Cloudy With A Chance Of Baseball

Depending on when you read this I am either hurtling back to Atlanta in a tin can known as an airplane, or I have already returned, paid a hefty ransom in order to get my car out of the Park n Ride spot where it’s been parked since Thursday, and am trying to get myself into a rhythm after taking two days off for a short vacation. If my flight home is anything like my flight to Raleigh chances are that you are reading this prior to my arrival in Atlanta. On Thursday afternoon my flight was treated to a forty-five minute delay due to nothing more than traffic at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport.

In case I wasn’t perfectly clear last week I jetted off to Raleigh, NC to hang with ITP-Readers Lisa and Randy and their two lads. Much fun was had by me, and I’m guessing them as well.

Durham Three Ways
It seems as if Durham, NC wound up being the epicenter for this trip.

On Friday night we headed over to Ye Olde Tobacco capital for a free concert put on by the Steep Canyon Rangers, an accomplished Bluegrass band who has been increasing their listenership by accompanying Steve Martin, yes that Steve Martin, recently. We lucked out with the weather on Friday as it threatened to rain but never did.

On Saturday night the “grown ups” headed over to Durham in order to take in a Durham Bulls baseball game. Unfortunately for us the ominous skies opened up as we arrived in Durham so we decided to have a nice dinner and drinks instead. We dined at an establishment called “Pops'” and then headed to a wine bar to end the evening. We made the proper choice in skipping the night’s baseball game because as we were heading back to Raleigh the baseball game was just getting underway.

Our initial attempt to attend a minor league baseball on Sunday was to go to a Carolina Mudcats afternoon game. We didn’t make it, and unfortunately for me that may have been my only chance to see a Mudcats game as this will be their final season. However, with a backup plan we returned to — you guessed it — Durham to see a Durham Bulls game. We were treated to a lot of fun, a good rain, as well as vegetarian hot dogs and some fine craft beer, well, we had to pay for them. I give Durham’s stadium credit because the beer selection there was better than most stadiums in which I’ve seen a game. Because of the rain delay the game ran late so we left before its end. But really, who cares who wins the game when you get to go home with a foam #1 finger from the gift store?

ITP Flickr Pic
This is a dark iPhone HDR of part of Durham’s stadium. Unfortunately I couldn’t edit the photo using Flickr’s Picnik editor on the iPad and I didn’t feel like going through the hoops in order to get the photo from the iPhone to the iPad in hopes that one of the photo apps I have loaded on my iPad would have the tools sufficient to aid in my editing.

While I did manage to take the DSLR out for some (hopefully better) shots, I didn’t shoot much this weekend; that’s a habit I eventually would like to change.

I May Have Violated The Geneva Convention
I’m pretty sure that my actions on Saturday afternoon violated the Geneva Convention. I was shirtless at a public pool on Saturday (thanks to Lisa getting me a pair of swim trunks as it turns out that I’d given away all of my other ones). I am whiter than white, fatter than fat, and replete with some lumps on my back that give me near dromedary status. Let’s just say that I don’t do “shirtless in public” much any more. I don’t mind showing off my fantastic legs, even if one of them is attached to a seemingly permanent damaged hip. 🙁 But, from the mid-section up the only ones who get to see my body are me and my doctors.

What Happened In Your World This Weekend?
Barb, how was BRAG? I’ve deposited the bike check and regardless of my stupid hip’s condition I am going to start riding again soon.

What else did I miss by spending the weekend outside the perimeter?

Stats & Goals 
Daily
Current Mood – tired, but okay
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – I played a lot of Angry Birds this weekend, I should have studied Angry Birds Nest before this weekend so that I’d know all of the tricks necessary to impress the impressionable.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car, from the airport
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – Wednesday will start my logging of my weight again

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)

Vegetarian Days – 5
Carnivorous Days – 7

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

June Goals
– “Completely” recover from the bike crash
– Get back on a bicycle
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Run at least once
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than five days
– Lose three pounds
– Go out on a date with someone else
– Finish The Laws Of Simplicity and read another 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 one half-marathon
– 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]