Busy Times Ahead

Time spent sitting in meetings is time not spent writing the code that I am to deliver. Looks as if I’ll be giving up my “free time” and “paid holidays” again. It also means these posts will not exactly be thorough, though an argument could be made that they never have been.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Replace a sugary snack for fruit.

Sugary treats may taste sweet, but when it comes to your health, fruit can’t be beat. Sweets give you an energy spike but then you crash and burn, because your body absorbs the refined sugar quickly. A;though fruit has natural sugar, the fiber slows its absorption so your blood sugar level stays steady. Fiber helps you keep you fuller longer, too. Finally, fruit is loaded with natural vitamins and minerals, a claim that cellophane-wrapped snacks can’t make.

I probably should have read this prior to eating a York Peppermint Patti for breakfast.

Not As Pictured
I had a recipe from Vegetarian Times and intended to make it last night (I wanted to link to the recipe, but couldn’t find it online). The recipe was Asian in nature so I stopped by Hoa Binh market on my drive home expecting to pick up all of the necessary ingredients. But then I couldn’t figure out which of the noodles in the entire aisle of noodles were “glass noodles.” And then I couldn’t locate tempeh. And they didn’t have any button mushrooms. So I did what Ed didn’t do on Top Chef last week, I improvised. I purchased a different type of noodle. I substituted tofu for tempeh. I remembered that I had dried mushrooms at home so I didn’t need the button mushrooms.

I boiled some water and reconstituted the mushrooms. I whisked the sauce which consisted of soy sauce, hoisen sauce, garlic-chile paste, lime juice, and some chunky peanut butter (the recipe called for chopped peanuts, I forgot to buy those). I sliced up the fresh ginger, baby bok choi, green onions, basil, and tofu that I bought at the market. I figured out how to open the tin of sesame oil that I bought at the market.

With the mushrooms reconstituting I started pan-frying the tofu. When the mushrooms were ready I pulled them out of the water and set them aside as I started preparing the pasta.

With all of components ready I started cooking everything together in my “wok” (large pan) until everything was mixed together well.

The meal was good, not great, nor much like the meal I saw in the magazine, but very edible. Not a bad effort by a Caucasian. 😉

ITP Flickr Pic
All I have is yesterday’s walking map.

For some reason all of the routes I take from my office seem to be about 3.75 miles long.

Heading To Bike Night
Probably won’t have the time to get the Red Rocket, but I do plan to have all of the items of ITP-Reader Martha’s that I’ve unwittingly held onto for nearly a year. Yeesh! I’ll bring a six-pack of beer and look forward to seeing a few folks I’ve not seen in a while.

Best Wishes To My Friend Nav
Heard some bad news about a friend of mine, not a hasher, met through the social networking that I tossed away last year. I heard the news via a text message from Maigh, and I’m thankful that she informed me.

I don’t think Nav is “ITP-Reader Nav,” but if by chance he is, I hope you are doing better, friend.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – frustrated, too much to do, back still hurts and I’ll have to have someone “look at it” when I get my physical in a few weeks
Current Music – listening to a “The Web Ahead” podcast
Website Of The Day – I saw a bumper sticker for TryVeg. I don’t put bumper stickers on my cars (though I have on the bike rack) but this one seemed to serve its purpose.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, ~3.7 miles; stair climbing, 6 flights
Morning Weigh-In – 212 pounds this morning

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~16.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 25 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 16^*

Vegetarian Days – 4^*
Carnivorous Days – 11
Pancakes Eaten – 2

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

February Goals
– Lose at least one pound (net weight loss)
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
– Not get fired from my job, nor quit my job
– Follow up with doctors, lawyer, women in whom I have interest
– Go out on a least one date with a woman in whom I have interest
– Submit 2012 paperwork for Sharpened Stone, LLC
– Gather all tax paperwork for 2011 income taxes
– Successfully arrange for automatic payments for my mortgage
– Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
– Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than one one 10K
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
– Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
– Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions
– Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
– Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
– See more live concerts than I did in 2011
– Eat more pancakes
– Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]