A Mostly Lousy Weekend

At least for me.

Today’s Personal Project
Do laundry, take care of all of the other task on my electronic To Do list, ignore the aches and pains which haunt me today.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Share one thing that you enjoy creating, such as a special meal, craft project, or journal entry.

The act of creating something is a proven way to improve well-being, largely because when you’re engaged in an enjoyable and absorbing activity, the part of your brain that wants to focus on worries (your pesky temporal lobe) quiets down. The process of creating something also gives you a mental boost because it leads to a sense of accomplishment. Sharing what you like to create can motivate others to try the same thing – and you may get some good ideas for new ways to be creative!

This blog? Nah, too easy. How about bread in my bread machine — where I substitute a bottle of beer for the water in the recipe! This weekend I made a loaf of bread in which I poured an entire Highland Brewing Company Oatmeal Porter.

A Somewhat Lousy Night At A Different Taco Mac
At least for me.

On Friday I joined some coworkers and we met up with a couple of former coworkers at the Taco Mac in Midtown.

All things were going swimmingly well until the end of the evening. As a matter of habit I didn’t even think to check my itemized bill (I normally feel comfortable with Taco Mac’s billing). When my credit card came I realized that I had most likely been overcharged by a beer or so. I shrugged it off because I didn’t think that it was worth my time to fight it.

I was dealt a second kick in the nuts the next morning when I logged into my Taco Mac Brewniversity account and found out that I was only credited with a single beer credit (I drank three beers) — and it wasn’t even for any of the beers I consumed Friday night!

Fool me once…

2012 Football Has Ended
At least for me.

On Saturday the Gators suffered their first defeat of the season. Had you told me in August that the Gators would only have one loss going into November I would have been happy with this. However, losing to Georgia, and effectively losing the SEC East in the process, has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

On Sunday my NY Jets played the hated (at least by me) Miami Dolphins. When last we saw the Jets they were beating themselves again New England. Yesterday they didn’t even come close to beating Miami (at least from the score updates I saw while watching the Falcons game).

So my seasons — college, pro — have ended. Looks like I’ll have plenty of time to work weekends the rest of this year (Well, except for this coming weekend; more on this later in the week.)

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho It’s Off To Work I Go (On The Weekend)
At least for me.

I dragged myself into the office on Saturday and put in a long day at the office. I was fairly productive knocking out some much-needed coding as well as one-third of some required training that I’ll be revisiting today.

Little did I realize at the time that Saturday was going to be the only pleasant day of this past weekend. I guess that I should have known based on some quick weather forecast checking on Friday, but I didn’t.

Lavanderia Y Dinner
At least for me.

I’ve put off doing laundry for as long as I can. Today I am wearing my final pair of clean underwear (why do we call this one undergarment a “pair of underwear”?) and since it’s far too cold to go commando I need to hit the lavanderia tonight. Of course I could just go over to Target at lunch and buy more underwear, but that seems a bit excessive even for me.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listening to this week’s “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day – Everyone is talking about Hurricane Sandy today. Let’s take a look at hurricanes of old at Hurricane History.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – a whole lot of nothing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Morning Weigh-In – average, at least for me — 203 pounds

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~60.3 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 19 (I suppose had I made my sleeping bag and blanket in Black Mountain I could have claimed credit)

Vegetarian Meals – 48
Carnivorous Meals – 20
Pancakes Eaten – 4

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

October 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
– Find someone else to go out on a date with

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