In addition to having much work to do (still) I heard a squeak coming from one of the Jackmobile’s wheels as I pulled in to work this morning. I’m hoping that this is an just the indicator that it’s time for a brake job and not something worse. As you will read, the timing of this discovery couldn’t be much worse.
Today’s Daily Challenge
Find out when the next election is happening in your town, state, or province.
Choosing a candidate gives you a say in the future of your community. Even if politics isn’t your thing, casting a vote for the candidates you believe in can still help you feel more in control of your life. By finding out the date of the next election, you’ll be prepared when it’s time to vote for the next leaders of your community.
I’ll guess it’s going to be on a Tuesday.
Follow Up
I need the Jackmobile today because I have a follow-up with the ENT. My throat situation has gotten a little better, but I am not back to “normal”. I’ll be interested to hear his opinion, and to hear if he has any information about the sleep study to which he subjected me.
Middle-Distance Follow Up
On Thursday morning I have a physical scheduled. This will be my first physical since January 2013, the one that launched the medical billing debacle that I endured for eight months of last year. I’ll need transpiration to get to the physical, and then perhaps I will use MARTA the rest of the day.
Distant Follow Up
Tonight I start a two-week intensive German course at the Goethe Institut in Atlanta (it’s located in Colony Square). Obviously fueled by my recent trip to Germany I have decided to finally resume my study of the German language that I started twenty-five years ago. This course will be taught on Monday-Thursday nights, from 6pm-8:45pm, for the next two weeks, which eliminates the ease of dropping the car off at Lam’s in the morning and picking it up in the afternoon.
And Then There Is Hartwell
I have signed up and am looking forward to going to the annual hash campout at Lake Hartwell this weekend. My plan is to drive up on Friday, with bicycle in tow, and return Sunday. It’s been a few years since I’ve attended Hartwell and even though I am still suffering from the poison ivy I picked up at the last Black Sheep I am excited at the thought of hashing this weekend.
And I Can’t Forget About Raleigh
On Friday the 26th I’ll be flying to Raleigh to hang out with the Raleigh Royalty (who might be willing to gloat a bit about what you’ll read later in this post) as well as attend NC State’s Fall Career Fair (as a recruiter).
So What To Do?
As I see it, here are my options:
- Ignorance is bliss: I could do a “Car Talk” solution of just turning up my podcasts and ignoring the sound for two weeks until my busy schedule subsides. Of course this has the potential for serious, and expensive-to-repair, damage.
- Immediate action: I could call Lam’s today to see if they can fit me in tomorrow. I’d drop the car off in the morning and hope that problem is easy to fix and it’d be ready for pickup by tomorrow afternoon. Then I’d have to ensure that I could leave work early enough to pick up the car and drive to Colony Square by 6pm. This has a potential for very bad things if it’s not a one-day fix.
- Push it until Thursday: I could drive the Jackmobile and its new early-warning signal as needed until Thursday. I’d then take my car up to Lam’s after my physical. If the problem is not a one-day fix then I’d have the option of renting a car for my trip to Hartwell. The only caveat to this is that I’d need to rent something large enough to house my bicycle.
What would you do?
Those Packers Are Mean
All I ever wanted out of life was everything, including a Jets victory over the Packers yesterday. Much to my surprise as I entered Lucky’s Burger & Brew the Jets were winning! After requesting that Lucky’s tune to the game, and discovering that the guy a couple of seats away was also a Jets fan, I found out that they don’t have the NFL Sunday ticket (they have cable) so I was spare seeing the Jets’ collapse. I was not complete spared however because Lucky’s did have a TV tuned to the NFL RedZone channel so I was able to see the lowlights, including the reversal of what appeared to be the tying touchdown late in the game.
Today’s Personal Project
Figure it all out.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – frustrated.
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – My week-long suffering with poison ivy led me to seek its beneficial traits. The best I could find was this Tec Labs’ blog post “Benefits of Poison Ivy and Oak Plants”.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my squeaky car
Exercise (b)Log – Sunday = racquetball, ~75 minutes
Morning Weigh-In – 216 fat pounds
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – ~52.5 miles
Gym Visits – 2 (2 cardio)
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
September Goals
– clear out a room’s worth of things I no longer wish to own for the rest of my life
– hire a plumber to come in and fix the “small” repairs
– contact a realtor to make a hit list of things that need to change before the house can be listed
2014 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
– 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
– Sell the ITP Estate (tentative)
2014 Goals: Unmeasurable
– Continue to 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)
Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2014
- “Johnny Carson” by Henry Bushkin
- “Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative” by Austin Kleon
- “Chaos: Making a New Science” by James Gleick
- “What’s So Funny?: My Hilarious Life” by Tim Conway
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
A squeak? Only when moving? Turning left or right or going straight? Doesn’t sound like much of a problem to me.
The house we looked at Friday would be a lot of work and is extremely overpriced. On the good side, it has a basement that reminds me of the ITP Estate, complete with a pool table and workshop with lots of tools (all which would stay).
Saturday evening, we attended a concert by the Gasoline Bros. Could someone that regularly goes to live music events explain why the music has to be so freaking loud? The opening act had an amp that was being pushed beyond what it was capable of, so sounded really sharp. The Bros. sounded better, but were still loud. Is it just I’m a crotchety middle aged old man- and hey, you kids get off my lawn.
Sunday had me finishing my project of repurposing some old Games structure into a cabinet on wheels to store tarps. Even empty, it’s heavy as lead. Hopefully it will last a while. The original structure is only 30 years old, so it should be good for another 30.
Since it was looking like rain last night, I mowed a CX course through the big pasture and rode several laps. I can’t consistently get out of my pedals in order to dismount and go over an obsticle and I thought I had lessened the resistance on the pedals to a minimum… more practice I guess.
-FP
Hard to determine what your car noise is without more detail. Does it squeak while driving or when you apply the brakes? Is it just a squeak or does it sound like metal grinding? When was the last time you had your brakes done? Brake pads have a metal tab that will rub on the rotor when the pads are getting low and produce a squeak to let you know it is time to have your pads checked. If that is the case you will be fine for the next 2 weeks while you have that class but need to have it looked at as soon as you can find time.
I spent Saturday getting certified by the BSA to be able to take a cub scout pack camping. Sort of funny, I had to take a class on how to go camping 🙂 I already knew 99% of the information but some of the safety and logistical stuff was worth the trip.
Sunday was spent getting my ass handed to me on Bull Mountain. I started riding with a new group of people and holy shit are these guys and gals strong. We had 12 riders rolling and I had to cut the ride short at about 3 hours to get home. They were just getting warmed up, I think they rode all of Bull and Jake. Good times
Go by & see Lam & ask for a quick assessment. I’ve done that at lunch time more than once. They can tell pretty quick if it is problem that will take more than a day to fix. That way you don’t have to fret about it.
We went Pine Lake hashing Saturday, it ended up being old timers day, there were less than 5 people that I didn’t know at all (out of 25 or so hashers). I ended up doing a walkers trail with Shiggy Pits, Little Willie, Bunny & Tastes Great. It was a little too short (I hate being FRB) so Willie, TG & I went back out & did the last mile or so of the actual trail. Lost Cause & Wise Cracker laid a great trail, it was fun getting back out there. We agreed to go back in 2 weeks for a trail out near Stonecrest Mall, might have to do a bike ride on the Arabia Mtn trail first that day.
Of course no noises were made when driving to ENT. If I hear anything again I’ll swing by Lam’s for a quick assessment.
It’s been awhile since the last brake job, which was promoted by hearing the tab squeal on the rotor.
So what did the ENT say? Inquiring minds and all that…
Still here.
Oh, and other news, I think TJ & Mary are going to buy that house across the street. You all might get invited to help with something over time…….
Hope for good news from the ENT and no more noises from the Jackmobile.
I listened to Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin last week. What did you think of it? The narration on the audio book was painfully bad.
ENT not thrilled with progress, go back in three months. Good news of the trip was that there was no indication of sleep apnea — I just snore.
Being a huge Carson fan I thought the book was interesting, not necessarily flattering however. I didn’t much care for the narration either.
So what is the treatment that isn’t progressing?
I need to start taking the prescribed medicine again. Like working out I have a tendency to forget to do it. Also suggested continue changing my diet and perhaps raising the head of my bed, which I guess facilitates better nasal drainage.
So put one end on blocks? I’ve rarely had prescribed meds, so will also forget. As I am taking them in the morning, I was leaving the bottle in the sink so I wouldn’t forget. I don’t know what to do if you have to take it more than once a day. Maybe that fancy Iphone has an alarm… as well as the new U2 album.
I have an app that reminds me to do things, it’s just a matter if following through. See also: Gym membership.
Squealing returned on drive to Colony Square. Guess I will swing by Peach Auto tomorrow.