An Hour Is Better Than Nothing I Hope

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for non-thunderstorm weather this afternoon because I’m trying something a little different today. This morning I drove the Red Rocket into work with the plan to ride it home tonight and then ride it back in to work tomorrow morning. I’m hoping that splitting up my rides for a while will spare my knees a little bit. And if it all works out I’ll actually get over an hour’s worth of exercise each day.

I Continue To Stoke The Economy
Yesterday I made appearances and purchases in two of the Atlanta area REIs. I was almost ready to purchase a $75 pair of Pearl Izumi bike shorts before changing my mind to wait and see if the other REI had the $50 pair in my size. Until last week I had no hesitation about purchasing new cycling gear, though with my current round of knee pain I’m a little concerned that I’ll have to take a hiatus from riding if my knees get worse and I’m forced to seek professional help.

I nearly purchased a pair of long-legged bike tights for the colder weather that will inevitably arrive (and which has historically ended my cycling year). The tights were on “clearance” but will still priced at $80 so I decided to wait.

Also purchased yesterday were packages of Clif Blocks, a couple of Clif Bars, and some hammock straps. Oh, I’ve never mentioned that I’ve purchased a lightweight hammock for my future camping/traveling outings.

ITP Flickr Pic
I like to believe that I am observant. While walking to Eddie’s Attic the other night I spied this old Mello Yello bottle which was partially embedded into the ground.

I assume that someone tossed the bottle into the patch of ivy that you can see along the right side, and over time the ivy overtook the bottle only to be exposed again years later.

btw- I took this shot with my iPhone 4 and post-processed it with an app called Camera Bag using its “Colorcross” setting.

RealiTV Update: Hell’s Kitchen Won’t Die; Master Chef is American Idol
Last night the tv watching crowd wound up at Leigh Ann’s for a last midtown hurrah. I stopped at Trader Joe’s. The original plan was to order some pizza as we watched Hell’s Kitchen and the premiere episode of Master Chef so I picked up a box of blackberries and a bottle of wine (I couldn’t find cold beer at Trader Joe’s. As it turned out, there was so much food left over from last week’s gathering that we nixed the pizza and noshed on the items that were on hand.

Where to start on Hell’s Kitchen? No one eliminated last night? WTF? Will this season never go away?

Since this season of Hell’s Kitchen has not done much for me I’ve been anticipating the start of Ramsay’s newest “reality tv” vehicle Master Chef. Sadly from what I saw last night Master Chef is nothing more that American Idol for cooking. Why am I not surprised?

Happy [REDACTED] Birthday, Lisa
Okay, let’s try this again on her actual birthday…

Has it really be [REDACTED] years since I joined ITP-Reader Steve, and a couple of other hashers in the parking lot of an apartment complex on North Druid Hills to serenade ITP-Reader Lisa on her [REDACTED] birthday? Holy. Shit. To give you some idea this was in the days before Steve and Lisa were “ITP-Readers” because I’d yet to become ITP-Writer Paulie.

Since that day Lisa has wised up considerably by meeting ITP-Reader Randy, moving to Raleigh North Carolina and marrying him, and then having two marvelous boys.

I’ve had many good laughs with today’s birthday girl over the past [REDACTED] years that I’ve known her and look forward to having many more as our paths cross in the future.

I wish I had the vacation time available to wish you a happy birthday in person during your family vacation this year, but since I don’t a blog birthday wish will have to suffice.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, though am concerned about my health
Current Music – listening to the “MacBreak Weekly” podcast
Website Of The Day – Dive is a film documenting the “freegan” lifestyle of eating food discarded by businesses. I can’t wait until I can download / view this movie.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car (with bike on top)
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~12 miles, Wheel Mileage – 210.0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 2 (16)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 27
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 1

July Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month (still waiting to accomplish this)
– Not get fired from my job
– Ride my bicycle no fewer than 150 miles
– Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
– Complete at least one iPhone application
– Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I’ve sadly gained weight; I’m at 203 pounds]
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
– Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Sharpened Stone.
– 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 Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]