I’m in the process of reinventing myself (A—-gain). Last week may not have been as pivotal as I had hoped, but it is what it is, and I’m not ready to accept defeat just yet!
Today’s Daily Challenge
Add one type of legume to your shopping list, such as chickpeas, black beans, or lentils.
Legumes are little powerhouses: They are a good source of protein, contain healthy fats, offer plenty of fiber, and are high in minerals like folate and iron. They are very versatile and can take center stage in soups, stews, side dishes, or salads. Best of all, their tastes and textures add dimension to mealtime for very little money.
Great, now I’m craving hummus.
Back At It
While I only took three days off last week it seems as if I was away much longer than that to me.
CocoaConf was great. Over the three days (one full-day workshop and two conference days) I met a lot of talented developers, three who have written books that I own, and was exposed to a lot of new (to me) information; I also ate way too much food — including some potentially-diabetes-inducing desserts.
My reinvention is partially-comprised of dedicating at least two hours per day to studying software development so that I can remain gainfully employed until I am deemed irrelevant. Oh come now, we all know that I’ll never be deemed irrelevant…
To my delight the warning about having to pay $5/day to park was not true — each day my parking was validated! Now what should I do with that “free” $15?
Having the conference in Atlanta and being able to return home each night was nice, but I kinda felt as if I missed out a bit of the “post-class” interactions at the hotel. That being said, I did stay late on Saturday night and was introduced to some anime that I’ve begun watching (btw- this is not part of the “reinvention”).
- I’m closing in on fifty; I still have twenty months until then, mind you.
- I’m single. (As an aside this morning I read one of my blog posts from 2006 in which I wondered if I’d ever have another girlfriend — I’m like fucking Nostradamus!)
- I read comic books (or graphic novels) on my iPad.
- And now I watch anime.
Yes, I’ve become that guy.
And I’m okay with this.
ITP Flickr Pic
Ha! I’ve not reinvented myself that much.
Related: I suck.
It’s Kinda Quiet Up There
I’m not fool enough to believe that cutting back the trees has eliminated my squirrel/rat problem but things have been much better.
Today I’ll be agreeing to getting the work done by the critter removal company, including adding a half-iPad’s worth of new gutterguards. Whoever buys this house better enjoy the expenses I’m now putting into to it, especially since I’ll probably still wind up selling it for a net-loss.
How ’bout Them Gators? Or J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS!?
Look who has no need to watch football any longer this season! Good thing I have all that book-learning to do.
Today’s Personal Project
Begin the begin.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – lost, scared, getting ready for whatever is left
Current Music – listening to Gashcat’s “Reunion” album (who I’ve now just read have broken up (news from May!), so I guess that they are reinventing themselves as well).
Website Of The Day – At CocoaConf I heard of Bests. You can check out my (work in progress) bests here
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 214 pounds (November 18)
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~7.5 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 0 (0 cardio)
Days Of Bed-Making – 0
Vegetarian Meals – on hold until December
Carnivorous Meals – on hold until December
Marta Rides To Work – 5
Bike Rides To Work – 0
November Goals
– clean my basement to the point where I could have people over
– hire a plumber, an animal ridder, and a tree person to work on the ITP Estate
– dissolve Sharpened Stone, LLC
– follow up on some critical life details
– walk no fewer than 75 miles
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
- Still Foolin’ ‘Em: Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? — by Billy Crystal
- Unstuff Your Life!: Kick the Clutter Habit and Completely Organize Your Life for Good — Andrew J. Mellen
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
BTW- tonight I’ll be writing an in-depth post about CocoaConf. You’ll see it, quickly determine you don’t care since it’s all about nerdy shit, and move on. 😉
Had this conversation Friday night while trying to decide which salad to split for dinner
Jerry: “I don’t like garbanzo beans”
Me: “Yes you do”
Jerry: “No, Yuck!”
Me: “How about chickpeas, you like them, right?”
Jerry: “Yes, you make hummus with them, I like those”
Me: *sigh*
(BTW, I brought hummus and carrots for my snack today)
As for me, I actually got off my ass this weekend. I ran the trails at Stone Mountain Saturday with Sharon and, wait for it, I went to Black Sheep!
I don’t know if I’m ready to commit to being a regular again but it was a fun change of pace.
Something has got to give…I think the meds I’ve been taking for my sleep disorder may be causing (at least) some of my current weight gain. I’m going to tighten up the diet and get moving again. If that doesn’t work, it’s back to the doctor for some new meds…this just can’t go on.
Our weekend was fairly boring, watched too much football.
.
Saturday I did 2 walks, first was a 3 mile walk in the morning with a friend down at the Chattahoochee to watch the beautiful well dressed matching people run. That place cracks me up. Then in the afternoon, I suggested to Allan that I needed to exchange some hair product at a place up the street & maybe we should get out & get a walk in, plus we needed to buy a lottery ticket. That was a 4 mile walk. Glad we did that, as the ugly drizzly day yesterday didn’t make me want to get outside.
We did get out to eat some Pho yesterday for lunch on Buford Hwy, I’ve never had it, not that I haven’t wanted to try it, just never done it. It was tasty, but I was hungry a few hours later, even though it was a large bowl.
Spent most of the rest of the day watching football, damn Falcons suck, but some of the other games were fun to watch.
Sonnabitch, I considered going to Black Sheep and then bailed because:
1) I didn’t want to give up the time.
2) I did laundry.
Barb, I was up on Buford Hwy later in the afternoon; I did laundry from 3:00-5:30pm and then ate dinner at Lee’s Bakery afterward.
And for anyone concerned about my math skills “48.4” does not stand for “forty-eight and four-tenths” it represents “forty-eight years and four-months” in software-versioning speak representing the forty-eight years and (nearly) four-months that I’ve been alive.
We went to Pho Bac, which is right there near where you do your laundry.
(its in the same shopping center as Penang)
What did we do this weekend? Debbie’s ‘rents came over and we went shopping/lunch in Newnan. We also scoped out a tree that will be a Christmas tree in their garage/big room that hosts family events. I looked into finding a tree company that would transplant a couple of those fir trees, but they don’t do it for free- I hate cutting one like that down just for Christmas…
Saturday afternoon we watched the GA/Auburn game. Wow- that was as exciting as football can get. To keep peace in the house, I “sort of” rooted for UGA- being an Alabama fan, I certainly cannot root for Auburn. Shame the Dogs couldn’t catch a break at the end.
Sunday I went out to the Cyclocross race at Serenbe where I cheered on CMB and Coach Clit and got a chance to briefly speak to IKTT and Bag o’ Tricks. Shame Coach managed to absolutely pretzle his derailleur about 50 meters after the start. Don’t know if he caught someone else’s pedal, but it was toast.
-FP
I like the food at Pho Bac, I almost went there as well. I decided on going to Lee’s Bakery because I hadn’t been there in a longer time.
Paulie, I agree you missed out on some stuff by staying at home. When I go to conferences I sometimes get the best information at the evening happy hours. You get to talk to peers that actually use the systems and get first hand knowledge of what works and what does not. There are no sales people around to interject their BS either.
Steve, good to see you on Sunday. I’ll echo your commitment here, you are racing next year! Looking forward to a third member of Team On-On racing with us.
I felt bad when I came around on lap 2 and saw coach standing there, he made the best of it though cheering me on. The race was muddy and FUN! I went over the bars trying to be cool and hopping over a telephone pole they put on the course and caught my chain ring just the wrong way sending me sailing. Great times as I was able to push through some pain and finish strong.
Next week we are in Marietta so come on out, have a cold beer and watch me suffer 🙂
Bob – where in Marietta next weekend? Of course Allan is working Sunday, but I may come watch.
Dec 15th is Bawana Clause & Cringle Crochet if you’d like to make tentative plans to car pool.
Jerry is a regular Pho eater, but normally grabs closer to home, Soba. He did mention having some at We Suki Suki, said it was better than Soba but they only do lunch. I can take it or leave it…
I’ll put 12/15 on my calendar. Oh, you know what I mean…
Sunday Sunday Sunday! Cross race will be at Jim Miller park in Marietta. Apparently it is also the site of the Cobb County fair.