All In All A Good Weekend

Whew, what a whirlwind weekend. Enough w’s for you?

Today’s Daily Challenge
Take a one-minute imaginary bike ride.

This exercise spins two kinds of physical activity into your day! The muscles in your abdomen and legs get a workout as you pedal, and the effort you expend makes your heart beat faster. All without the trouble of finding the key to your bicycle lock or worrying about a flat tire.

One minute? PSHAW!

Talkin’ Baseball
On Friday night my coworkers and I Marta’d down to midtown for a little Georgia Tech baseball action.

On our walk from the midtown station to the baseball field we stopped into Cypress Street Pint & Plate for a few pre-game beverages (you know, they don’t sell alcohol at college games). While there we got to have some time at the bar talking while watching all of the pretty young folks gome in all dressed up for some sort of formal (I don’t think it was “prom” as they were in a bar so they must have been college age).

The game itself was very exciting, with Georgia Tech beating the #5 ranked Virginia Cavaliers. Ten dollars got me a great seat for the game and another $13 got me a pretzel, hot dog, and Coke (I would have asked for a Pepsi but figured being in the shadow of Coca-Cola’s headquarters that there would be little change to get one). I will definitely go back, if my schedule permits before their (seemingly short) season ends.

ITP Flickr Pic
“Jackets Baseball”

On Friday night I took in my first college baseball game — the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defeat of the University of Virginia Cavaliers in Atlanta, GA.

This photo was taken and stitched together with Microsoft’s Photosynth iPhone app.

One Night Of Camping
I met the same coworkers at our office on Saturday morning where we took two cars up to Fort Mountain State Park. We drove up as pairs with me leading the charge, and stopped for groceries up in Chatsworth. Pro Tip: Don’t stop in Chatsworth’s “Shop-n-Go” (or any of them for that matter) and if you are looking for the Food Lion you are out of luck (it has closed) but the there is a Bi-Lo across the street from the old Food Lion.

We made it into the park were I renewed by Georgia State Parks annual Friends of Georgia State Parks pass (and was upsold to the Family Plan, which was only $25 more and provided a second annual parking pass and a second “free” night of camping. Want to be my camping friend for the next year?

We sat around camp (NEVER. LEAVE. CAMP.) where I got myself a nice farmer’s sunburn and relaxed. We ate and drank into the night and I continued to battle one of my cowrkers who couldn’t keep from fucking with (and on occasion smothering) our campfire; fortunately this night wasn’t much colder than it was. Before you judge, I realize that I neither “own” the fire nor do I consider myself a fire building expert. However, I can recognize when the blazing fire turns into a smokey mess because someone has rearranged the wood and cut off its oxygen supply.

I shared a tent with my boss (the other two coworkers were women) where I had one of the worst nights of camp sleeping in my life with the both of us snorting loudly.

Upon arriving home I unpacked the car, took a nice warm shower, and promptly climbed into bed where I took a three-hour nap.

I considered going up to East Atlanta Village, The Argosy specifically, for a solo dinner, but didn’t want to eat out alone and decided to whip up some pasta for dinner — especially since I had an extra hour to prepare before the start of The Amazing Race.

Time To Work On The Belly Fat
One of the disappointments of aging is the redistribution of my body’s fat. I’ll save you the graphic details, but suffice to say it’s time for me to start working off the fat in addition to building up my muscles.

RealiTV Update: Bora Bora Again Again?
Last night’s winning team won a trip back to Bora Bora, again I must confess my jealousy as at one time I planned to go there, but those plans never panned out.

During last night’s episode the race managed to do one of the things I dislike about it — level the playing field by making it impossible for the lead teams to progress. In fact, in last night’s episode it happened twice — once when the teams had to wait for their clues to arrive, and once to take a train.

If you were my partner and I had to rescue the Travelocity gnome from the side of that mountain our Amazing Race might have come to an end because I might not have been able to convince myself to climb out of the window. I am a courageous man and all, but I have my limitations.

Last night’s episode had a “Switchback”, an event which was done in a previous season. The Switchback was the cheese roll that they did in season 14 (no, I did not recall which season in which this first happened, I saw mention of that on the Internet), however this time they performed the challenge in Winter which made the task much easier than when they did it in springtime.

I admit that I was not sat to see Chuck and Wynona get eliminated, though I am ready to see the YouTubers get booted so I no longer have to hear Joey’s screaming. It’s not that I disliked Chuck and Wynona really, it’s just that they (perhaps she) finally surpassed her physical limit and I didn’t think that they were real competition for the others any longer. I am pulling for the hockey brothers to win. It says on their bio that they live in Raleigh and own a bar (which I assume is in Raleigh), I bet you they have been having some awesome TAR watching nights at their bar. I wonder which one it is… Two minutes of internet “research” revealed that they own “Lucky B’s” (aka “Lucky 13s”), which makes sense because I remember one of them wearing a Lucky 13s shirt earlier in the season. Here’s a passage from the site:

Here’s the deal: Lucky B’s own Bates Battaglia and Anthony Battaglia are representing Raleigh on this season of The Amazing Race on CBS.
Yes, you read that right.
Beginning Feb. 17, 2013 at 8pm, you’ll be able to see their mugs on TV every Sunday night until they either A: win the whole damn thing (and buy everyone at Lucky B’s a round to celebrate) or B: get the boot on the show while having a great time *trying* to win.
So, to celebrate, we’re going to have a little pre-show kick off party on Sunday, Feb. 10 – exactly one week before Bates and Anthony hit network television!
Join us to wish the guys good luck (do they even need it at this point?) and to find out about our weekly contest we’re going to play at Lucky B’s to follow along with the TV action.
PS: Leave a little love for Bates and Anthony on their show picture!

Today’s Personal Project
Since my taxes have supposedly been submitted electronically, do laundry tonight.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, though I rushed through my morning workout to be in the office for a 9am meeting — which has gotten canceled.
Current Music – listening to this week’s “The Photo Show” podcast from the British Tech Network.
Website Of The Day – This year I might make some weekend camping plans on US Forest Service land — assuming that is still legal.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Friday = weight lifting; Saturday = nothing; Sunday = very little
Morning Weigh-In – I forgot to check on Friday

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 5 (2 cardio)

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Meals – 22
Carnivorous Meals – 19

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

April Goals
– not get sick
– lose two pounds
– walk/run no fewer that 50 miles
– lift weights at the gym no fewer than eight times
– finish at least two of the books I am reading
– take at least one box of things to Goodwill
– post at least ten photos in the blog
– drink a lot less alcohol
– prepare a house repair plan and budget
– return ITP-Reader Martha’s coffee percolator to her
– return ITP-Terri’s crutches to her

2013 Goals: Measurable
– Get my weight down to 190 pounds so that I can wear a 36″ waist pants comfortably
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Dissolve Sharpened Stone
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Completely run at least one 10k
– Fix all (or at least most) of the things which are wrong with the ITP Estate

2013 Goals: Unmeasurable
– Simplify, simplify, simplify
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– 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)
– Take two real vacations, perhaps one abroad
– Take a more proactive approach to meeting women (read “stop being such a pussy”)

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2013

1. Pages 1.7 for iPad (Timestompers Guide) — by Sean Wells
2. 60 Mountain Lion Tips — by David Sparks and Brett Terpstra
3. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business — by Charles Duhigg

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]