Finding Time v. Making Time

I am not getting the things I want to do done. When this occurs I usually say that I could not “find” the time. I’ve come to realize that I will never “find” the time and instead am going to have to “make” the time. If I prioritize my desires and tend to those that mean the most to me then I should not be dissatisfied with my efforts. After all, I some how “make” the time to write this blog five days a week. 😉

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

Profanity fixes the other person’s attention on my words rather than my thoughts.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Man, That Was Painful
Luckily the pain to which I refer did not occur at the dentist’s office but rather at Turner Field.

My dental checkup could not have gone much better yesterday. My gums were good, they could find no decay, and I was able to pay using my Health Savings Account debit card. Nice.

I thought for sure that this would mean my entire day would be like puppies and kitties running though a field of lush, freshly-mowed grass.

And then I entered Hell Turner Field. My first astonishment was to find out that my bank WalkAllOverYa was no longer the “Official Money Dispenser At Turner Field” and instead it was now Suntrust. Dangen! My plan to get some greenbacks at the stadium was squashed because I refuse to pay the ridiculous ATM fees in order to get my money. Luckily, everything at the stadium is over-priced so I felt comfortable charging things using my credit card. Wait a minute, that makes little sense… And then the Braves went on to bitch-slap the Mets for the third time in two days. I guess that I can take solace that I am not the guy who was goofing off sliding down a railing and fell to his death. Mark my words, the lawyers are going to be all over this and by next season we will all be caged “for our own good” while walking in the stadium.

ITP Flickr Pic
Another from last weekend.

I need to make time to shoot more.

Kindling An Interest
I’ve come up with a “Killer App” for a Kindle (which is an e-book reader for those of you who have no idea of what I speak), now if Amazon would only reduce the price and improve its ability to read PDF files.

My “Killer App” is using the Kindle as a repository for manuals. Because I buy so many devices and increasingly the manuals for these devices are available electronically, why not have one device (read “a Kindle”) on which I can store them? This would be a godsend when traveling, especially to locales where internet service is sketchy and downloading a manual on demand is not an option.

Oh and I’d also be able to load it up with novels for which I will never “find” time to read.

Oh The Frustrations!
I’ve just paid my AT&T phone bill. I figured that it was the time to strike early and remove my pointless $7.50/month “Inside Wiring Maintenance Plan.” Having searched high-and-low on their website to accomplish this I caved-in and called a customer service representative. Because I was calling right as they “opened” I got someone to pick up the phone immediately. “Smooth sailing!” I thought to myself.

Everything was going swimmingly until this conversation occurred
Rep: “Do you know that you can remove this service online?”
Me: “Yes, I tried everything but never found a way to ‘remove’ it.”
Rep: “Oh, I see. I must tell you that there is a one-time charge for me to do this.”
Me: “Really? How much?”
Rep: “$9.95”
Me: “Yikes. That seems like a rip-off! I’ll see if I can find the way to do it for free.”

After trying to — upgrade my service, buy useless phones, and sign up for internet service — all of which I declined, I hung up the phone. Now I will have to “make” the time today to remove this nonsensical “maintenance plan” from my account.

Is it any wonder why people are increasingly fed up with the greed of companies?

RealiTV Update: Super Size Me
Hell’s Kitchen
Thanks to Hulu I was able to catch up on my Hell’s Kitchen watching.

Matt sliced off the top of one of his fingers? What an idiot! Oh wait a minute… Did I ever have flashbacks… To say I couldn’t watch the show for a moment is a complete understatement.

The cooks on this season are complete buffoons and should never be allowed to run their own restaurant. Old Cheeky Ramsay pulled one out of his bum last night when he told Rosanne that she could return to the line… and then fired her ass! PSYCHE!

I will watch this season to its end mostly because I have already invested so much time watching it.

Top Chef
On to a RealiTV show that I can respect, Top Chef. On last night’s episode Daddy Tom had a “previous engagement” so big, bad Anthony Bourdain returned! Booyah!

The QuickFire challenge of working a diner’s egg station proved to be too much for most of the chefs and milfy-Antonia won the challenge. From the way it was edited she really looked like the only one who seemed comfortable as a short-order cook.

For her “advantage” Antonia got to hand-pick her two partners for Restaurant Wars!!!! In what appeared to be the most one-sided challenge to date Antonia, King Richard, and Stephanie (who I must admit is really growing on me) beat up on Dale, Lisa, and Spike. For her ability to juggle front and back of the house Stephanie won the challenge and was rewarded with what sounded like an awesome trip to Spain. Meanwhile Dale and Lisa duked it out for Top Loser while Sneaky Spike slithered his way into a “it’s not me” corner and watched with a Cheshire Cat grin.

I’m gonna call it now…
Top Three = Stephanie, Richard, Antonia
Winner = Antonia

What says you?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – harried
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Oasis — “Supersonic”
Website Of The Day – My buddy Darren has pointed me to another site where musicians can upload and share their music. I can dig that idea. If you can too then check out Jamendo. (No, I don’t know why it’s called that, I will assume it’s because the domain name was available.)
Exercise (b)Log – I walked about a mile 😉
Monthly Foot Mileage – 25 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 25 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 13
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 52 (52)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]