A Weekend Of Much Too Much Work And Too Much Alone Time

Whew, while I had fun at times this weekend I sure wish that I could of shared it with someone else.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Learn about a local issue.

Learning about the community where you live helps build deeper connections with the people around you. Together, well-informed citizens can find solutions to problems and create a stronger community. You may even be moved to become involved in a local issue! You can help change the world by starting with where you live.

I Finally Tried The Argosy
On Friday I was surprised to hear from a the band Turf War’s PR agency that they would put me on the guest list for Turf War’s show at 529 that evening. With no other plans on the agenda I gladly accepted.

I made it back to East Atlanta shortly after 8pm with designs on finally trying The Argosy. After waiting at least 25 minutes for a table (the bar was already filled and after I had waited some time I decided I might as well continue to wait for a table) I was seated. I ordered a beer and an appetizer of crispy pork belly kabobs, and then a hamburger that was suggested by one of my friends on Twitter. The food was good, but the experience would have been better with someone else.

After dinner I walked down to 529 and found the first band (who I thought was Turf War) onstage; how wrong I was. Turf War was the night’s headliner and because I knew that I had a long day planned on Saturday and the smoke was getting to me I decided to bail before 11pm.

A Curveball, A Day Of Work, An Afternoon Workout, A Dinner Of Loudness
I was up early on Saturday morning and I started the day by watching an episode of MacBreak Weekly. It was my good fortune to watch it then because by doing so I found out about an Apple Pop Up Museum that was in town (well, in Roswell) this past weekend only. The museum was set up in the old CompUSA in Roswell, at which I started the GA 400 Century last year, and cost $10 to enter. This museum was small, but did contain nearly every product produced by Apple and NeXT.

After the museum I stopped into Taco Mac for lunch before heading into the office to work until 5pm. Meh.

After work I drove down to the Brookhaven LA Fitness in order to get in a workout. Yay me! Did you know that LA Fitness, at least that location, closes at 8pm on Saturdays? I was surprised. Luckily for me I completed my workout and shower by 7:30pm.

I thought about drinking and eating at one of the two cool places in the same shopping center as LA Fitness, but then I thought that I should once again spend my money in my own hood. I was hoping to eat a nice, quiet dinner at the bar of Elder Tree Public House. What I found out when I entered Elder Tree is that they are a viewing location for the Atlanta Silverbacks, who apparently were playing the Tampa Bay Rowdies (there’s a name I haven’t thought of in 30+ years) so there were a couple of dozen loud fans watching the game; even worse, they spurred on the Braves fans who were also in the bar. I decided to stay and eat nonetheless. It was loud, it was slightly uncomfortable, but the beer and food were good and me and my sore muscles returned home satiated.

ITP Flickr Pic
“All In The Family”

I heard about the Apple Popup Museum while watching MacBreak Weekly on Saturday morning. Luck me as the museum will only be in Roswell today and tomorrow.

This is the iPod family tree exhibit. I like the way the reflection of the case shows the colored iPods that you can’t see otherwise.

Even though I carried my Nikon V1 with me I felt compelled to take shots using my iPhone.

A Morning Of Yard Work, Followed By Laziness And More Work
Sunday was another early-rising day. After lying about I decided to make myself some biscuits and eggs before heading out into the back yard. For about two hours I cut in the backyard and lugged them up to the font curb. After a while I decided that I had put out as much stuff as the City would haul away, and figured that the backyard will be a Spring/Summer long project. The next yard task was cutting the front and back “lawns” for the first time this year.

By the time I was done I was once again bushed so I took a nice afternoon nap. After my nap I started looking at code again before making some rice for dinner and then watching The Amazing Race.

RealiTV Update: The Amazing Race — Who’s Smarter Than A 5^th Grader?
Ah product placement, how I hate you so.

In last night’s The Amazing Race the remaining racers took a train to Berlin where they entered new cars by a major United States auto manufacturer and had to answer three questions using the fancy-pants Sync system prior to getting their next clue. In the future I hope that I never have to answer questions before my car will start, but if they are as easy as the three the teams had to answer I guess that I will be okay.

If reverse-chivalry is dead, chivalry shall also be dead. For some reason I couldn’t understand why the Nashville girls were disappointed in the hockey players for losing them while driving after the girls had no real problem leaving them behind when picking up the cars.

I guess “V” is for “near loser?” After getting one of their bags stolen the Hockey Boys had bad luck when one of their letters fell to the ground and broke; this forced them to do the other Detour of building a train.

Meanwhile The Newlyweds (who I really don’t like very much, well I don’t really like him) finished first.

I about threw a brick into the television when YouTuber Joey didn’t know who said “Ich bin ein Berliner” and then exclaimed “I figured it out!” when someone in the salon told him the answer.

Was anyone not surprised that this was a non-elimination leg?

Today’s Personal Project
Get some personal work done.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, but nervous about my job
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – In my office environment I constantly find myself looking for white noise in order to drown out what is going on around me. The other day I heard about Rainy Cafe and will be adding it to my list of white noise generators.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Friday = treadmill, 60 minutes (Galloway Method); Saturday = weightlifting; Sunday = yard work
Morning Weigh-In – checking today

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 9 (4 cardio)

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Meals – 31
Carnivorous Meals – 32

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]