6, 6, 6

I’m trying to implement the following:

• Get out of bed no later than 6am (this is to “get me going” even if I am just going to work).
• Split my daily vitamin intake and take them at 6am and 6pm.
• Get some form of exercise six days every week.

Ambitious? Perhaps. Doable? Definitely.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Eat one source of monounsaturated fat today, such as nuts, avocado, olive oil, or vegetable oil.

Although saturated and trans fats are unhealthy for us, some other types of fats bring body benefits! Foods rich in monounsaturated fat can lower the risk of heart disease by improving blood cholesterol levels. They may also be tied to better control of blood sugar levels.

ITP Confessional (aka ‘Last Week’s “Big Three”‘)
So, how did I do with last week’s “Big Three”?

GREAT, since there wasn’t a “Big Three” last week because I was in Florida on Monday and didn’t blog well.

This feature is back this week, check below.

A Failed Workend
I spent a good part of Friday in the office (failing to get much done), then I dropped off a box of stuff from my office at Goodwill (purging), and then headed to the lavanderia where the woman working their declared that I was getting old when she saw the cast. I attempted to get myself motivated to work from home during the remained of the weekend; instead I watched a lot of the Tour de France (on NBC on Saturday morning and on NBCSports via Slingbox on Sunday morning) and goofed off.

On Saturday afternoon I headed out of the house to try to have some fun (have I mentioned how much I hate being alone, especially when I can’t exercise?). I wound up at The Marlay House in Decatur where I sat at the bar killing time playing with my iPad while drinking some beer. Dinner that night found me at Big Tex (who seemed to have dropped “Cantina” from their name) where I ate some (read “too many”) smoked chicken wings and macaroni and cheese. Upon returning home I passed out early (surprised?) and wound up pissing away the rest of the evening because of this.

Sunday was pretty much a rerun of Saturday, except exchange Diesel (where I ate the “Death Muffin” — as seen on “US of Bacon” — which sells for $6.66) in Virginia-Highland for The Marlay House, and home for for Big Tex. All efforts to open my laptop and look at code were thwarted by other activities such as watching “The Office” or “Arrested Development”, or doing some (easyish) NY Times crossword puzzles.

Can’t Anyone Do Anything Right? #1
Part of my time on Friday was spent chatting with this “pharmacy” in Florida which sold me an expensive “prescription compound cream” to apply to my apparently-never-going-to-heal foot. As I do with everything I purchase that needs to be delivered I asked that it be sent to my work address in order to stop East Atlanta’s opportunists (read “thieves”) from getting my $85 placebo for free.

When I called the “pharmacy” on Friday I was told that the package was sent via USPS therefore there was no tracking number, and that it was sent to my home address. After a minute or two of being on hold I was informed that it had been delivered on Tuesday. I was peeved.

It turns out this company is really bad at following orders because they also charged me $13 for shipping (via UPS, not USPS by the way) when the paperwork I was given by the podiatrist clearly stated that it will be shipped free of charge.

Luckily for this company the package was small and hardly noticeable on my front doorstep (hell, I arrived home three times without noticing it) and I have no desire to nag them about the shipping charge.

After using this cream as prescribed I believe a $5 tube of Icy Hot would be more effective.

ITP Flickr Pic
“Is It Obvious That I am Single?”

Or is it obvious that I am not drinking much at home?

Can’t Anyone Do Anything Right? #2
In the mail on Friday night was a bill from the lab who performed the lab tests for the physical I had in January. This is the fifth time I have been billed for these tests (at least this time they didn’t threaten sending me to collections) and the fifth time I’ve called my insurance company to find out why the hell I am still getting billed for this. Each time I talk to the insurance company I get another story about some miscommunication between them and the lab. Each time the insurance company has told me that they will handle it.

Apparently I am not the only one who can’t seem to get their work done…

The A/C Is On
I gave in, on Sunday. While all of this rain has been wonderful for keeping the temperatures below 90° F it has also kept things humid as hell (well, you know what I mean) and made for a sticky day on Sunday.

So far, so good. I had to snug up the nut that holds the condensation drain tube to the sump pump because I had to disassemble the pump to have the new water heater installed. As I already knew this A/C unit will never get this house cold, but at least it’s doing some work at keeping the temperatures at bay.

This Week’s “Big Three”

Today’s Personal Project
Go through my paperwork, taking care of outstanding business. This was supposed to be yesterday’s task but I never got around to it.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh, craving major changes
Current Music – listening to last week’s “R3-30 Countdown” podcast from CBC Radio3
Website Of The Day – Everyone reading this space should understand why I am linking to DIY Plumbing Advice. I should have taken last weekend as an opportunity, but I did not.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – I think if I am to check any time soon I will get severely depressed

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 0 (0 cardio)

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Meals – 5
Carnivorous Meals – 10

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

July Goals
– get my foot to stop hurting
– ride my bicycle
– return ITP-Reader Martha’s coffee percolator to her

- return ITP-Terri’s crutches to her

- not get sick

- 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

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
4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy — by Douglas Adams
5. Amazing Things Will Happen: A Real-World Guide on Achieving Success and Happiness — by CC Chapman

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]