A Fresh Start

March 1st? Huh. How’d that happen?

I was hoping to have an appointment scheduled for the electrical work to get done this week so I could in turn schedule an AT$T (the dollar sign was a typo but seems appropriate so I kept it there) U-Verse install, which would then allow me to cancel my current DSL service as well as the third-party long distance phone service to which I subscribe. But alas I’m still waiting… While I wait, this might be a good time to ask if anyone has a home alarm service connected to a digital phone line?

Oh yeah, if you are interested in A Prairie Home Companion tickets for the Mat 22nd show at The Fox, they go on sale at 10am EST today.

I Didn’t Even Know There Was A Town Called “Douglasville”
Yesterday’s Black Sheep Hash started in a town called “Douglasville.” Where is Douglasville? Good question. If you drive I-20 West until you see the weird roadside sculptures, keep driving another five minutes, turn off, and travel another ten minutes you are there.

I didn’t know that Douglasville existed, and I sure as shit didn’t expect to find hills there. Our hares (Boner Rooter and Blue Ball Special) found them though, as the entire trail went up and down, up and down. To say that I am a “wee little bit” out of shape may be this year’s biggest understatement. I’d huff up a mole hill that I turned into a mountain, only to puff down the backside of it, only to start huffing again as I ascended the next. Now before you get all “You fat ass, I’ve walked up many hillsides.” let me state that it’s one thing to walk up hills, and yet another to walk up hills which are littered with fallen leaves which constantly slip under the foot trying to make headway.

The trail was a great way for me to start my exercising again. Getting only two beers at the end before the beer ran out was another. With the hash ending early (running out of beer tends to do this) a large group of us headed to Holy Taco in East Atlanta (not my suggestion, though very convenient for me) where I consumed two more beers (Lagunitas IPAs) some chips with guacamole and two chicharrones (chunks of pork belly). Perhaps the Holy Taco stop was not such a great way for me to start my exercising again.

All of this exercise caused me to pass out on the couch at the start of The Amazing Race. Thankfully I have a DVR and was able to back up to the start of the show and watch the race unfold in near “real” time.

What Would’ve Been
Each year February 28th marks the anniversary of my parents’ wedding.

If my father were still alive yesterday would have been their 62nd.

Let me clarify something… I didn’t take this photo, but I did scan it to digital with my new scanner. 😉

ITP Flickr Pic
This photo I did take, however.

I’ve been cellaring (not a real verb, but I don’t care) wine since I first moved in to my house in 1999. Back then I’d buy a couple of bottles and cellar them for those “special occasions” that I was certain would be coming. I believe it was last year that I was introduced to the “Open That Bottle” concept which basically said that no occasion will ever be “special” enough and you might as well drink what you have now, while you can.

I suppose that it’s the fear of every person who cellars wine — corking. Corking occurs when a bottle’s cork shrinks, allowing air to seep into the bottle, turning wine into vinegar. Also, not every wine is meant to be cellared (again, not a real word) for many years and actually tastes worse over time.

When I took the foil off the top of this bottle I feared that it had corked as I saw dried sediment around the neck of the bottle. When I popped the cork it looked okay and an initial sniff of the newly opened bottle didn’t kill me. I carefully poured a glass, gave that a good inhale, and then made an initial sip. To my joy the wine tasted fine.

I drank about a third of this bottle on Saturday night as I curled up with Limited Liability For Companies as I try to learn how to run my newly-formed LLC. I intended to finish the bottle yesterday but the four beers I had with the hashers did enough damage to me.

RealiTV Update : The Amazing Race – I Know A Idiot Savant
SPOILERS INCLUDED
Is Exit 120 along I-85 in Georgia in an earlier time zone? That is the only way I can imagine how ITP-Reader Stacy could pick the team which was eliminated from The Amazing Race for the second week in a row. Once again I played bridesmaid by picking Team Cousteau only to watch them finish next-to-last. However, at least I didn’t pick Team Noun (Jet and Cord) like ITP-Reader Terri did. (btw, Terri and Stacy didn’t we joke about having an additional penalty when you pick the team that wins the leg on which you picked them to get eliminated?)

So far I’m really enjoying The Amazing Cowboy Race. I didn’t think that the race could cater to Team Noun any more than it did last week, but then one of the detours was roping a bale of hay which had a fake steer head attached to it! When I saw the polo challenge I thought that they were going to have to score a goal riding real horses — let’s see, who would be better at riding horses…. lesbians or cowboys?

Did anyone else pay attention to prize won by Team Noun? It included travel to Santiago, Chile. That city’s name may ring a bell because they just suffered an 8.8 magnitude earthquake.

What amuses me most about The Amazing Race is the number of times that I scream “WHY DON’T YOU PEOPLE READ THE FUCKING CLUE?!?!?!” only to realize that, if I were on the show, I’d be the guy who didn’t read the clue completely costing my team valuable time.

In a few more weeks I’ll have generated names for each of the remaining teams. So far this is what I have

• Team Cousteau (the detectives Louie and Michael)
• Team Noun (the cowboys Jet and Cord) — named by ITP-Reader Terri, alternate would have been Team Brokeback
• Team Iran So Far Away (Miss SC and her model boyfriend)
• Team Big Brother (Jordan and Jeff, named for obvious reasons)
• Team Thing One, Thing Gay One (Dan and Jordan)

feel free to suggest names for the others.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, just a bit of pain this morning
Current Music – listening to a CBC Radio3 music podcast, mostly because I love Canada
Website Of The Day – While in Home Depot this week I discovered Cable Cuffs — they are handcuffs for cables. Kinky!
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Sunday = hashing, 4 miles (?)
Morning Weigh-In – I should’ve checked but didn’t because I was running late this morning
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1 (1)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 0
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
– Not get fired from my job
– Ride my bicycle no fewer than 100 miles
– Get the new LLC moving…

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
– Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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]