Fewer Things, Stronger Wings

I am once again ramping up my efforts to get rid of material possessions that do nothing but weigh me down. One of my big targets this week is to go through my CD collection and keep only those that have sentimental value, are unavailable digitally, or that I know I will listen to entirely after putting it into a CD player. The “plan” is to take a large box of CDs up to Criminal Records in Little Five Points to see how much they will offer me; I don’t think it will be a lot of money, but I’m not using them so why should I hold onto them?

I am also hoping to have dinner tonight with a friend, and former coworker, who has experience selling things on eBay. Stay tuned…

I’ve Been Living In The Past
Perhaps detrimentally to my mental health I have been thinking a lot about my past and beating myself up regarding all of my missed/blown opportunities in my life; naturally most of these have been regarding relationships, but there have been other things as well. I think I’ve been doing this because I have been spending a lot of, perhaps too much, time alone.

One blast from the past that proved beneficial was Season 5 of The Amazing Race, which I concluded watching this weekend by doing some indoor cycling on Saturday and Sunday. My ride on Sunday marked my eighth consecutive day of filling all three exercise rings on my Apple Watch. Since I am the only one I know who wears an Apple Watch, one ring represents the number of minutes exercised and is filled when that exceeds thirty, one ring represents the number of calories burned in a day and for me that is filled when that exceeds 450, and one ring represents the number of hours I’ve stood up and moved around and that is filled when that exceeds twelve.

A Little Bit Of Atlanta In Pawnee?
I mentioned that I’ve started (binge) watching Parks And Recreation. During the first few seasons there was a still image used in the opening that kept nagging me. I’m sure that I am not the first one to document this, but I finally put two-and-two together over the weekend. Here is a photo of that image that I took of my tv (sorry about the moire pattern there was nothing I could do about that):
Opening Shot From "Parks and Recreation"

and here is a Google Maps screenshot of the location that I recognized:

Real Life "Parks and Recreation"
Yep, it’s the diner next to Galaxy Tattoo on Cheshire Bridge!

My pattern recognition ability remains strong.

Quitting While I Am Behind
I’m not even a genuine Packers fan but that game caused me much stress so I had to give up watching in the third quarter.

In order to distract myself from the outcome and accomplish something productive last night I decided to install my new Topeak PanoBike Bluetooth Smart Cadence and Speed Sensor. I looked that the User Guide and thought that I completely understood what appeared to be a simple install. The first fail I had was that neither of the provided mounts for the cadence magnet fit into my pedal. I chose to skip this and get the speed sensor up and going so I clipped the speed magnet onto a spoke and started spinning the wheel; that was the second failure. The third failure occurred when I screwed up a couple of zip ties, for which I expected to have more of in my collection of spare zip ties but do not. After getting increasingly frustrated I decided to give up for the night. I went back upstairs and reread the User Guide to see that I had done something wrong. I went back down into the basement to fix one of my errors but could not find the magnet for the cadence sensor. I searched for a good five minutes to find the cadence magnet to no avail. Finally I looked at the bottom of the headlamp that I was holding in my hand to use as a flashlight only to find the cadence magnet attached to it. At that point I gave up. Neither sensor is working as I write this portion on Sunday night, and frankly I’m okay with this for today.

Big Week Ahead
This is going to be a big week for me. One day later in the week, I am unsure which yet, I am supposed to have a technical interview. You may correctly assume that I am hoping that it goes well, as I am ready to restart my career.

Oooh, for whom will I root next week in the Packers v. Falcons game? You’d think that living inside the perimeter would make me automatically root for the home team. Not so fast my friends… I rooted for the Packers back in October, and I planning to be in the presence of Packers fans on Super Bowl Sunday, so I think that I will be rooting for the visitors.

Happy MLK Jr Day. Hope that if you are working today that you have an easy day.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

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29 Responses to Fewer Things, Stronger Wings

  1. Okay this is too funny!

    Just after posting today’s blog post I received my “Daily Challenge” email and it was titled “Set your CDs free”. The challenge is described as “Learn where you can donate your old CDs and DVDs”. Kismet!

    Look at me being ahead of the game for once.

    • Barb% says:

      oh, and that is funny about the CDs.
      I know Allan put all of ours into I-Tunes or wherever, but I’m not sure if he got rid of all of them or not.

  2. Hmmm, I just realized that yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of my father’s death. I must call my mother today.

  3. If the last two Federal Holiday Mondays (observed for Christmas and New Year’s Day) proved anything today will be a slow comment day on the blog. Poop.

      • You should have phrased it in the form of a Trump tweet, Steve.

        “Paulie doesn’t even know the commenting pattern of the readership of his own blog. Sad!”

        • Stacy says:

          I saw Steve’s “Wrong!” and just burst out laughing. Tickled my funny bone, that did.

        • Barb% says:

          but – Steve only comments with 1 word – does he really count?

          • Steve says:

            Sometimes one word is all it takes. Breakfast had just been delivered to our table and I decided to eat all the food was hot. We then proceeded on to our first experience at Aldi. It is to me clearly a German supermarket. Very minimal, no decor so to speak, but good prices.

            Our excitement from the weekend was Gus getting a stick stuck above his left eye. At least that’s what the vet thought happened, considering the puncture wound. His eye is fine and he will heal nicely, but his eye swollen shut was disconcerting.

            Saturday morning I managed to fell a large dead tree that if it fell the wrong way would have hit the house. It was exciting for the aspect of not being sure even after I cut it I could get it to fall the direction I wanted. With the help of a very tight rope tied to the tractor I convince the tree to lay down and spent the next day and a half slicing it up.

            Congrats to the Pack. Let’s take it to the Falcons!

            -FP

  4. Barb% says:

    Do they ever got to that diner in Parks & Rec? I’ve just watched a few episodes, not sure if we ever finished the 1st season on Netflix- its an ok “filler” show, but nothing we feel we have to watch.

    I’m canceling my free 30 day Amazon Prime membership today, as they will charge me tomorrow. We don’t online order enough to make the $99 worth it, and really, besides Bosch & Transparent, their original shows are just ok. Though I did binge watch Red Oaks yesterday – set in 1985 NJ – its silly, but interesting enough.
    Also – Allan orders more online than me, so we may try again with his email address & account – so we may get another 30 days free.

    We had the shed painted yesterday, my bank account is quite a bit lighter, but we didn’t want to do exterior painting. Felix & his family did a fine job, so the shed project is now officially done.

  5. Barb% says:

    Also – attempted to mountain bike finally again Saturday, its been I think about 4 months. I’m back to being a beginner, really need to get some more cardio work, but it was a gorgeous day.
    I heard Wheelhopper was fun yesterday, but I was babysitting painters, so I couldn’t go.

  6. Stacy says:

    Hi, my name is Stacy and I highly approve of upcoming sports team allegiance.

    That game that game that game! Oh great googly moogly. When we were up so far in the first half friends started contacting me asking what my plans were for next week’s game. I was all: nooooooooooooooo don’t jinx us, man! And they almost did. Took me a while to start breathing normally again. 😉 Now all this week being a Packer fan in downtown Atlanta is going to be a lot of fun. The state of my desk leaves no question as to who I’m supporting.

    Fun weekend! Didn’t do too much on Saturday: got the laundry done and then just kinda was lazy. Yesterday I went stomping around our “horrible, run down, not to mention crime-ridden” 5th District and took a bunch of pictures of how scary it is to live here. My feet took me down to the MLK Center which I felt was only appropriate for this weekend. 🙂

    • Barb% says:

      You know me, I will be happy with which ever teams wins next Sunday.
      I confuse the hell out of people, because I will cheer for both teams.
      But – I have lived in Atlanta longer than the Midwest now, so I officially will be a Falcons fan, I will wear red & black.
      I’m wondering if Diana (Cheese Spread) & her hubby will come to town.
      I’m seriously thinking about going to tailgate & watch the game on TV somewhere, and I can’t imagine I”d be able to afford the tickets.

      • Fo what I paid for the regular season game I can’t imagine I would want to afford the cost of a playoff game. I will be going out somewhere to watch the game, location has yet to be determined.

        I just saw that the Packers v Falcons game is the early game, 3:05pm EST kick off.

      • Stacy says:

        Barb, Amy is thinking about going down to Lot K to tailgate again — she said your friends were there this weekend too? If the weather is nice I may do that! Just the tailgate, as I’m sure I can’t afford the tickets. If I do, you should join us! 🙂

  7. I was wrong!!! 😀

    I don’t get my money’s worth from Amazon Prime really. Though I did just watch all of TAR season 5 for “free” using Amazon Video.

    They go into a diner in some episodes of P&R but I doubt seriously that it was “that” diner.

    Stacy, I went to Instagram expecting to see you decked out in Packer gear again and saw the day you had traipsing around with Aron. I’m sure you two were both packing pistols given that you were in such a crime-ridden neighborhood. 😉

  8. HamWithCam says:

    Dang it! <– my fav Paulie phrase.

    Speaking only for myself, I was really hoping for a word or two from you about how safe and wonderful it is to live in John Lewis's 5th Congressional District.

    Having said that, of course, it is safe and wonderful, if you live in Butthead, across the street from the Governor's mansion, parts of O4W, on Peachtree between 10th and 14th, etc, etc. Even in a portion of the City of Decatur, where $Million homes are more and more common (really).

    And who among us guessed (even 10 years ago) the explosive growth/popularity of the Atlanta Beltline? Paulie, can you recall the "3 hour tour" (on mountain bikes) we took prior to any major construction? What was that, 5+ years ago?

    So far, at least on The Facebook, I've not seen anybody regale us about how great it is to live, for example, along Moreland Avenue, south of I-20 toward I-285. Great area, BTW. Buy in now, cheap. Talk about convenience for getting a "payday loan". Or buying drugs or a gun for…$50. Errr, a friend told me.

    No, I'm not a Trump supporter, yet I will support him as our president. Yes, I've lived in the 5th Congressional District for over 35 years. More than that, if you count the sentence I served before I got out of Georgia Tech (where students still walk the campus streets at their own risk after 9:00pm). And yes I've met Representative John Lewis (at the ever so posh Capital City Club, downtown). He needs to work on his handshake. Cold fish.

    I'm hoping everybody has a great MLK day. And, please remember the "reason for the season". If you've not been to the King Center, please consider going.

    JG/HamWithCam
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamwithcam/

    • Looks as if autocorrect got you, Ham. 😉

      I’m trying to get away from lamenting about politics. I keep waiting for Allen Funt to come out from somewhere and tell us all to “Smile, you’re on ‘Candid Camera’.”

      Atlanta, District 5, has its problems. It has the same problems you find near most of Atlanta’s biggest cities — parts of the Bronx in New York, the Southside of Chicago, etc.

      Do I feel “safe” in East Atlanta. Not exactly, though it has been many years since I’ve been burgled or held up at gunpoint.

    • Barb% says:

      I need to look up what the actual lines are for the 5th Congressional district – because over where Allan works – west of the GA Dome, it isn’t a very nice place at all. I get a little nervous when I’ve been over there, and I”m not one to be that way. Not defending Trump at all, he’s an idiot with his tweets, but everyone on both sides need to try to start getting along.

      I knew at the beginning of the Beltline talk, if they could JUST get it started, it would become an awesome thing. I really hope it helps the SW & NW side, like it has the SE side of town.

  9. Barb% says:

    just saw Clark Howard at Hardee’s – he did not use a coupon.

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