An Inadvertent Vegetarian Day

I had not planned on making yesterday a vegetarian day, it just happened!

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Find a nature photo and put it in a spot you’ll see often.

Between work, school, commutes, and chores, we have a lot of stimulus in our day. Taking a moment to admire a nature photo can lessen stress and improve mental performance. Natural environments and pictures depicting natural environments can even foster a sense of community, which can bring harmony to your home or workplace.

As a hobby photographer I really like this idea and will do it soon.

On Joshua And Audrey, And Dean
I pride myself on remembering faces, and for the most part the correct names that correspond to the faces. People sometime marvel at this skill. In my office building there is a guy I’ll call “Joshua” (because that’s his name) who works for another company in the building. I met Joshua, who was the husband of Amanda, who was a friend of my then-girlfriend Jeanne. That was eight, almost nine years ago.

Also in the building is a woman who I swear I know, and while I had the golden opportunity to ask her I chickened out. If she is who I think she is, she is Audrey, a girl on whom I had a liking when I first moved to Atlanta. Audrey was a friend of Danielle and I met her when playing co-ed softball in the mid-1990s (when I was at my best and still failed to lure a woman into falling for me). I don’t think Audrey liked me, she went out on a couple of dates with my friend Bryan though, and the closest I ever got to being with her was being paired with her at Tom and Danielle’s wedding. A side note: Tom knew I was a Florida grad, that I despised the University of Tennessee (think “Peyton Manning”), and that Audrey went to Tennessee, so he and Danielle picked “Rocky Top” as the song which was played when Audrey and I were called out at their wedding.

Last Friday night my coworkers and I changed things up a bit by doing happy hour at Wing Factory on Roswell Road. While sitting there a guy walked by and I caught a glimpse of him. I immediately realized that it was Dean, a friend of one of my former coworkers, David. Some of you may have met Dean (and David for that matter) at one of my Super Bowl parties all those years ago.

Flushing My Savings Away
The other day I received my monthly water and sewer bill from the City of Atlanta. I am absolutely certain that this bill contains the charge incurred for accidentally letting my toilet run for an entire day a couple of weeks ago. It may also include the cost of the water used flushing out my hot water heater.

My bill this month was $51, which for me is really high as I normally pay the base charge (~$25) since I no longer do laundry at home, nor have I rarely watered my lawn.

The bill is not as high as I feared that it would be, but I still get miffed that I’ve figuratively flushed water down the drain.

ITP Flickr Pic
Sorry, walking has consumed some of the time I could be using for photography.

Here’s the map for the walk that I did yesterday evening.

And here’s the map for the walk that I did this morning.

I’m well on my way to becoming the walking fool of Dunwoody.

Today Is My Mother’s Birthday!
Yep, today is my mother’s birthday. I won’t give away her age, but consider that my brother turned sixty-three this year…

Think I should call her? I’m kidding of course. I love my mother dearly and am glad that she is still around for me to talk to at least a couple of times a week.

Today Would Have Been Steve Jobs’ 57^th Birthday
As I continue to read the Steve Jobs biography I realize he was a brilliant businessman, oddball, and almost a complete ass. Upon his death I recalled that he shared a birthday with my mother. At least he had that going for him. 😉

Another Busy Weekend Again
Come back on Monday and find out why. 🙂

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – rushed
Current Music – listening to a recent “The Story” podcast
Website Of The Day – In the olden days I would have jumped at the thought of joining the Atlanta Bocce League as a way to play a cool game, drink beer, and try to meet women.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, 3.25 miles
Morning Weigh-In – 211 pounds on Monday

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~35.6 miles (doesn’t include this morning’s walk, that gets added in on Monday)
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 31 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 22^*

Vegetarian Days – 7^*
Carnivorous Days – 16
Pancakes Eaten – 5

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]