Wow. In a summer of shitty weather last night’s rain storm on the north side of town completely fucked all of the traffic near work. I had to work later than I wanted (6:00pm) because we had to cut a new release of software. In doing this I agreed to take a coworker home because she does not own a car and her ride wanted to leave at 4:30pm. She lives near the ‘hooch in an apartment complex just inside the perimeter — it took us over 90 minutes to make the commute from Perimeter Mall to her complex because Plan ‘C’ took us via Chastain Park!
Oh, did you know that there was a Back Street Boys concert at Chastain Park last night?
Neither did I.
Ooof.
Today’s Daily Challenge
Pick three things up off the floor in your home or office.
Objects on the floor block our path and are especially dangerous for those with mobility issues and the elderly. They also contribute to general clutter, creating one more surface that looks jumbled and messy. By taking a moment to pick up a few things, you’ll create a safer and tidier environment.
I plan to pick a dozen or so things off the floors at home this weekend.
Slack Motherfucker!
(That’s the name of Suoerchunk’s biggest hit)
After fighting traffic I told my friend Mike that I’d just meet him at Terminal West for the Superchunk show.
Not surprisingly, once I got inside the perimeter by 7:30pm traffic had subsided and I made it down to the west side by 8:00pm. I decided to give West Egg Cafe a second visit for dinner. The Food was fine, but I overdid it a bit going the whole nine yards with coffee and dessert.
Parking at Terminal West has become an issue as King Plow is constructing a parking deck. King Plow found an open lot nearby to provide free parking; this is where I parked last night. King Plow smartly provides a shuttle bus for the people parking there since, while it’s not a long walk, it’s not in the nicest part of town.
The Superchunk show was good. I met up with Mike, chatted with a friend John, and saw and old friend Mark (the biggest Superchunk fan I’ve ever met) in attendance as well.
Unsurprisingly, there were not nearly as many women in attendance for Superchunk as I saw walking to Chastain for Back Street Boys.
I also learned a valuable lesson on my drive home — avoid downtown by CNN at any cost! Even at 11:30pm traffic was snarled thanks to road work and poorly synchronized traffic lights. My commute home took me over twenty-five minutes.
ITP Flickr Pic
“In The Not Too Distant Future”
On the night before heading to the Big Nerd Ranch training I hung out with a different set of nerds — the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crowd. Because the “VIP” ticket was only “$15 more” I purchased one. I had no idea that I’d be getting my photo taken with one of my comedic heroes, Joel Hodgson.
Second Verse, Same As The First
I’ll be returning to Terminal West tonight and hope to score better parking as well as eat dinner at their companion restaurant Stationside.
Tonight’s show will be much different from last night’s (though I’ll essentially dressed the same exact way) as I’ll be seeing the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers.
Nerdy, Nerdy, Nerdy
Tomorrow I’ll be attending an all-day event in Marietta called Atlanta Code Camp. It’ll be another of my efforts to expose myself to the wider nerd community in order to “network” in the personal way.
If the event proves to be too nerdy for someone like me I may try to head over to watch roller derby with ITP-Reader Barb instead.
Today’s Personal Project
Get my shit together, stop worrying about my throat. It’s too early to tell if this medication is working but fretting over this condition will do me no good. I will admit it’s bugging the shit out of me however.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh. I need to start waking up earlier so that I can get some exercise again.
Current Music – listening to a recent KEXP “Music That Matters” podcast
Website Of The Day – I dare not think that any of you are as nerdy about coding as I am, but if I am wrong might I suggest you look into Code Academy?
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – too fat
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 0 (0 cardio)
Days Of Bed-Making – 0
Vegetarian Meals – ?
Carnivorous Meals – ?
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
August Goals
– still TBD
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
- Pages 1.7 for iPad (Timestompers Guide) — by Sean Wells
- 60 Mountain Lion Tips — by David Sparks and Brett Terpstra
- The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business — by Charles Duhigg
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy — by Douglas Adams
- Amazing Things Will Happen: A Real-World Guide on Achieving Success and Happiness — by CC Chapman
- So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love — by Cal Newport
- Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life — by Steve Martin
- Who Am I: A Memoir — by Pete Townshend
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Good morning from lovely Rock Hill SC, where there were not enough entrants to need the morning session of races that were scheduled today. Our day starts at 5PM. I looked into driving over to the NC Zoo, but it’s a bit farther than I was interested in driving. Still looking for something to fill my day- suggestions in Charlotte, perhaps?
Last nights’ racing was very good. Keirin finals (6 riders behind a motorcycle for 3/4 of the race, going a little faster each lap, then the motor pulls off and it’s every man for himself). Only one crash. Match sprints for the women and the race for 1st place went to 3 rides (best 2 out of 3). Good racing all around.
Tonight is the points race- riders get points (4 deep) every 10 laps. Rider with the most points wins. A bit confusing to watch, as riders are also trying to lap the field ( 20 points) and not get lapped (-20 points). Glad we know what’s going on… most of the time.
-FP
Pity the zoo is too far, I enjoyed it last year. You could seek out a Biscuitville and fulfill one of my bucket-list items. 🙂 What, I’m serious…
Sounds like some interesting, if not confusing, scoring.
And special for Barb- from Phil Gaimon’s journal off Velonews-
“Around 60km into the stage, we passed a fishing tackle shop with a very comical name. I was riding next to Mike Friedman (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) when I saw the sign, and I got so excited that I stuttered when I tried to point it out to him. He probably thinks I made it up, but never in my wildest imagination could I come up with that.”
The name in question- Master Bait and Tackle.
There is a place somewhere in Greenville called the Happy Cow Creamery – really good butter if you have a cooler/fridge to put it in. They also have spices – very tasty as well.
I can’t wait to tell Allan that story about the race going thru Heeney…. he loves his Master Bait & Tackle t-shirts.
The US National Whitewater Center (www.usnwc.org) is just outside of Charlotte, I ran a race there once (when Kay lived in Charlotte), looks like there is lots of outdoorsy stuff to do there, if that’s your thing.
Well be heading to the Summer Shade Festival tomorrow and I’ll be riding in Alpharetta Sunday morning…that’s all I have planned for now.
Martha, we thought about that, but didn’t think we had enough time to make it worthwhile. It’s looks like lots of fun- maybe another time. I figured I better get either the tractor or the mower repaired so I’m off to the Mahindra dealer for an oil pressure sensor. Oh what fun.