I’m Wearing Red In Defiance

If I can just avoid most “Valentine’s” mentions today I’ll be fine. For the eight consecutive year I am single on Valentine’s night. It’s as if Life continues to give me the finger. Tonight I’ll be doing one of the most unromantic thing I could think to do — laundry.

He’s So Unusual
Yesterday I did something I’d not done in quite some time — I wrote a Stuck On The Connector post, this one regarding the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

It’s been a long while since I’ve written a “Stuck On The Connector” so, in case you have no idea about these, they are single-topic blog posts about things which strike a chord in me.

I Made A Lot Of Stupid Decisions On Friday Night, The Last Was Really Smart
After work on Friday I headed over to Taco Mac (there’s a surprise!) where I proceeded to add five, yes five, beers to my Passport count. I’m going to guess that I was at Taco Mac for at least four hours. Why the guess? Because after Taco Mac I followed a couple of my coworkers to Outback where I had (almost the entirety of) one more beer and dinner (finally). I was, how do I say this, drunk.

The last decision I made on Friday night was the best one of the evening. I decided that I should not drive home, so instead I checked back into the office (somewhere around 10:30pm) and slept the night away on my office floor. It’s a damn good thing that I can sleep under adverse conditions because the light over my cubicle never shuts off. I awoke some time around 6am, brushed myself off, and drove home to take a nice, hot shower before meeting Maigh for a photoshoot.

I’ll Have The Merlatte
I met Maigh at Java Vino before I followed her over to play assistant for her photoshoot.

Maigh was scheduled to do a photoshoot for a six-month old named Wyatt, who get this, has already had one heart surgery during his life and will be going through at least one more. Further, this surgery had to take place in Boston as it turns out that in Georgia it would have been necessary to do a heart transplant instead of surgery for someone so small.

Puts my eight-year Valentines drought into a bit of perspective, no?

I didn’t know what to expect of Wyatt, but the little guy was a champ. When we arrived he was being fed through a tube which attaches to his belly. Wyatt was the most expressive little guy I’ve ever seen (admittedly my sample size is small) and was a wonderful model for an hour or so before he nodded off to sleep.

Post photoshoot I headed home for a much-needed nap and then puttered around before my afternoon haircut.

On Saturday afternoon I attempted, and failed, my six-mile training run. I never got into a rhythm, developed at least one blister somewhere around mile three (wool socks and new shoes — 3rd run in the — didn’t get along) and wound up walking more than I cared to an cutting my path short. I’m thinking of altering my training a bit in order to get more, shorter runs in during the next month in order to build a better base for the longer runs which will inevitably happen in April.

ITP Flickr Pic
I was compelled to take a photo of the carpet in the McKimmon Center in Raleigh a few weeks ago.

Look at me in big boy shoes.

Standing on one of the ugliest carpets I’ve seen since the 1970s.

I Have To Hand It To My Neighbor
Last week I mentioned my neighbor getting plumbing work done at her house. I thought all of the work had been done on Wednesday, but apparently that had more to do with the delivery of water instead of the removal of waste.

On Saturday another backhoe came to her property and promptly ripped a new trench from the curb to her house and the plumbers laid in a new PVC (or whatever the kids use these days) line. It appeared to be a very easy job for them.

I give her credit for getting it done so promptly.

Again, I repeat if my house wasn’t such a freakishly-built abode I’d already have my plumbing fixed by now as well. It’s just that I have three, independent sewage lines — two of which appear to traverse under my basement, and the current offending line runs under my carport and driveway to somewhere (who the hell knows where?) in my front yard.

There are days that I wish that it were cheaper to knock the house down and start again. And there are many more days that I consider selling the house as quickly as I can and starting a new life elsewhere (currently read “renting an apartment somewhere in Atlanta”).

For Me, This Is Horrendous
Back when I’d use Twitter and Facebook regularly (read “as recent as two weeks ago”) I’d post a status update mentioning that I’d performed my data backups in hopes of raising awareness that your data is fleeting. It’s not if your hard drive will die, but rather when.

So, the fact that I have not been able to back up this blog in over a month has me a bit on edge. For years I’ve used a WordPress plug-in that performed the backup and allowed me to either download the resulting file to a computer or mail it to myself. About a month ago this plug-in abruptly stopped working. It gives the appearance that it correctly gathers all of my blog’s data, but never prompts me to save the file, nor successfully mail it to my desired address.

I’ve been searching for a replacement plug-in, but the one I currently have installed is the “best rated” of my options. If I can’t use the best, what hope have I using a lesser-thought-of with success?

Ugh.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh
Current Music – listening to last week’s “Breakfast Club” podcast from CBC Radio 3
Website Of The Day – This weekend I opened up a jar of “Frog Jam” (fig jam) from Hillside Orchard. While their website leaves a lot of room for improvement, their jam was out of this world good! Next time I head toward Black Rock I might have to detour to Tiger, GA and stop into their store.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Saturday: running/walking (5.2 miles)
Morning Weigh-In – I didn’t need any further disappointment today

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 20 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1 (2)

Vegetarian Days – 3
Carnivorous Days – 10

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

February Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month FAIL
– Not get fired from my job
– Run no fewer than 75 miles
– Lose two pounds
– Go out on a date with someone else
– Read an entire book

2011 Goals [will be a little more fluid than in past years]
– Reduce my weight by 25 pounds based on the my weight as measured on February 1st
– Completely read the book Daily Negations which I received as a Christmas gift.
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business — one which does not get penalized.
– 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
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than two half-marathons
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]