I have a feeling that I will come to the end of my life wondering where all the time went and why I failed to accomplish more. Then I will remember days like yesterday. I left a somewhat unproductive workday at 5:30pm and headed straight to the laundromat for laundry and dinner. with the colder weather I am forced to dry my clothes, including thick sweaters, longer so that took a little longer than usual. By the time I got home, put my clothes away, and sat down to do some work it was already 9pm. WTF?
Shop Local And Stick It To The Man
For the past few years I’ve been touting the services of Atlanta-based Ticket Alternative which offers online ticket purchases with much more reasonable convenience fees than that other ticket master.
The other day I went to make a purchase from Ticket Alternative for an upcoming show and was some what flummoxed; the ticket’s price was $8 and the service charges for this were $2.25. When I called Ticket Alternative on their TicketMasteresque fee they were quick to respond and explain that it was difficult to offer lower fees on cheap tickets. I applauded them for their explanation and quick response.
Yesterday in the mail I received a small box from Ticket Alternative. Inside the box was a Ticket Alternative t-shirt, coozies and bottle openers. Cool. You can’t buy my love (well, there are women who could) but you can certainly buy my customer loyalty with great customer service.
Oh Bally Total Fitness…
I used to really love working out in your facilities. Once again you are attempting to lure me back into the the gym with your “fantastic” January membership offer. However, when I nearly rejoined a few years ago because I thought that I could return to the Bally Total Fitness on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs I found out that you had just sold that facility and it was being torn down and replaced with a self-storage business (and as an aside doesn’t the presence of an industry that exists for the sole purpose of storing your stuff outside your house indicate that we all own way too much shit?). I don’t even know if you have a facility near Lenox Mall any longer since you moved the one right across from the mall to Lindbergh Center, which was then knocked down a few years later.
You should just give up trying to lure me back because I’m definitely not going to drive over to near Northlake Mall just to work out.
ITP Flickr Pic
Still circling the airport awaiting clearance for landing.
$127 Hurts, But Not As Much As $200
This morning I received my monthly natural gas bill from Scana Energy — $127. Considering I’ve been running my heat much more than I normally would due to my stomach flu and party last Saturday I was fearing a bill north of $200. So, I guess you could say that I was “pleased” that it was “only” $127.
To Drobo Or Not Drobo, That Is The Question
I’m looking a sea of external hard drives that I’ve purchased over the years (not including the two I gave away last year…). For the most part these devices contain hard drives that I consider to be too small (160GB, 250GB, 320GB) for my current data needs (especially once I start shooting again).
A couple of years ago a company called Data Robotics which offers a device they call the Drobo. A Drobo is multi-disk housing which provides data duplication using any combination of SATA disks stored within it. I’ve never knuckled under and purchased one because I’ve always felt that it was too highly-priced for what it offers. But now I’m considering purchasing one to be the one hard drive enclosure to rule them all… Or not…
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – pretty good but afraid I’m not doing enough with my life
Current Music – listening to the “MacBreak Weekly” podcast
Website Of The Day – I’m still not purchasing physical media. Zipidee is another outlet for purchasing digital media.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 199 pounds
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 10 (10*)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 11
Marta Rides – 0
* – because I stripped the bed instead of making the bed
January Goals
– Not get fired from my job
2010 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
РEarn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalape̱o Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
– Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
– Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I believe George Carlin (RIP) had a bit on ‘stuff’ and how we have way too much of it. I don’t consider myself a really materialistic person but when I look around my house, which I’m sure in the beginning was build for a family of 4 or so and wonder, “where can Jerry hang up his clothes”…I have to rethink the amount of stuff I really do ‘need’.
There are a few gyms close to your house, why don’t you stop in and give them a look? Snap is open 24/7 so there would be no excuse for not going.
Carlin’s bit was great! I’m sure it’s on YouTube… I keep thinking about what I consider essential for when I downsize.
I thought about checking out Snap Fitness but am afraid that I’d run into ITP-Reader Betsy there. (KIDDING!) Actually, I don’t know where I’d find the ninety-minutes to work out and shower afterward. My days are already over -committed and will be even more hectic once I commit myself to writing code and photographing again. I think my weight-loss solution will consist of far fewer calories consumed, walking/jogging and bike riding when the weather improves.
At least you know what Ticket Alternative spends those service charges on – giveaway stuff for people that call in & complain!
I finally played with my Wii Fit last night – I knew it had a calendar in it & would call me out if I was a slacker, so I didn’t even hook it up until I knew I had a couple free days. They have this bike riding game, damn, I sucked at that. I’m trying to figure out if I’d be better at skiing if I had poles in my hands. I also did some of the yoga – I’ve got terrible balance & the thing tells me so, but I guess that is good – huh?
I really want some warmer weather – we’ve decided to go to Moab mountain biking in May – I’m going to have get serious about that training so I don’t totally get left in the dust. Anyone can go on this trip – it is with some group that says the more the merrier. Let me know if you are, I’ll forward the info. (you don’t have to bike, you can hike & take pictures too)
Yeah, they’re standard trade show giveaways but they made me happy.
Moab? Isn’t that Utah? I’m still trying to figure out how much time I’m going to take off for Colorado InviHash this year. I really am thinking about driving instead of flying this time.
The Moab trip sounds like fun but its hard, with Jerry’s new job, to make any big plans right now. Maybe we can swing it next year.
Wii Fit, I’m getting pretty good at some of the yoga moves, who knew? I don’t play the balance games often (I’ve only got Wii Fit, not Wii Fit Plus), when I do it tells me I’m unblanced? Really?? Oh, darn thing also tells me I’m overweight, gee thanks.
Paulie, workout in the morning…then you post workout shower is your pre-work shower, two birds, one stone as they say. When you decide its important, you’ll find the time. 😉
OMG, I just had the best apple!! I wish I had another one.
Here’s George
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac
oh yeah – and the Wii fit told Allan his ideal weight is 177…… he hasn’t weighed that since maybe junior high. He would seem skinny (for him) at 230.
Moab is southeastern Utah – not too super far from Cortez, CO. With deciding on this trip, I may have to blow off BRAG or at least part of it, I don’t have enough vacation time to do this, BRAG & the roadtrip to Colorado for Invihash.
We are tentatively planning to leave for Invihash 8/27 or 8/28, returning 9/7. We do have a FREE place to stay in Heeney, CO (see if you can find it on a map!) for part of the week before Invihash – plenty of room for you if you want to join us for any part of that week.
Yeah, Wii uses the old BMI to determine ideal weight, not very useful for a muscular guy like Allan. BMI also treats men and women equally, women have more body fat then men and fewer muscles (muscle weighs more than fat, so its unfair to men). Its a good place to start but I don’t take it at face value.
Sharon and I are going to meet at the HS track on Glenwood after work if anyone wants to join.
Drobo’s are great until they get close to full, then they are sloooooooooow. Keep that in mind when you’re choosing the drives and usage. You want to keep it less than 90% full unless you’re a patient individual.