A Commute To Forget, A Commute To Remember

Commutes: 1
Flats: 2

On my way home last night I was tooling along and made a wrong turn near Brookhaven. Nonplussed I turned around and was soon on my way again — until I saw the green glass on the blacktop too late. No sooner than I saw the glass I heard the unmistakeable PSSSST, PSSSST, PSSSST of a flattening rear tire. DANGEN! I pulled over into a driveway, and unfortunately picked one that was going to be in use before I could complete my replacement, and began the process of replacing the tube. After checking for debris in the tire and along the rim tape I put the new tube into the tire, pumped it up slightly with my CO₂ cartridge, tried to ensure that I wasn’t going to get a pinch flat by massaging the tire and pressing it against the ground, put the tire back into the frame, and pumped it up using most of the remaining CO₂. And I was back on the road…

To say my commute had been altered was an understatement and with no backup plan I decided to ride to REI to pick up a new tube and a couple of CO₂ cartridges “just in case.” As I rode down Cliff Valley I hit a hard bump and, motherfucker, I flatted the back tire again! With no other option I cycle-crossed my way (read “carried my bike”) over the mile distance between my flatting location and REI. At REI I purchased some new gear and borrowed one of their pumps and was once again on my way home.

Thankfully the rest of my ride was uneventful. Well, not exactly, but at least this time the event was good. At one point on my ride from North Druid Hills to home I rode over what appeared to be money. At first I thought that it was one of those lottery tickets which have money symbols on them. I returned to the location, and lo and behold, money it was! In fact it was enough money to cover the cost of the two new tubes and two new CO₂ cartridges. ZUPPA! (this will be the ITP antonym to “DANGEN!”)

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Share three small things that made you happy when you were a child or teenager.

Being an adult has its fun moments, but it can be full of responsibility and stress, too. By reliving the small events that made you truly happy, it can help you remember and appreciate the simple joys that life can offer. From here, you can keep an eye out for other small things or plan activities that can bring fun and cheer to your days.

1. sports
2. comics
3. thinking I had a bright future ahead

And you?

And So We Close Another Month
Five down, seven to go.

In May things finally started to turn around (though new problems have also arisen). I once again mounted a bicycle and started riding. I spent a lot of time with great friends, including a weekend at LEAF and a day/night at the Moreland Day Spa. I didn’t get fired from my job, nor did I quit.

It would have been nice if I had gone out on a date, completed my goal to eat no meat on ten days, and to have actually lost some weight, but I’m not going to let that get me down today.

Cyclemania
With this morning’s ride (Garmin Forerunner-less because I absentmindedly forgot to turn the watch off after riding last night) I’m still not convinced that bicycle commuting is for me any longer. Disregarding last night’s battle with the flats the streets of Atlanta are too riddled with pot holes, debris on the road, storm grates facing the “wrong” direction, as well as drivers who don’t give two shits about cyclists and don’t want them on the road. Perhaps it’s with fondness that I think back to when commuting to work on bike seemed satisfying and rewarding. Today it was tense and exhausting (I’ll confess that the latter is more a reflection on my lack of exercise than cycling itself).

Regardless, yesterday I signed up to ride the Jackson Brevet century (well, 64 miles, not all 100) on June 16th. I don’t know who I am anymore!

It’s Up To You New York, New York
Catching up with Mad Men last weekend made me a little homesick, not that I ever frequented Manhattan much in the thirteen years I spent growing up there, nor am I old enough to remember the 1960s, but homesick I’ve become.

While I still plan on making a trip up to see ITP-Reader Ronnie (aka “my brother”) at his home in New York sometime this summer I’ll satiate myself a little sooner by going to see the showing of Gotham Shorts (a series of short films about New York) at the High Museum on June 9th. If anyone is up to making this a dinner and a movie, or movie and drinks night, please let me know (and I do know that some of you will be in the last stages of BRAG so you cannot attend).

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, though tired
Current Music – silence because I’ve not managed to decide what I want to hear at the moment
Website Of The Day – Want to know a dirty little secret? I’ve added another notch to my nerd belt by starting to read comics again. This time I’m doing it digitally using ComiXology.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – cycling, ~8 miles; walking, ~1 mile; cycling, ~10 miles
Morning Weigh-In – I may start checking again tomorrow

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 26.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 108.5 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 3
Carnivorous Days – 27
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 1

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
6. How We Decide — Jonah Lehrer
7. Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson

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]