Two-Time Loser

Those of you who hashed in the early 2000s may remember a hasher of that name. This post is not about him.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Look back in admiration: List three things you’ve accomplished in the last seven days.

When our to-do lists are long and we’re being pulled in many directions at once, we sometimes look back with regret at all the things we didn’t accomplish. But what if you looked back and admired the things you were able to achieve instead? This challenge encourages you to change your perspective and focus on a few things that you did complete.

1. I hired a company to come out an rid the ITP Estate of squirrels/rats. This goodness starts tomorrow.
2. I attended CocoaConf, and while there managed to eat my weight in sweets.
3. Important Paperwork #1 acted upon, Important Paperworks #2 and #3 in progress.

This is not a representative sample of my productivity, however.

Money Loser
Upon returning home from CocoaConf I decided to buy the Mac app “Reflector” from a company called Air Squirrels. Air Squirrels was one of the advertisers at the conference, and with rare exception the app worked well when presenters used it. Reflector costs $13.

Prior to making the purchase I looked to see if Air Squirrels provided a promo code for CocoaConf attendees. They did not, so I made the full-price purchase. Yesterday they posted a promo code for 50% off the purchase price for CocoaConf attendees. Dangen!

If the app had been much more expensive I’d contact Air Squirrels to see if I could get a rebate but for the $6.50 I don’t think it’s worth my time.

Trivia Loser
The five of us assembled at Dunwoody Tavern last night for happy hour including Team Trivia. It became clear that our team had one really good player — that player wasn’t me.

Going into the final question we were in second place, trailing the leaders by a mere five points.

Put the following four songs in order of their release, earliest to latest:

• “A Matter Of The Heart” (Don Henley)
• “Tell It To My Heart” (Taylor Dayne)
• “Unbreak My Heart” (Toni Braxton)
• “Heart Of Rock & Roll” (Huey Lewis)

Our team’s idiot savant got sidetracked when he started talking to some dude about Auburn football.

With only one song remaining I made and Executive Decision to bet zero points, feeling confident that we’d finish no worse than third.

We finished fourth, otherwise known as “First Loser.”

ITP Flickr Pic
Nothing to see, move along.

Going To Try And Make “Third Wednesday”
I got late start this morning, and because I needed gasoline, wound up sitting in a lot of traffic.

My plan to park in VaHi, walk to MARTA, train in, train out, and walk to George’s never had a shot when I saw the morning’s temperature.

I hope that I can blast out of work early enough to miss this city’s shitty traffic going home. If not, I’ll just become a three-time loser.

Today’s Personal Project
Finish Important Paperwork #2.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay
Current Music – silence at the moment, about to launch into my iTunes Radio Punk/Hardcore station.
Website Of The Day – While driving into work the podcast to which I was listening (“On Taking Pictures”) turned me onto the photographer Tim Flach.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 214 pounds (November 1)

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~13.0 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

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
6. So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love — by Cal Newport
7. Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life — by Steve Martin
8. Who Am I: A Memoir — by Pete Townshend
9. Still Foolin’ ‘Em: Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? — by Billy Crystal
10. Unstuff Your Life!: Kick the Clutter Habit and Completely Organize Your Life for Good — Andrew J. Mellen

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]