One thing about which I am certain is that my time in East Atlanta has given me enough stories to keep me entertained until the day I die.
Today’s Daily Challenge
Share one item you purchased recently that helped you experience something new.
Researchers have found that people who spend their money on experiences – or items that create an experience – are happier overall. Reflecting on a purchase that let you do something fun can remind you of that experience and give you a new way of looking at your spending habits.
I really have nothing but this sounds like a buying opportunity!
I Can Bank On It
Finally made it to the bank yesterday to convert my Euro back to Good Ole ‘merican money.
The Latest Saga
After a wonderfully inexpensive dinner of pizza and soda at Costco (final cost — $2.75) I headed home to attempt to be productive for my demo — now scheduled for Friday.
As I turned onto my street last night I quickly noticed the two large, white trucks blocking the street, one of which was blocking the entrance to my driveway. I quickly realized what had happened, a tree in the neighborhood took out the power lines and these were men working to repair things. After negotiating my way into my driveway I confirmed my suspicion — see the photo below.
The power was out until sometime after 8pm. I managed to entertain myself watching a Master Chef video that I had transferred to my iPad using the DISH Anywhere app (pssst – I wrote most of the file transfer code in that app) and a couple of video podcasts. By the time the power was restored I had lost the impetus to do work and goofed off for the rest of the night.
ITP Flickr Pic
“The Excitement Never Ends” (Atlanta, Georgia, United States)
There must have been some high winds in the ‘hood yesterday. One of my across-the-street neighbor’s Sweet Gum trees snapped, taking out the power lines in its wake. Oh to have underground utilities…
Now I’ve Done It
I completed two tasks yesterday.
First, I arranged for a sleep study on the night of September 2nd. I wonder how much this is going to cost me.
Second, I signed up for the “2-week Intensive Language Course” at the Goethe Institute, which will occur four nights per week during two weeks in September. I know exactly how much this will cost me, course and study materials totaled just about $425. Expensive, extravagant, but I will begin to push the limits of my comfort zone quite a bit so I am both scared and excited.
Today’s Personal Project
Get some exercise!
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, though I’ll be better when my demo is looking and working better
Current Music – silence at the moment but I feel a need for some loud music soon
Website Of The Day – There are many ways to find out a musician’s touring schedule, I like Songkick.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 215 pounds
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – ~0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 2 (2 cardio)
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
August Goals
– clear out a room’s worth of things I no longer wish to own for the rest of my life
– hire a plumber to come in and fix the “small” repairs
– contact a realtor to make a hit list of things that need to change before the house can be listed
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
- “Johnny Carson” by Henry Bushkin
- “Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative” by Austin Kleon
- “Chaos: Making a New Science” by James Gleick
- “What’s So Funny?: My Hilarious Life” by Tim Conway
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
So the picture is looking across the street from your estate? We had a pretty good line come through about 6 last night- a little bursty wind, but nothing major. Certainly enough rain to keep me off the mower.
Debbie’s dad is back home!! A great relief to all involved. Apparently, one of the hospital docs changed his Parkinsons med completely and his regular doc wasn’t pleased and switched him back. Pretty presumptous of the hospital doc to make that kind of change without consulting, but they are doctors after all and know EVERYTHING!
I mentioned to my coworker yesterday before lunch we we’re very busy… that was the kiss of death for the afternoon, as all hell began to rain down upon us. Fortunately, we were able to resolve most of the problems…
-FP
Yeah, that’s across the street and one house over. Lucky for me the tree wasn’t large (or snapped lower) because it might have done damage to my property.
Glad to hear a positive update for Debbie’s dad.
There was a lot of tree work going on in the ‘hood yesterday. Woodland was blocked around 2pm and we saw a few other tree crews working as we headed to and from a late lunch.
I don’t know how much the sleep study will cost ‘you’ However, $2300 was billed to my insurance, they paid about $1000 and I paid nothing. Word of advice, take your own pillow and a hat for the next morning (it will take days to get the last of the glue out of your hair).
I came petty close to have a major freak out this morning. I got tired of all the reminders and I finally upgraded to Windows 8.1. First it took forever, second, I thought I had lost everything, files, photo, programs, the works. I kept getting an error message on the reboot, I was in a pretty bad mood. At the third reboot it seemed to be back to normal. I’m not feeling very confident about 8.1 at this point.
$425 isn’t that expensive, I’ve spent about $5k this year on ‘professional and personal’ development…with probably another $2k to go (of course, some, but not all will be covered by my employer).
A sweet gum is no great loss except for the shade. Overgrown weeds with nasty little spike balls…. we had a big one at the Tucker house and I was not sad to see it ground into sawdust.
If I had somewhere to use it, I love to take German. What little I know I’ve taught myself but it’s been years since I had a need or use for it. A couple of folks here speak it, so I could practice a bit.
I like the way Sweet Gum tress look, but hate the spiky balls and have come to realize that when they get older they become really susceptible to breaking.
GLUE? How the heck am I supposed to sleep with things glued to my head? Thanks for the tips, I probably never would have thought of that.
I’m thankful I can easily swing $425 for the class, of course there will probably be more classes, and then expensive trips to Germany. YOLO, right? 😉
You can pay for the class with your Euros……. oh wait, you turned them back in.
I’m off to meet Katherine (aka Saddles Sores) for lunch to give her back her new & improved old mtn bike.
Pine Lake is up here starting at Cumberland Saturday, we might actually go hash.
Scary thought, but what the hell……. I’m sure we wil check out the destruction that may someday be the Braves stadium.
Barb, I actually thought of that. 🙂
I’m planning to ride my bike to Orpheus Brewing on Saturday otherwise I might run Pine Lake. I’m also contemplating running the “Catch the Crabs” Black Sheep on Sunday, weather permitting.
The things glued to your head will be the least of your problems.
At this point I am not sure if I want to know what else will be done to me.
Yeah, Paulie, you do so well with surprises!!
I need to ride this weekend and may be on my own one day as Debbie will be on “Dad duty” while the home health care is arranged. Stay tuned.
I’m thinking about riding my road bike tonight, if it doesn’t storm like it has the past few nights. I need to get out & do something tonight, even it is way too hot out.
Hell if I find out much more about this sleep study I might not go!