As much as I wanted to run away to Asheville last night to see Trampled By Turtles perform I didn’t. I did hang with some coworkers at Outback (my boss’ choice) for a bit last night, but wasn’t feeling very social so I went home early.
More Trampled By Turtles “News”
While I didn’t (and still won’t) get to see to see Trampled By Turtles perform I did get to hear a song of theirs yesterday. While listening to the latest Coverville podcast I heard their cover of the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”, a song that was requested by yours truly! And in the episode the host Brian Ibbott even mentioned that it was requested by “Paulie, Coverville Citizen”, the way that I sign all of the messages I send to him. Stupidly cool, I know, but it made me smile. 🙂
Less Coffee, More Beard
While I love my coffee — hot, black, and bitter — my body seems to be revolting when I drink a lot of it during the day. So, I’ve decided to try and drink more tea — hot, and brown — in an attempt to rectify the situation. My theory is that tea will give me the caffeine I desire but may not bring along some of the negative issues. I may be completely off my rocker but at least my experiment is free.
Also, those who’ve seen me since Savannah know that it’s become “Paulie’s Winter Beard Season” as I’ve let the increasingly-gray mass of hair which springs from the bottom of my skull grow. It may not be a great look for me, but at least it won’t decrease my dating frequency.
I’m Going To Be Paying Less For My House? Sign Me Up!
Last year I whined about not seeing a time-limited offer to reduce my mortgage rate from my mortgage company. On Saturday I received another delivery with a similar offer. This time, after reading the three pages of information, I jumped on the offer. Of course it’s not a done deal as I need to read the thirty-nine page document sent to me yesterday, and return a signed document along with a copy of my home owner insurance document. My monthly payment won’t drop a lot as the duration of the mortgage has also decreased, but I’m okay with that as in the long term I’ll wind up paying less. Who knows, maybe this will spur me to fix the plumbing… Oh, that line never gets old and makes me laugh each time I type it.
Hey Look, The iPhone’s Weather App Is Now Awesome!
This is for those of you with iOS 5 and modern iPhones.
While goofing off at lunch yesterday I launched the weather app on my iPhone. In past years I’ve discounted the usability of the default weather app because it didn’t immediately give you the weather for your current location, which is obviously known to the phone because it as 3G; that feature has now been added! Additionally, I found that if you push the five-day forecast the display will slide down and you will also get hourly forecasts for the current day. Awesome. Now if they would just add a way for me to see a Doppler radar image then I can ditch all of the other weather apps I have loaded since getting my iPhone.
If You’re Looking For Me Tonight, Try The Fred Bar
I have a feeling that tonight will find me at The Fred Bar (the Taco Mac sister bar which resides under the Taco Mac Prado) for a beer or two and some baked chicken wings. By the end of my work day today I will be ready for a relaxing dinner before heading home to pull out all of the things which I must pack for this weekend’s trip up to a (forecasted) chilly Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Updates, Updates
Yesterday there was discussion of the PBS.org website. At that time I mentioned the PBS iPad app. This morning I launched the updated PBS iPad app and found that there is a small collection of archived video which can be watched. For instance, the app seems to offer the last six “Antiques Roadshows”, some episodes of “NOVA”, as well as other offerings.
I’m still waiting for my delivery from Amazon. When I placed my order on Monday morning its estimated delivery with “two day” shipping was yesterday. When I checked the FedEx tracking number yesterday afternoon, I was bummed to see that the estimated delivery date was today. So much for “two day” shipping…
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – good, not great, but okay, even though my hip has been bothering me more lately
Current Music – listening to this week’s “The Talk Show” podcast
Website Of The Day – Wonder where I got yesterday’s “Cheddar Getter” website? They are a sponsor for a conference called The Combine. Even if you have no desire to find out more about the conference I implore you to check out the website, and slowly scroll down to the bottom. I thought that it was kinda funny.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – November
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~5.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – ~16.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 13 flights
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)
Vegetarian Meals – lost count (significantly fewer than carnivorous)
Carnivorous Meals – lost count (significantly more than vegetarian)
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
October Goals
– “Completely” recover from the bike crash (though I’m beginning to this this will never happen)
– Ride my bike no fewer than 100 miles
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Run at least twice
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than fifteen vegetarian meals
– Lose three pounds
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]
There has been a couple of time where my “two day” shipping was more like three or four…considering how much I order it isn’t a bad failure rate.
Speaking of PBS, I watched Radioactive Wolves last night (Nature), about how wildlife is doing in Chernobyl’s exclusion zone. Really, really interesting (plus it almost made cry).
My escrow account was recalculated last month, because of the lower taxes, my payment went down (again)…I’m still hanging on to my 5/1 ARM, no sense in spending the money on a re-fi until rates start to go up again. My mortgage payment has dropped close to $300 in the past couple of years. I just keep paying my original payment, so I’m slowly chipping away at the balance. When I do re-fi, I will probably go with a 15 year loan.
I’m apparently the grammar police today (folks at work are already calling me it…but really, it’s my job at work so that, er, works). You are trying TO drink more tea. You try to do something, not try “and” do something. 🙂
Since I already re-fi’d to a 20yr @ 4.25%, I don’t know if I can do it again, but people tell me to look into it. As long as it is a no-cost refi – I guess I could do it again. Now to just make the time to see if that option is out there.
and Paulie – have fun this weekend – take lots of warm clothes for the evenings, it might not be that bad during the day.
Thank you, Stacy, that is one of my pet peeves (right up there with using “that” instead of “who” when talking about people, as in: “that’s the person WHO stole my wallet”) but one which I rarely correct because I fear retribution. 🙂
Paulie, I have a Droid, but I use the National Weather Service (NWS) app which has Doppler radar down to the closest hour. I need to get that PBS app for the iPad.
We really, REALLY, need to re-fi. Like, really. We bought in 2006, and our rate is very high. We’re not planning to sell any time soon (ever), but still we could get such a lower rate! Dumb.
I’m going from a twenty-year to a fifteen-year mortgage. Since I pay my own insurance and taxes and have no PMI I no longer do an escrow account.
Hey, I’d not had any coffee when I wrote this morning’s blog. How do you expect me to be grammatically correct under this scenario? 🙂
And Jenka, I refinanced in 2003 (someone remind me when I was dating Jeannie) and have not looked into it since. When I refinanced then I had to pay for an appraisal as well as closing costs, now each is taken care of by the mortgage company. Of course if I don’t make time to read the document and return the necessary paperwork no refinancing will occur…
At least it si supposed to be sunny for LEAF this weekend. With any luck, the wind will be minimal and the sun will warm us up during the day – but the nights are definitely going to be COLD.
Yeah, I’ll be packing plenty of warm things I’ve not seen since March and hoping that my body decides to stop acting up the way it is today. I don’t recall having any coffee today things are still not “right.” 🙁