At Least Lunch Is On

After waking up later than desired I had to scurry about this morning in order to get to work and start the crock pot for lunch (reminder: I’m making Creamy Crock Pot Spaghetti today). A quick completion of my morning routine, pack the car, hit the road. The recipe claims to take four hours to cook the sauce, pasta, and beef (which I browned last night) — only time will tell.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Relax your facial muscles by keeping your face still and the muscles loose.

The daily stresses of the day cause many people to clench and grind their jaw without even realizing it. This can put pressure on the muscles and tissues of the lower portion of your face, and may lead to muscle aches or chronic pain. And although a furrowed brow may make you look brainy, it can cause tension headaches.

Don’t look, but I’m doing this now…

Adding Injury To Insult
I knew that I hadn’t packed clothes to go walking last night, but it had been two weeks since I walked so I agreed to go out for a walk with my boss and another coworker. When I looked down and saw that I was wearing my low-cut Chuck Taylor’s, I knew I was in trouble.

“When I was a kid we did everything in sneakers like these!” I exclaimed, and with that we set out for what turned out to be a 4.4-mile walk. I was fine for about four miles and then I started to feel the burn — not a muscular burn, but rather the burn one feels when blistering will soon follow. I had no other choice but to press on, so press on I did. As we sat in Chuy’s for a post-walk beverage and nacho chips the pain got a little worse.

This morning my feet hurt. It’s far from a disaster area but I can still tell that I was a fool for going out for a walk in the shoes (and socks I suppose) that I was wearing yesterday. My baby-soft feet aren’t meant for such punishment.

MLB FAIL
On Tuesday night I listened to the Braves v. Dodgers game using the MLB app on my iPad. I love listening to baseball in this way because it allows me to pick which team’s announcers to which I listen. On Tuesday I chose the Dodgers’ feed so that I could hear Vin Scully announce part of the game.

Yesterday MLB released an “update” which supposedly included “performance enhancements” and I dutifully updated my iOS devices (shit, I just realized that I hadn’t updated my iPad 1) When I went to listen to last night’s Braves v. Dodgers game I was rudely presented with “processing error” each time I attempted to launch an audio feed (I tried the Dodgers’ feed first, and then the Braves’). I was able to launch the Dodgers’ Spanish audio feed, but not understanding Spanish this was useless.

I quit the MLB app and launched a different app in order to listen (stream) to a local radio station which broadcasts the Braves’ games but the MLB Dictatorship blocks audio streaming of games via the internet by entities other than themselves.

In the end I listened to something else until I went to sleep, feeling gypped that I paid $15 to listen to the audio feeds of baseball games and they delivered a shitty update which broke this promise.

(side note: I realize that I could have used a real radio to listen to the game, but I don’t have such a device in my bedroom any longer).

How Am I Going To Leave At 4:00pm With A 4:00pm Meeting Scheduled?
This being Thursday, and this being a Thursday with the East Atlanta Farmers Market open, I want to skidaddle (how does one spell that?) at 4:00pm. I really have too much work to warrant leaving at a normal time tonight, but I really want to hit the Farmers Market (and Midway tonight, ITP-Reader Betsy if you want to meet up.)

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – still progressing toward “okay” — on a good note the swelling on Thing 2 looks as if it’s starting to lessen
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – On one of the signs around Perimeter Mall I saw the words “Pilgrim’s Pride.” Much like Fuddruckers I assumed this referred to a bygone area restaurant — I envisioned one of those 1980’s restaurants like “The Cutting Board.” Pilgrim’s, neé “Pilgrim’s Pride, is actually a meat processor headquartered in Greeley, Colorado.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In –

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~11.9 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 5
Carnivorous Days – 20
Pancakes Eaten – 3

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

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette

April Goals
– Lose at least three pounds (net weight loss)
– Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
– 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
– 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]