Back To Work

I know that Saturday starts a new month, the perfect time to start new habits, but I am in critical condition now. So today I must start rededicating myself to making my life as rewarding as it can be.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Pledge not to talk, email, or message about stressful topics within two hours of bedtime tonight.

Stress is one of the most common reasons for insomnia, and because a bad night can lead to a less productive day, many people find themselves in an endless loop of stress and sleep loss. By avoiding stressful situations in the hours before bedtime, you’re more likely to go to bed in a happier mood. This will help you fall asleep faster and wake up feeling ready to take on the day’s challenges.

What? Stress is a constant in my life, I just can’t turn it off.

A Wealth Of Bad Habits
Last night I joined my boss and a couple of other friends for dinner and drinks at 5 Seasons Brewing in The Prado (just ITP on Roswell Road / I-285). I tried to be good, drinking only two beers with my large beet salad and loaf of spent-grain bread, but let’s face it, I ate and drank way more calories than my body needs.

I must try to start changing my habits for the better (of course, it would be helpful if we could shake this arctic air sometime soon too) by forcing myself to decrease the number of calories consumed whilst increasing the number of hours of exercise. Bathing suit weather may actually arrive some day…

I Would Love To Accept, But I Cannot
Yesterday I was offered a free ticket to this Saturday’s Secret Stash Bash — and while I certainly would love to attend, I declined.

WHAT?!?!?!

Hear me out, I have my reasons.

On Saturday night I have two tickets for the sold out Alejandro Escovedo / Peter Buck show at The EARL. If all goes to plan I will be joined by long-lost friend (former?) ITP-Reader Betsy. Knowing her love for Escovedo I purchased a ticket for her as a birthday present waaaaay back in November (you know, when the weather was warm). Now what sort of friend would I be if I were to go and get smashed at Secret Stash and be unable to fulfill my duties as a gift-giver by missing the show?

NSLunch *date = [NSDate date];
A group of (Mac/iOS) developer types meet for lunch almost every Friday. Most of the time the place chosen to eat is in the midtown/downtown area which means that I can rarely attend.

This week at the behest of one of the regulars who is moving away the lunch will occur in the Perimeter Mall area, and because Thursday was a better day to meet than Friday this week an exception was thrown (nerd joke) and the date moved up to today. Both of these changes mean that I will be in attendance, unless of course this pesky thing known as a “j-o-b” fucks up my plans.

Do I Belong Back At The Zoo?
The other day in the mail I received an envelope from Zoo Atlanta asking me to renew my membership. Long-time readers of this space may remember my gripe with the zoo’s elimination of an “individual” membership level that caused me to allow my membership to expire without renewal. The “individual” membership level is back (and even after all these years I am still but a singleton) so I just may rejoin the zoo so that I can return there for some photography — you know, that activity I used to do way back when I was a zoo member.

I Do Belong Back In The Gym
Yes indeed.

I have no excuse for not going to LA Fitness (Hey, you know that they have those in Florida too? I suppose I could have worked out while down there.) after work this evening and if you don’t read about my efforts at the gym in this space tomorrow then I give you every right to lambast me in the comments then.

Tonight’s targeted exercise is no fewer than sixty minutes on the stationary bicycle. Who knows, maybe I’ll start listening to an audiobook while I pedal.

Today’s Personal Project
GO. TO. GYM.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – mysterious pains and aches rule the world, welcome to old age?
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – Self-confessed Apple Fanboy about to tell you about a non-Apple product I love, Roku. It’s a media streamer that (in some ways) beats the pants off of AppleTV. And once you get a Roku go to Roku Channels to see what you should be watching.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – Oops, I failed to check.

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 3 (3 cardio)

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

February Goals
– have European trip plans in place, if not carved in stone
– clean my basement to the point where I could have people over
– hire a plumber to fix all of the sinks at the ITP Estate
– walk no fewer than 75 miles
– publish an app to the iOS AppStore (new)

2014 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
– 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
– Sell the ITP Estate (tentative)

2014 Goals: Unmeasurable
– Continue to 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)

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2014

1. “Johnny Carson” by Henry Bushkin
2. “Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative” by Austin Kleon

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]