’t go down again as it did last night.
Today’s Personal Project
Call my mother tonight and see how she faired with today’s tropical depression that is passing over her area of Florida now.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – unhappy for all of the reasons you might imagine
Current Music – silence, though I am considering digging into my music archives today
Website Of The Day – Though I am currently not in it, I am considering making the jump from Apple’s Safari browser to Google’s Chrome browser. I am an Apple fan-boy but the update they put out yesterday has given me cause for concern.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – don’t want to know
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 0 (0 cardio)
Days Of Bed-Making – 0
Vegetarian Meals – 5
Carnivorous Meals – 8
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
June Goals
– get my foot to stop hurting
– return ITP-Reader Martha’s coffee percolator to her

- return ITP-Terri’s crutches to her

- not get sick

- finish at least two of the books I am reading

- take at least one box of things to Goodwill

- post at least ten photos in the blog

- drink a lot less alcohol

- prepare a house repair plan and budget
2013 Goals: Measurable
– Get my weight down to 190 pounds so that I can wear a 36″ waist pants comfortably
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Dissolve Sharpened Stone
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Completely run at least one 10k
– Fix all (or at least most) of the things which are wrong with the ITP Estate
2013 Goals: Unmeasurable
– Simplify, simplify, simplify
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– 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)
– Take two real vacations, perhaps one abroad
– Take a more proactive approach to meeting women (read “stop being such a pussy”)
Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2013
- Pages 1.7 for iPad (Timestompers Guide) — by Sean Wells
- 60 Mountain Lion Tips — by David Sparks and Brett Terpstra
- The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business — by Charles Duhigg
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy — by Douglas Adams
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I’m now in Chrome. While I have never attempted it, this seems like trying to drive in the left-hand side of the road instead of the proper side was the road. 😉
A Confederacy of Dunces – I had never really paid any attention to this book until this past spring, when we were to FL and I forgot to bring a “real” book, and only had the iPad. I of course will not take the iPad to the beach, I don’t know what exactly the beach would do to it, but I’m sure I’d screw something up. So, our friends we were staying with didn’t have much that I would be be interested in reading (Graham is like Allan in his book choices) but they did have A Confederacy of Dunces. I don’t read much, I’m still not finished with it, but I have had more than a few people tell me how much they liked this book. It is one strange book, it is interesting, and I will finish someday, probably when we go back to to that same friends house in FL this July. (perfect way to give it back!)
We went out to Rocco’s for Allan’s moms birthday dinner last night (a day early, her birthday is today). She wanted a cheesesteak – who’d have thunk that?
So, no bike ride, but I think that is good, as I would havde gotten stormed on.
I wonder how the storms have been & will be in South GA for our friends on BRAG??????
I have had “Confederacy of Dunces” sitting on my bookshelf for almost 10 years now. No, scratch that: it sat in my storage unit in a box for six of those. 😉 I think it’s about time I add it to my reading list. Perhaps this summer.
I have all these grand plans of my summer reading list…just packing a bag and a blanket, hanging out in the park all day long. But then I realize: holy cow it’s JUNE already! (“Summer” to me starts after Memorial Day, not by the calendar) I’m about a book behind already!
You know, Paulie, if you ever DO want company for your Barrelhouse deal, you can always call me… 😀 Have feet, will walk! I’m not sure what your deal actually is, but I can either split the cost of it with you or buy you some cold frosties in exchange.
I just read on FB that there is NO outdoor camping tonight, that will be very interesting, all the outdoor people inside with the hallway zombies…….
I decided to read Under the Dome before it comes out on tv. It’s long, even by Stephen King standards. At least it’s on the Kindle and I’m not lugging around 3 pounds of paper.
Well I had my sleep study. I hope it ends up being worth it. LOTS of wires and goop to keep the wires attached, I’m pretty sure it will take another wash or two of my hair to get it all out (I washed my hair with Dawn this morning, it did help). I tried to get some more sleep when I got home, but it isn’t going to happen. Might have to just suck it up and go to the office.
If you’re feeling fat and blasé maybe a trip to the gym or some other active tasks is in order??
The Barrelhouse deal:
What to Expect:
====================================================
Three 4-ounce tastings of your choice of craft beers, per person
A shot of the Barrelhouse’s dill pickle soup
Two entrees for you and your drinking buddy (excluding the sacred Bobby Dodd burger)
One of Chef Patric Bell’s famous red velvet brownies with cream cheese ice cream to share
Stacy, it expires a week from today, what night is best for you?
Martha, a gym bag is in my trunk. I may attempt some cardio (elliptical) tonight — it’ll be good for me.
I was thinking I could go with you to Barrelhouse as well, but the dill pickle soup just ruled me out……… yuck!
But, the rest sounds pretty good.
Haha, I’m not sure about the dill pickle soup either but I will give it a go.
Man, I just read that the TSA has reversed their decision to let fliers to take knives on planes. So much to returning to the “Land of the Free” 🙁
Sweet! SCORE! And the dill pickle soup actually sounds pretty good to me. 🙂
Any day next week works well – Tuesday or Thursday being most ideal (because once again, Flicks on Fifth is on Wednesday every night this month). But I’m walking so if Wednesday’s your day, that would be fine with me.
Let’s plan on Tuesday then. This will be completely gratis (unless we desire an additional beer).
Tuesday it is! Thanks, Paulie!
My every other Friday off became a Thursday this week so I could do a massive firewall change tomorrow across the district. Running errands this morning- talked ourselves out of a $1000 trailer to carry the lawnmower back and forth to EP instead buying ramps. In the instructions, it said not to ride up or down on the ramps- hello? You expect me to push that mower? Nuts.
We walked around the “Games field” yesterday and looked at what the park is up to. Just a little re-jiggering of some landscaping. We had hoped for some water management along with the landscaping, but the deluge that hit later proved they have done no additional civil engineering. Such a shame they can’t take care of the assets they have. Said deluge also interrupted my bike ride plans. A whole 6 mile lap around the mountain- my alternate plan after I checked in with the missus, who reported no rain at JEFDSDR, was to ride at home. By the time I arrived, the weather had followed me and shot that idea down.
As Debbie reported yesterday, the pool is indeed BLUE. I added some flocking agent and told Igor he was doing a great job, but it’s not done yet. Maybe by this weekend it will be swimable.
Thinking about the BRAG folks and how much a bike full of water weighs.
-FP
Lunch was a success again, though I’ve managed to eat too much — surprise, surprise!
“Confederacy of Dunces” is one of the few books that I’ve thrown in the towel on before finishing. It just didn’t do anything for me. “Infinite Jest” is another highly-touted book that I didn’t finish. Oh well, diversity in taste is a good thing.
I’m currently reading “The Presidents Club” and highly recommend it if you’re at all interested in politics. It’s confirmed for me that Nixon was brilliant, but pathologically incapable of not being an arrogant jackass. Carter is a weird piece of cheese and a non-team player from the word go. It’s a great history refresher and I added a couple of presidential biographies to my queue. Which is huge, as I generally avoid non-fiction like the plague.
If the rain settles in here, I may drag Steve to a movie. Anybody got any recommendations?
Martha – I’m very interested to hear what your sleep study findings are. I’ve thought about having one done as I never feel rested even after sleeping 9-10 hours.
I’m scheduled to go back for my results on 6/24. I’ll highjack the blog for a full update 🙂
I know if I could sleep 8 hours, I would feel fine. It just never happens. I was actually a little scared I would sleep just fine last night…but, other than taking a little longer to go to sleep than normal, it was a pretty typical night. I’ve been awake since 2-2:30am. I didn’t even say anything and the tech was like “go home and try to get some sleep”…then again, I guess she was monitoring me all night…
Under the Dome is the first bit of fiction I’ve read in awhile, my last two books were both by Mika Brzezinski.
Debbie- I was trying hard to finish that book, but since I don’t read much (I’m so much more a visual person), I need to wait until I’m on vacation somewhere.
I really need to go attack the weeds in my garden tonight, but I’d really like it to be raining so I don’t have to. I think I may have some green beans ready to pick, so I guess I should hope for no rain.
I figure there are almost no BRAG updates on FB today becasue its raining & no one wants to get their phone wet.