For me this was the better weekend of my first two weekends in November.
Even though we had the smallest gathering that we’ve ever had for this campout, and I am still a physical and emotional mess, the weekend was good. Friday night was cold, but we had wood (which could have benefited from a year of seasoning) and made a nice, warm fire. I ate and drank far too much every day. On Saturday I hobbled with the group for a 4.8 mile hike, which also included finding but not taking some lions mane mushroom. I was stuck in traffic for awhile coming home on I20 yesterday, and then after all of that nonsense nearly lost my shit on Flat Shoals when the car in front of me with a Florida license plate threw a stack of solo cups and can of Red Bull out of their car window onto the sidewalk. What a fucking bunch of assholes!
I had a brain freeze on Friday and forgot to do Duolingo. My streak was saved by the employment of a Streak Freeze.
I was well off my Wordle and Connections games this weekend, failing completely at the latter on Saturday morning.
Barb, I hope your going away gathering for Kat and John was fun.
Wordle: four, my starter was HASTY. If I had memorized the 871 solutions that came before it, I would have gotten it in three.
Connections: one mistake, Blue > Green > Yellow > Purple
As I had heard rumored, Benchwarmers is planning to take over the old Taco Mac space in Decatur, at least according to this Decaturish article
is Benchwarmers any better than Taco Mac?
Not as big of a beer selection, but if they have staff that is attentive it will be an improvement.
Fun Fact: I ended the first hash for which I was the primary hare at Benchwarmers, of as it was known at the time, Sidelines.
Oooooooooh, I really hope they’re good! But like Paulie, they don’t even have to be that good, I will be happy if they just take my order.
Wordle in 4 starting with PIANO. One mistake is Connections: Blue, Purple, Green, Yellow. I too failed at Conniptions over the week-end.
I worked both days. Steve waltzed in and made my day. :).
The gathering at Barb and Allan’s was nice. Also had a nice big warm fire!
Sunday was happy hour after work since our happy hour this Wednesday is being foiled due to a work function.
Mark Manson’s entry this week is something I really need to work on. Why comparing yourself to others ruins everything. “Don’t make the mistake of assuming somebody doesn’t have a messy and uncertain internal life. We all fucking do.!”
I have my Women of the Woods hike this morning and then working the rest of the day. Happy Monday y’all.
I was informed today that another longtime business near East Atlanta, Hodgepodge Coffee, will be closing at year’s end.
I used to know the person that owned that building. I’m guessing she sold it and the new landlord has Moreland Avenue gentrificiation stars in their eyes. Hodge Podge had a Reynoldstown location on Moreland for a minute, but it didn’t last. A Summerhill location was bandied about, but I haven’t heard anything about it in a while. But I also don’t follow local commercial real estate the way I used to either.
I used to like HP a lot, but was skeptical of their expansion and then price increases. It will be missed by me, but not greatly.
Wordle in 2 and was as close to a legit ACE I’ve ever had with 5 letters and 2 in their correct spot.
We rocked our upgrade/swap of 6 switches on Saturday. Our national engineer said that it takes some offices 4 hours for 2 switches. We did 6 in 3:15.
A brief visit with Sal to get new kicks, as I want an option when I don’t feel like getting on the trainer. My running might start again as a thing. Might.
Still had enough energy once I got home (after some football and napping) to ride to the brewpub in Gay. The wind was right and it pushed me along for a bit but towards the end, I was going straight into the setting sun. No fun, but I don’t think a car passed me.
Sunday started with blueberry pancakes and continued with chores. I’ve decided to try and run a hot wire to keep little dogs inside the fence. First step is clearing out the leaves along the fence.
-FP
good job on Wordle – I was not that lucky at all.
I hate driving towards the setting sun – going back to Iowa State on Sundays – it was straight west for over an hour & a half – I had to leave in the early afternoon or after dark.
I used to ride dirt bikes at a place East on I-20. Drove in to the sun in the morning then back in to the sun going West on the way home. That was rough.
and only one in Conniptions.
busy weekend.
Friday night went for a walk with JoAnna & her dogs – & then dinner after, it was good to catch up.
Saturday morning we did the Alzheimer’s Walk – then tailgated in the Red parking deck by the pedestrian bridge after – that deck does not clear out – they really need to think about a faster process to get out of there.
Saturday night we had 30-40 people for the John & Kat send off party – John brought Heirloom Market BBQ – damn that’s some tasty pork. Too many desserts were left – anyone like Coconut Cream pie? I do not like it – but hate to throw it out – I heard it was excellent.
After a hiking discussion Dr PP (Cissy) & Big Bore (Larry) Saturday night – I joined them for a like at Pine Log Creek up not too far from Cartersville. I finally saw the rock that looks like a frog. It was 4-4.5 miles – I forgot to put on my watch – so I don’t know if I even hiked since I have no digital record of it. 🙂
I used to hang out with Big Bore back in the day. He and Minty dated for a while, many moons ago.
Still funny how ours worlds collided without knowing.
Indeed!
Total Conniption day for me – categories were not coming into my brain at all.
Wordle – 5
Mini – wasn’t good either
Out choring in WLF. After a couple of very cold mornings camping it’s nice to be outside and feeling comfortable in a short sleeved shirt.
Got wordle in 2, 4 correct letters to start but only 1 in the right place. Lucky guess to get it in 2.
Fun times at the Mango and Kat going away party, good to see everybody again. You were missed Paulie.
Sunday was spent removing all the trim from my dining room and prepping it to be re-installed once the drywall is replaced. Why am I replacing drywall? There are 3 layers of wallpaper that will not come off so I’m gonna nuke and pave and start with fresh walls. Lots of work but now all that is left is easy existing drywall demo.
Wow, 3 layers of wallpaper! The house ain’t THAT old! Are you doing the work? I’ve never done drywall…
Hell no! I have done some drywall work and it flat sucks. I’ll leave that to the professionals. Well worth every dime I spend.
Removing wallpaper vs putting up new drywall – I think the drywall is the correct choice.
Sometimes the nuclear option just makes sense.
VELUM was not a great starting word but I closed it out in 4, could have been 3 if but for one letter. Only one miss on CONNECTIONS…see the pattern here? 😉 Sally and Bob, thank you for the feedback on Friday regarding my word game gabbing. 🙂
I had an interesting experience Saturday morning, my daughter and I picked up Sublime donuts and went to Old Fourth Ward Park. That’s a long-running tradition with my kids. There was a street preacher there with a microphone blaring across the park. Not so long ago I would have gotten enraged and stormed off. I considered leaving for a second, but I was like no, he’s not going to run me off from one of my favorite parks. We hung out and it was lovely. His blathering became urban background noise. (Trigger explainer: A grandfather was a missionary who would go to Mexico to convert the masses. That fucker was a stone cold freak, and a big part of my mother became the damaged husk of a person that she remains to this day.)
Later that day I was having to kill time in a Starbucks, and I learned what DOES still trigger me is Christmas music in early November. I had to promptly decamp due to immediate nausea. So, bah goddamn fucking humbug. It *might* have been tolerable if the a) songs weren’t consecutive, b) weren’t alternate auto-tuned versions of classic songs. Nope, nope, nope.
Yesterday plans with my kids fell through due to poor planning on Rachel’s part and a sore throat on Lucas’ part. Early afternoon I was feeling depressed so I said fuck it, ate a giant nap-inducing lunch and laid down, when I got a text from a friend that I’ve been trying to connect with for months, inviting me on an impromptu ride to Arabia. I figured movement was better than wallowing. It was a great ride, I’ve been meaning to do that route for while now as it’s been a year since I last rode it. Big lunch before riding wasn’t fun, and might have contributed to the excessive leg cramps. Thankfully Michael swapped bikes with me 30 miles in, I got to ride his e-bike for 15 miles on the egregious hills coming back. It was win-win, he’d never ridden a racing bike and he loved it. It’s definitely not a fair fight to be doing a distance ride with someone on an e-bike, that’s for sure (I’m not gonna name any ITP readers here, but y’all know… 😉 ) We got to commune with 3 deer in a creek for a minute, they hung out looking at us for a while until they flicked their fun white tails and went off on their way.
Also yesterday morning was monthly qi gong and medidation. I took a friend to their first session, they had the typical deer in the headlights response. I remember those days well. Its good stuff, I think they’ll be back. Jamie has been joining me for months. My ulterior plan is ultimately pack the class with my friends. 😉 😉 It’s a long game kind of thing.
I’m sure you mentioned it initially, but is the yoga done by Tiny House (Tiny Cottage?)?
Yes, Tiny Village Massage. It’s not yoga, but qi gong has some similiarities. Laureen used to operate her business out of a tiny house, er travel trailer, in her backyard until the city shut her down, so she regrouped and rebranded as Tiny Village. I did manage to get in under the wire on the tiny house so I got to have that experience. Somehow wheels on a tiny house are verboten in the city. Spoilsports.
Funny because in most places tiny homes must have wheels to qualify as one. Go figure.
Tiny Village is where I had my massage a few weeks back.
And I turned off the tv the other day when a commercial said “Christmas season has arrived”. Not for me, thanks.
I agree – its way too early for Christmas music
So last year I stumbled into riding the Atlanta Half-Marathon route Thanksgiving morning alongside the runners. My friend Stuart rode that with me last year and sent me an article that shows how I’m going to up my game this year. I’ll ride the route in the window between when the streets are closed down but before the the runners start. It’s been a thing for the NYC marathon for years. And come to think of it, I need do that NYC version one day too.
Here in Atlanta, the starting gun goes off at 7:45 on Thanksgiving Day, so I figure wheels up (or down, if you will) at 7:30 should be the sweet spot. Feel free to join me, riding 13 miles through downtown and Midtown with zero traffic and zero stop lights is a mind-blowing experience.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/nyregion/cyclists-marathon-new-york.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8Uw.t2RI.8gInIhQNcRSq&smid=url-share
Unless there is a situation in Florida, I shall be in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. Have fun riding!
E-bikes?? In this hard core crowd? No way!!! 🙂
Sounds like a great ride.
I am all about E-bikes! I just can’t afford one 🙂
First Monday of the month = all faculty meeting, so it was a busy morning and I am just now coming up for air.
I had an incredibly low key weekend. We went to Kevin Rathbun Steak for dinner Friday, got there early enough to get seats at the bar. Saturday we went to the General Muir for lunch. In the afternoon we were going to go to Chomp & Stomp but our nap went long and then we figured most people would be leaving, so we bagged it. Yesterday we watched football all day. All of our teams lost.