Trying To Turn The Corner

Another apparent failure occurred last night. I am trying to get a handle on the life I am living, and to spin this in a positive light.

Today’s Personal Project
Eat dinner at home. Seems like a simple task, but given my work hours, stress, and traffic it is much easier for me to go out to let’s say Taco Mac, or Chuy’s.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Learn how long you can safely store foods in the refrigerator.

Food poisoning is very common – it affects millions each year – not to mention very unpleasant. And in most cases, it’s just not possible to taste the bacteria on food that can cause food poisoning. By familiarizing yourself with the safe limits for food storage, you can help avoid illnesses like salmonella and listeria.

I thought that’s why Man invented expiration dates. 😉

Hello Again, Taco Mac
I was stressed out last night and with no hope of making it down to the CocoaHeads:@”Atlanta” meeting in midtown I decided to relax with a beer or two. And nachos.

It was a brilliantly-slow night at Taco Mac last night, which I loved but I’m sure the waitstaff hated. I was served by an excellent waitress whose name according to the receipt was “Kaytee,” and by the time I sauntered out I was feeling much better. At least until I saw the rear bumper of the Jackmobile again.

By the time I arrived home it was past 9:00pm and I could do was lie down on the bed and pass out. I awoke again around 2:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep for about ninety minutes. Needless to say I wasn’t the most bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when I drove up to the office to meet my coworkers for a walk at 7:00am.

ITP Flickr Pic
Sadly the well hath run dry.

I’m About To Declare Garmin > MapMyFitness
This morning I used my iPhone as my recording device for my walk. For the second time in recent history I inadvertently touched the camera icon on the screen while placing the phone back into my pocket, thus turning off the tracking. When I discovered my problem this morning I was back at my starting point, in this scenario the app does a straight line from Point A to Point B, so the distance traveled was completely wrong.

While not completely foolproof and taking longer to acquire satellites the Garmin Forerunner watch rarely encounters such problems, though admittedly it can lose satellite connection much easier.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – working my way toward “meh.” I still have an amazingly aggressive schedule and much stress ahead of me for the next couple of weeks.
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – I recently discovered the food blog Eat, Live, Run. The recipes look interesting, the food photography is outstanding, and as an added bonus the writer is pretty. Oh, and if you are in the market for a new cookbook, the site’s author released her first cookbook, White Jacket Required: A Culinary Coming-of-Age Story, yesterday.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, ~5.5 miles
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~11.2 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Meals – 6
Carnivorous Meals – 4
Pancakes Eaten – 3

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

September Goals
– Wear “nice” clothes to work at least twice a week, if for no other reason than to have people wonder why I am dressing up. New!
– Eat no fewer than forty-five vegetarian meals
– Take at least one load of stuff from my house to Goodwill
– Take unused electronics to recycling center
– Post at least ten new photos during the month
– Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
– Finish two books (audio or otherwise, comic books do not qualify)
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Ride no fewer than 100 miles
– Walk (or run) no fewer than 100 miles
– Do no fewer than 750 sit-ups
– Do no fewer than 300 push-ups
– Read a non-techincal book

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

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
8. Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays) — Arthur Miller
9. Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]