Since I am not the knight in shining armor for any woman my day was fairly simple yesterday. I knew that my Mother’s Day card had arrived at my mother’s house on Thursday of last week so that base was covered — all I needed to do was to call her yesterday. After a weekend away I fell asleep super early (8:30pm?) and was surprised to be awakened by the sound of the phone. Even more surprising it was my mother calling me. “I’m supposed to be calling you” I told her, but she was at bingo and made the assumption that the call she had just missed was me calling her (I did not lie and told her that it wasn’t) but I did wish her a Happy Mother’s Day while I had the opportunity.
Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Broaden your horizons and read about a part of the world that interests you.
Our brains are designed for learning from the moment we’re born. Whether it’s about where reindeer like to graze in Sweden or the star players of Sierra Leone’s soccer team, there is always more to know about the world around us! Learning new things makes you a better conversationalist – and it keeps your brain in good shape, too.
ITP Flickr Pic
Oops, the camera never left the trunk.
A Weekend Away, No Pancakes Eaten
My goal was to hit the road early and stop for pancakes along the way up to Black Mountain, NC. I passed several Cracker Barrels as well as several more Waffle Houses, but I never saw a sign for an IHOP or any diners along the way. By the time I new it noon had arrived and I was near Black Mountain, so I gave up on my pancake hunt.
Except for the rain that arrived early Sunday morning the weekend at LEAF was a lot of fun. Packing up one’s camping gear with even a light rain sucks. I made the drive home in spitting rain and promptly set up my tent in the basement and turned a box fan on the flattened rain fly.
Highlight of the weekend (other than hanging out with friends): Ziplining into the lake.
Lowlight of the weekend (other than the rain): I hurt my knee running — nothing serious, but painful nonetheless
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – tired, hurt, fat, concerned
Current Music – listening to last week’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” podcast
Website Of The Day – I have a feeling that I will be using Calm a lot in the near future.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – I should have weighed in this morning, but I really didn’t want to know.
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 10.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights
Days Of Bed-Making – 0
Vegetarian Days – 3
Carnivorous Days – 10
Pancakes Eaten – 0
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
- Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
- God, No! — Penn Jillette
- The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
- Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore
May Goals
– Lose at least two 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
– 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]
Welcome back!
Sounds like you had a great weekend, even without pancakes.
This weekend I made my 5th (maybe 6th, I’m a little confused) trip to Sloppy Floyd State Park for the Twisted Ankle Half Marathon. I was so ‘undertrained’ it’s not even funny. It was a perfect day, I will give it that. The hash was well repersented. Bob and Laura, Thomas and Helen, Ralph and Debbie, Chad, Drew along with some offspring…Helen was there for her first TA Half, Thomas and Debbie their first full (I believe)…along with new runners, their was a new course.
Long story short, my run started off miserable, muscle were tight, some cramping but I knew if could just make it 3 or 4 miles I should be okay. The biggest changes for me this year was the addition of a fire break, there were parts steeper than Becky’s Bluff but thankfully not as long and hitting BB around mile 9, instead of 2 or 3, it’s way harder on tired legs.
We weren’t able to stick around to see everyone finish, we had a minor car issue that needed to be dealt with before the drive back. My ‘low tire presure’ light came on before we left Atlanta. We stopped to check it out but couldn’t figure out what tire was low…we decided to tempt fate and make the drive anyway. On the way back we bought a tire guage, looks like all fout tires were low (in the 23-25psi range??) so we filled them up at the nearest QT. Everything seems okay now.
Cracker Barrel has pancakes, don’t they?
We had pancakes for you yesterday, one day at Whole Foods, I bought some when I thought I was buying grits, so I decided we should use them & make soem pancakes (they were pretty tasty, btw). I had no idea that the display had more than just grits. They are from a place in Blairsville, GA that the packaging is a cloth bag, and there is a spot that they stamp the product name on the bag, I never thought to look at it closely.
Rode 48 miles up starting from the Bud Plant Saturday morning, the Beautiful Backroads route. Was lightly raining at the house before I left, (everyone was debating on bailing) but we all went anyway & never got rained on.
Sunday was a BLAH day, slept in, Allan worked on wiring some outdoor speakers so we will have music outside, had Allan’s mom over for dinner, then went & got a new to us fridge from a friend that is moving. It was a interesting move getting it out of her house with only Allan being a strong one, so one day in the not to distanct future we will need another strong guy to get it into our house.
Glad LEAF was a good time and not a total washout (like it would have been around here). And thanks for meeting me for lunch Thursday. As I told Debbie, we looked like a typical midtown couple!!
Debbie and I did a little car exploring Saturday- it was nice to just wander around in the car with no particular destination and I discovered a couiple new roads to ride- always nice to find new territory.
Yesterday, we had lunch with Debbie’s folks and brother. Besides being a jack of all trades, Andy cooks some seriously mean BBQ ribs. Worth the trip!
Is 40 miles going to be enough of a ride Saturday? 25 for the Sunday leftovers? I can always plan more…
-FP
It’s good to be back, though I am struggling to get back into the swing of things and I’m fighting off a cold and/or allergies. I was ill-prepared for chilly weather on Friday night. I had packed warm clothes in which to sleep, but wore shorts and a t-shirt down to the lake on Friday, bringing only a long-sleeve shirt with me. I never assumed it would get chilly so early and I suffered because of this.
Cracker Barrel does serve pancakes however I have a hard time going to Cracker Barrel (call it my ITP snobbiness).
Sounds like a good time was had in Georgia this weekend.
I forgot to mention my big concern this weekend. As I sat around waiting for the arrival of Team Raleigh the Jackmobile kept making a noise while it was “shut off.” About ever few minutes it made a brief whine (like a small motor running). I made every effort to figure out the source of the noise but couldn’t identify it. The noise continued into late Friday afternoon, but had stopped for the rest of the weekend by the time we arrived back at “camp” on Friday evening. Very bizarre.
Forty on Saturday will sufficiently kick my ass on Saturday. I’ll bring some beer, snacks to share, and something to toss on the grill (I’m making an assumption that there will be grilling on Saturday night).
Whatever distance you want on Saturday – what time are we thinking about starting? Allan will be getting home from work that morning, so we need to plan ahead if it is fairly early. (and – a beer stop on the ride wouldn’t hurt…… Allan & I are training for RAGBRAI as well as BRAG)
Just tell me what to bring & I’ll bring it – looks like the weather might cooperate too!
We are also thinking about a north side bike maintenance night on Tuesday May 29th (the day after Memorial Day). That way if someone does need a part or parts, they would have enough time before BRAG.
Beer stop? Hmm… might be a problems there. Bars are in short supply, but I’ll see what I can do. My first choice is 46 miles, but I’ll see what I can weave that includes a BS.
I’m kidding about the beer stop………. well, maybe.
how about a lunch & beer stop?
46 miles is fine – I’m in a 40 mile rut, still ahven’t made it over 50 this year.
I still haven’t made it over 0 this year. I will try to rectify that on Wednesday, however.
BTW Steve – Allan got those springs for the Bianchi
Woo Hoo!! I was looking at that last night and going to have him look at it this weeken. Cool!
We’ll provide the burgers and dogs Saturday night so if y’all would bring some sides and the beverages of your choice, we’re good to go. I’ve got Sunday breakfast covered. Barb if you could bring your set of dominoes, we can get two games going.
I could be convinced to host a beer a stop somewhere on the route. If it’s going where we drove this weekend there’s a whole lot of nuthin’ in the conveniences department — but very pretty!
Burgers and dogs sound great. I’ll bring some beer and a side. I also have a set of dominoes that I can bring in case we need extra.
I don’t have the nice wooden holders for the dominoes – but I’ll bring ours for sure.
I’ll bring a side, maybe some broccoli slaw, maybe a pasta salad, I’m not sure, I got all week to decide something – huh?