I can start this one easily. I’ve not been a good blogger, in part because I’ve struggled to get my ass out of bed and moving. Just like I did today.
The Jackmobile: 2002-2011?
One of the worst (baddest?) things to happen this year occurred during what was supposed to be the highlight of my year. As has been well-documented the Jackmobile’s transmission crapped out on my first full day in Boulder, CO. That day was the Friday before Labor Day, which meant that I didn’t have an ice cube’s chance in Hell of getting the repair done and continuing my vacation as planned. Over $3000 later I returned to the Jackmobile and raced back to Atlanta. In addition I now know that the Jackmobile is also burning oil and has been shifting hard lately.
Of course my Boulder vacation turned into a complete fuck up when I thought luck had shined upon me. My company is based in Denver, CO and my boss just happened to be flying to Denver for meetings on the Tuesday after Labor Day. I rented a 2010 Nissan Altima and some asshat decided to piss in my Cheerios by keying both sides of the car on two separate occasions (hey, I spelled it correctly!). This issue has yet to be resolved.
Weighty Issues
Nights like last night are part of the reason that I’ve gained weight this year. I ate lunch at Taco Mac and returned their for dinner. The reason? Our lunch waitress Jodi was working a double shift so we thought we’d brighten her day by returning for happy hour. I never said it was a good reason. Alas Jodi informed us of her plan to move to Seattle to be with the man she’s been dating for two months and, as she said “knew I’d be marrying the day I met him.” Who can compete with that?
I’ve also been horrible at letting my nagging injuries stop me from exercising.
Sharpened Stone, LLC
Regardless of the issues dredged yesterday my business has been a flop. I’ve yet to write an iPhone/iPad app under the company name, nor have I figured out how to build a portfolio and have a website that I can point people toward to see my work. 2011? Perhaps.
ITP Flickr Pic
Too often, like today, this space has remained blank.
Financially Speaking, This Year Could Have Been So Much Better
At the beginning of 2010 I tracked a lot of stocks in which I had interest. Had I actually bought these stocks I would have made a lot of money in 2010. But I didn’t so the year is now just a “what if” year.
This was another year where too many purchased theatre/concert tickets/coupons went unused. While the grand total of all unused items is not too staggeringly large it would have been nice if I had followed through with all of my purchased commitments.
Plumbing? I Don’t Need No Stinking Plumbing
Well, that’s not entirely true. This was another year during which I did not seek professional help in order to correct my outgoing sewage pipe which services the kitchen and laundry room. I’ve done more cooking this year, but I still do all laundry at a laundromat. I know this to be complete understatement, but I really should get all broken plumbing in my house fixed in 2011.
Goals? More Like Ignored Suggestions
I wholeheartedly admit that I half-assed all of my “goals” this year. The goals were meant to inspire and publicly reward myself upon completion. I will strive to make 2011’s goals mean something and will request your help to call me out as I start to slip.
Sure, there were some more “bad” things, but I want to sweep those all under the rug and start thinking about tomorrow’s blog — “The Good.”
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fat
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – I was really bad about sending Christmas cards this year. Perhaps I should have used Card Karma.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – stairs: (6 flights)
Morning Weigh-In – bah humbug
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~10 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 61 flights
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)
Vegetarian Days – 2
Carnivorous Days – 26
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
December Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Run no fewer than 75 miles
– Prepare Sharpened Stone, LLC for 2011
– Lose two pounds
– Eat vegetarian at least one day a week
– A couple of secret goals which I will not divulge
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, completed
– Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides, completed
– Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers, completed
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]
okay- I’ll be first…….
Jackmobile may not be dying, might just need a little bit of TLC. go see Lam, have Martha meet you for lunch, I’d join you if I could, but my car still has about 1000 miles before I need to get an oil change. It’s a long drive just for lunch.
I think this year was better than years past on the unused concert etc. tickets, but maybe you didn’t tell us about all of them?
On a separate note – first nice day in a while, Allan has the day off & wants to go mtn biking, and all the trails are closed because of freeze/thaw conditions that destroy the trails. Should we feel bad for him? (as we are all at work?) okay, maybe just a little…….
The Jackmobile will be headed to Lam next week. Even though I gave myself a break last night we are still pushing hard to get our CES demo done.
I think I outed myself for all missed opportunities — well, now that I think about it I don’t think that I mentioned missing out on at least one of the plays at the Horizon Theatre this past summer. I also think I missed fewer shows because I didn’t buy a lot of tickets for shows during the last quarter of the year.
I feel badly for Allan, but only a wee little bit.
I had a very slow start this morning as well. I didn’t even get out of bed until 7:30 (the gym was closed this morning), then I piddled around and got stuck in traffic, 4 of 5 lanes were closed because of an accident on I85 N.
Clearly the health issues in both Jerry and my family have been the “Bad” of this year. It looks like this will probably carry into 2011, Jerry’s dad is not improving and the boys are planning for the worst.
Sounds like you dodged a bullet with “Jodi”. Anyone that will move across country to be with someone they’ve known for two months is 1) Unstable, 2) Desperate or 3) 18 years old.
I’ll be in the office everyday next week but Thursday, just let me know. Speaking of work I ‘maybe’ taking a new position in the next couple of months…I’ll keep everyone posted.
and yeah, I do feel bad for Allan, it sucks when you finally have the time to do something fun and you can’t do it because of things out of your control. My biggest problem last week was just being a lazy ass. Well tomorrow is another day 😉
I have a slow start every morning – I hate getting out of bed, especially when it is cold out.
I moved to Atlanta 20 years ago because of a guy I had only met once (but talked to on the phone a lot). Ended up dating him for 2.5 years…… Really it was get out of Chicago & the cold winter, and I was ready for a new adventure, but he was the catalyst. So, don’t think “Jodi” is totally crazy (though she may be), she just might have been looking for that excuse for a change.
I really don’t feel like working at all today…… I’ve got things to do, just don’t feel like doing any of them.
Allan is meeting me for lunch now & out running some errands (that is always scary, I haven’t convinced him that our money tree is dead yet)
I can make no analysis of Jodi other than I think she’s pretty and we got her to tell us her age (32).
Good luck Barb. 😉
Martha, I’ll let you know when I take the Jackmobile in for service.
If I had actual work to do, I wouldn’t mind being here so much.
I made pizza again last night (because I had half a batch of dough to use). This time I made a sauce-less one, using stuff I had leftover from Christmas. Jerry’s returning today, I guess that means my ‘experiments’ are over for now.
Not going to the gym in the morning always throws off my day…I just don’t feel right.
I’m starting a pretty strict budget in January, is it cheating if I spend a bunch of money before then? At the very least it is not in ‘keeping with the sprit’ of my plan. I really ‘need’ new trail shoes. Paulie, want to start training this weekend? We will be hitting the trails at some point Saturday and Sunday.
This will be part of my “The Good” post tomorrow, but training actually starts today. I’m in no shape to run with anyone, hell I’m in no shape to run. Saturday is Cheddarhead Day. Sunday will probably be a recovery day — in more ways than one.
Even though I’m at home this week, I will be making it to Jorges tonight, so if any of you athletes would like to join me for a NYEEE beverage, that would be lovely.
I had my first riding lesson this morning. On a horse.. MY horse! The trainer did not laugh out loud (that I could hear anyway) and Mack only got bored a couple times. It was fun and I’m looking forward to doing it more.
-FP
no George’s for us – don’t want to have the few folks we know die of shock again so soon.
We made pizza the other night, but I’m lazy, I buy a store bought crust from Whole Foods & then of course use whatever I can find in the fridge to top it.
A budget – that is an awesome concept……. but except for Home Depot (& places like that) we are pretty good about not going out & blowing money.
And yeah Martha – you got a car payment now, that will cut into the disposable income. I cna’t wait to see the new car & all the bells & whistles I don’t have.
I saw Martha’s new ride at Betsy’s on Christmas Day. It’s pretty bad-ass.
Not wanting car payments, increased insurance, and much higher ad valorem taxes are three reasons the Jackmobile might be mine past next year.
ugh, the car…don’t get me wrong I love it but every time I think I’ve got it all figured out I find another button or light that I need to look up and see what it does.
Paulie, she looks even better when you’re not standing out in the freezing rain to have a gander at her 😉 Those are the same three reasons why the old Escape lasted 10 years. The JM is in much better shape than my old car, with any luck I will have this one just as long and I won’t feel so bad about my excesses.
Steve, that’s so cool about the horse, there is a big part of me that would love to ride again. One day.
A very honest, brave post series. I’m happy Card Karma made it inside the perimeter (even if it is on the Bad list.) Re: sending cards, just do what everyone who neglects their Christmas card duties does – send New Year cards and don’t look back! Use some of those pretty Flickr photos and get cracking.
Oh, and in the event it makes you feel any better, I have to copy/paste the word “occasion” every time I use it in my code (which is often). You are not alone 🙂
Thanks for the comment and suggestion Bryan. At least Crad Kharma (which I think is a excellent site) wasn’t on “The Ugly” list. 😉