Snapped Back To Reality

I had a really good weekend, including not being able to do yard work because rain arrived before I could get myself to go outside to do some weeding. I woke early this morning and headed to the Perimeter Mall area to go out for a walk. I was having a good walk, until near the end when I was crossing with the light and a walk signal a car turned left. As I continued to cross, it continued to turn. As I made eye contact with the driver, who I think works in my building, she stopped and allowed me to continue as I pointed to my walk signal indicating that I had the right of way in the crosswalk at that time. While I don’t believe that “the pedestrian always has the right of way” and I realize expecting a driver to grant me my right of way when I do was exactly how I wound up in the hospital last year, I felt that I needed to make a point at this time; she easily could have waited for me to cross the street before turning because there was very little traffic coming in her direction.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth.

Saving water helps to maintain water supplies at safe levels. Lower water levels can contribute to higher concentrations of human and natural pollutants, which can put our health and the health of the environment at risk. Turning off the tap also saves an enormous amount of energy that’s expended in treating the water and delivering it to your home. Leaving the tap running for five minutes uses roughly the same amount of energy as running a 60-watt light bulb for 14 hours. Plus, saving water means saving money – and every little bit helps!

I am pretty good about this, unless I’m trying to let the water heat up for a shave.

Beautiful Weather, Good Ride, Delicious Food, Great Friends
There was but a small pack of four who headed out for a ride from the Moreland Day Spa on Saturday morning. The course was advertised as being forty-five miles long, but my legs and feet were not disappointed as my Garmin Forerunner read somewhere in the neighborhood of 43.5 miles as I dismounted. The ride, my first real ride since last Fall, was good and included a refreshing beer stop in “downtown” Senoia.

After the ride the group assembled, missing a few who said they’d be present but were not, dipped in the chilly pool, drank some chilly beverages, and ate and ate and ate (or maybe that was just me eating). As nightfall drew nearer it appeared that a mean game of dominoes was about to ensue, but some of us were too tired to commit so we all went inside and watched the penultimate stage of the Tour of California.

After a good night’s sleep (except perhaps for ITP-Reader Steve who was summoned into work early Sunday morning) we had a delicious breakfast before breaking up the festivities about noon. I was home in time to watch the final stage of the Tour of California before nodding off for a nap.

Many thanks to ITP-Readers Debbie and Steve for hosting me this weekend.

There Might Be Nothing Safe From A Great Dane’s Mouth
Life is funny. Not “ha ha” funny (there is a sad story that I’ll not recount today) but rather “huh” funny.

As I packed up my gear on Saturday I included two pairs of socks. At the last minute I decided to wear flip-flops, rendering the socks unnecessary. I thought about taking the socks out my bag, and then of tossing in a pair of shoes, you know, just in case. Naaaaah! So I headed to the Moreland Day Spa with only flip-flops and two pairs of unneeded hosiery.

Just prior to taking off for our ride I decided to move my flip-flops from the ground on which I had dropped them to a “safe place” on the hood (bonnet for any Brits in the crowd) of my car. [note: The inside of my car would be safer, the car was unlocked, and it would have only taken an extra fifteen seconds for my to have placed them inside the car. But I didn’t.]

When we returned from the ride I went to fetch my flip-flops only to find them missing from the hood of my car. I turned and asked ITP-Reader Debbie if she had moved my flip-flops (assuming she saw them there, knew that I had misjudged the “safeness” of my resting place), and when she had a confused look on her face I knew I had screwed up.

The flip-flops were found in the grass on the other side of the driveway, partially chewed. I guess the flip-flops weren’t as fun to play with as Debbie and Steve’s Great Dane Farley initially assumed; luckily for me, as the were the only non-cycling footwear that I had available.

So I’ll add “flip-flops” to my REI shopping list which now also includes “swim shirt” in addition to the rain coat I failed to buy on Friday.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay
Current Music – listening to last week’s “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day – My love of food will always get me to post cooking websites like Brazen Kitchen here.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Saturday = bicycling, ~43.5 miles
Morning Weigh-In – don’t know

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 10.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 43.5 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 3
Carnivorous Days – 17
Pancakes Eaten – 0

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
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. 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]