Busy Is As Busy Does

It seems if I’m having an ever-increasingly difficult time getting on top of things in my life. Forget any health issues, some of which I’ve divulged in this space, I’m talking about the day-to-day activities. Today is particularly hectic as I have to work a full day including a voluntary lunch-time iPhone training session, go pick up my tax returns (I owe again this year — Dangen!), and then try out a new laundromat because the one that I regularly frequent is in the wrong direction from my accountant in relation to my house. My plans to cook a crockpot meal, as well as to drop things off at Goodwill and pick things up at REI have to take a back seat because there is not enough free time in my day to accommodate them. I’ll just have to reschedule these tasks for tomorrow or Thursday.

Where Does The Time Go?
After arriving home to meet up with ITP-Reader Willy (“Little Willy” for those in the hash) to measure my kitchen window for repair, and then whipping up a burger for dinner I sat down to take care of some business. Before I knew it, the time was past 9:00pm and I had not accomplished nearly all that I had hoped. I dragged myself and my laptop into the bedroom and was fast asleep within an hour.

I suppose one of the benefits of falling asleep earlier than I used to, especially now that the mornings are not as cold as they were mere weeks ago, is that I can get out of bed earlier. This morning I was able to pack my dirty laundry and make a much-needed stop at QuikTrip (I don’t like that there is no ‘c’ in their name) for gasoline. I’m starting to drag a bit already, I should have purchased some QT coffee.

ITP Flickr Pic
It’s not all big cars at the autocross.

Every once and a while they let the go-carts out on the course.

Spring Cleaning Delivers A Good Surprise
I’m not sure that anyone does it any longer, but when I was a wee lad, in fact even before I was a wee lad, some of my relatives gave me United States savings bonds as gifts. During this year’s great clean out I came across these savings bonds.

The internet is a magical world. On the internet you can go to sites like Treasury Direct (it’s a .gov site) to find out information about specific savings bonds such as their current worth, and whether or not they are still accruing interest. As it turned out, a number of my small-denomination bonds had stopped accruing interest, so I’ve done what any sane person would do, I cashed them in.

If you calculate that these were initially $25 bonds, and that at least one of them was nearly forty-five years old, the “investment” wasn’t all that great. But, if you think of these bonds as found money, since they were given to me as a gift and that all they were doing now were sitting in my safety deposit box, then it was a pleasant surprise — one which will go toward a small house repair.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – concerned
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – Last night I was reminded what an informative magazine Inc. is.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check today
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) – 8 (8)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 12
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 Sharpened Stone, 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.
– 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]