It feels like Monday, but thankfully it’s Thursday. I hope that you all had a happy and healthy Independence Day yesterday; mine didn’t really live up to my expectations.
Today’s Personal Project
Cancel my Netflix account. I’m not using the service often enough to justify the meager $8/month I’m paying to get one DVD delivered. Since I can access Amazon Instant Videos from my computer and Roku box there is no real demand for me to keep Netflix.
Today’s Daily Challenge
Make a “Where I put it” list, and pledge to write down where you stash things.
How many times have you tucked something away in a safe spot, only to be unable to remember where it is when you needed it? Spending time looking for things and feeling like we lack control over our environment is stressful and can affect our emotional well-being. By taking a few seconds to create a list and committing to update it, you’ll save energy and aggravation when it’s time to pull out that birthday present or important piece of paper.
Not a bad idea. Had I started a “where I placed my second camera battery the last time I put it into my shorts pocket” list I’d have been able to find my second camera battery yesterday.
Back To Square One
I took my camera out to the Peachtree Road Race yesterday morning. I took nearly three hundred shots, exactly zero of those will be seen by anyone other than myself. Sure, in small format the lack of sharpness would go mostly unnoticed by many, but these are my photos and therefore will be judged using my rules. I have no one to blame but myself for my terrible shots; the equipment is fine (the hair which was on the the camera sensor got there due to my carelessness) and the photos are not view-worthy because the person pushing the shutter button has not been shooting and what marginal technique he possessed is gone.
I’m frustrated by my apparent waste of time and opportunity. Despite my lack of shooting over the past year I have no desire to give up on photography, but I do need to make a concerted effort to improve my skills greatly so that I can be proud enough with my work in order to share it with others.
The Good Things Which Happened At The Peachtree
I ran into “TV Hair” yesterday. After a short chat he told me that the hash ending this year was at The Highlander. I didn’t see an “official” Peachtree Pub Crawl this year (and I was out on the course until about 10:45am), and didn’t get the chance to stop in at the end.
While shooting near the High Museum I ran into my friends Nav and Jim, both of which were also out shooting.
ITP Flickr Pic
You now know why there is nothing here today.
Starting Over With iOS Training
After watching the season one finale of Sherlock I watched two “episodes” of last Winter’s Stanford CS193P “iOS Programming” class. I’m vowing that this is the month where I finally get through the entire semester’s worth of classes (so that I can attempt to stay current if they publish classes for iOS 6).
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fat
Current Music – listening to Mark Cavendish curse during the live coverage of today’s Tour de France stage
Website Of The Day – While I have been unsubscribing to many podcasts in an effort to simply my life, I’m still listening to some of the excellent podcasts on the British Tech Network.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing more than a little amount of walking yesterday
Morning Weigh-In – can’t bring myself to step on the scale because I know I won’t like the number I see
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~5.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights
Days Of Bed-Making – 0
Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 4
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
- How We Decide — Jonah Lehrer
- Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson
- Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays) — Arthur Miller
July Goals
– Take at least one load of stuff from my house to Goodwill DONE!
– Post at least ten new photos during the month (let’s try this again)
– Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
– Finish two books (audio or otherwise, comic books do not qualify)
– 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
– Ride no fewer than 150 miles
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]
ITP-Reader Steve, did you make it out to Painful Member? How was the rain down there? Up in the Perimeter Mall area it downpoured for at least an hour.
Quiet today, I wonder if everyone made it through the holiday? 🙂
On that note, there should be a rule forbidding mid-week holidays. We didn’t go anywhere, ended up having a couple of friends over…and what always happens when Dani and I get together, I’m suffering today.
Maybe next year I’ll work on the 4th and take the next day off…it’s going to be a short day at the office for me. I have a conference call at noon, if I didn’t think I’d sleep right through it if I went home, I’d go now.
I’m really at a loss as to what to do about one of the stray cats that has taken up residence on my front step. I think he’s dying. I mean he looks like he’s been dying for years but now I think it’s for real. He skinnier and mangier than normal and moving really slow. My friends thought he was dead in the front yard yesterday. I don’t know if I should try to catch him, so I can have my vet put him to sleep, he looks like he’s suffering but he’s still seems to have a strong appetite.
We got no rain at all on 7/3, but did get some late yesterday afternoon. I was at a pool about 15-20 minutes away, and we got no rain at the pool, so I was pleasantly surprised that we got rain at my house. My front grass so needs it.
We did go for a 37 mile ride yesterday, rode from our house over to Roswell & back. There were enough hills, but not too many, and starting at 8am really helped with dealing with the heat.
We want to do a longer ride Saturday, but trying to decide where. Allan isn’t all about the idea of getting up super early, so not sure if we will go up north or south to ride (since that adds 45 minutes for travel time). May do another ride from the house, maybe going over towards West Cobb, there was a Coffee & Bagel ride back in the 90s that still have maps on the Sadlebred website.
Netflix account canceled. Because of my billing cycle I can still access my account through August 3rd, but I think I’ll let it go dormant to get used to the fact that I’ve canceled my account.
So far I’m three-for-three on completing my daily personal project on the day on which it was set!
After getting down to East Point tuesday afternoon and taking a few laps on the mower, the weather did not look like it was going to be a lot of fun for Painful Member, so I bagged it and headed home.
I got out early yesterday for 30, then we went over to friends last night for a lovely dinner and fireworks.
As I’m off on Friday, I decided to take today as well. Already been to the lumberyard to get some fence boards and we have an appointment to donate blood this afternoon.
Tomorrow, I’m thinking I might go down to the Infantry Museum at Ft. Benning.
Barb, if your ride Saturday was down at Silk Sheets, I might be convinced to join you.
-FP
I’m not sure how much rain midtown received on Tuesday, but I think you made the correct call Steve.
Now that I remember that it’s Thursday and not Monday, again, I am going to try and make it out to the East Atlanta farmers market tonight.
Steve – I”ll shoot a text or FB message to you if I convice Allan to go south, I wouldn’t mind riding down there – if we go tthe full southern route there are I think 6 sprint points, maye I can sneak a win on one…..
I went out of town for the holiday so I’m just now catching up. Paulie, this is the power converter we use when we go to Europe, it’s got adapters for pretty much every country: http://www.amazon.com/All—One-Travel-Power-Adapter/dp/B000YN01X4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341580031&sr=8-1&keywords=european power converter
I’ve used it in UK, France, The Netherlands, Latvia, Italy and (I think) the Czech Republic (where if it wasn’t this exact one, it was one very similar).
Thanks Jenka!