Yay Duke!

You know I’m no real Duke fan. Hell, I barely notice the ACC since I’m not a basketball fan either. However, in one of the two NCAA brackets I submitted I picked the Dukies to win it all — and win it all they did. By the virtue of my Duke pick I finished in a tie for third place, but the other person didn’t pick Duke to win it all (she picked Maryland — What? How’d she finish in third with that pick?, so I may actually claim sole rights to the Third Place podium position using a tie-breaking mentality.

I Lost My Chipotle Cherry
People who know me well will not be surprise to read that I’d never eaten at a Chipotle before yesterday. With the taco/burrito chain explosion in the 1990s (Willy’s, Moe’s, Raging Burrito, Chipotle, Qdoba, …) I saw no reason to eat at the one which was owned by McDonalds. At one point I tried to eat at the one they opened near my office, but it was so jam-packed full of people that I turned away and ate elsewhere.

If last night’s meal is any indication of the Chipotle experience then is little reason for me to return. I ordered a carnitas (pork) burrito and a cup of water. The $6.25 burrito came with no chips (which, I must admit I didn’t mind since I’m trying to lose weight — more on this below) and I saw no selection of salsas that I’ve come accustom to using when eating at a burrito establishment. To Chipotle’s credit the meat was the best part of the burrito, but it couldn’t overcome the oddly-textured rice and somewhat dry beans.

ITP Flickr Pic
Yeah, there are a few repairs which need to get done…

I replaced these numbers, oh I don’t know, five, six, seven years ago. The front of the house is south-facing so the sun has done a number on the numbers.

Time To Start The Spring/Summer Ritual
The wet Winter combined with the current spat of heat has encouraged my lawn to blossom almost overnight. Tonight I’ll be dragging the lawnmower from its hibernation zone, checking its air filter, oil, and gasoline, and crossing my fingers that it fires up for yet another mowing season.

For some reason it seems a bit early in the year to start mowing. Atlanta is just about to get pelted with biblical proportions of pollen and it seems as if I should be able to wait that out before having to push the mower around my patch of weeds.

Speaking of the pollen, I think its imminent onslaught is going to force me to delay the re-staining of my deck. I’d sure hate to live with a puke-green deck.

Time To Start A Life Ritual
This actually started Saturday, but I didn’t have the time to write about it yesterday. Besides, it wasn’t until this morning that I stepped on the scale (twice) to see it read 200 pounds.

When I arose Saturday morning I was sick. No, not sick as I had been from Tuesday through Friday, but rather sick of feeling a mass of goo which has settled between my shoulders and my legs.

So I did what any American would do I scheduled a liposuction appointment I cobbled together a weight-loss plan. I know myself really well. I know the very second I say that I can never eat potatoes again, I will crave potatoes until I go crazy. So this plan had to be centered around moderation instead of elimination.

Here’s the plan — it’s brief, but in reality the only good way to lose weight is to eat less and exercise more.

1. Eat no more than half of what I’ve been eating. Avoid sides such as chips or fries; vegetables are the preferred side.
2. Drink only water, milk, juice, coffee, or tea for all breakfasts and lunches; dinner may be accompanied by any liquid though the consumption of soda is discouraged.

Pretty limiting, huh. Okay not really but considering my lifestyle has been centered around eating enough Calories to sustain a Third-World family the reduction of intake should help with the reduction of Paulie.

Unspoken in these rules is the desire to cook at home again (who knows, this might save me some money as well).

Currently I plan to keep my manual labor as my primary source of exercise, though in the near future the Red Rocket shall spring forth from its hibernation zone and return to the streets of Atlanta.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listening to yesterday’s “The Story” podcast
Website Of The Day – Sure I’d love to on a Karma from Fisker Automotive but man would it suck to watch it get covered in pollen.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 200 pounds
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1 (1)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 5
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– 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]