Back ITP: Rental Car Tank Filled, Rental Car Returned, I’ve Walked Back To Office

All by 8:00am thankyouverymuch.

Today is going to be an unfortunately busy day for me, this after reading work email on Monday and participating in a nearly hour-long conference call as I tooled past Gainesville, FL yesterday.

Today’s Daily Challenge
List two healthy ways to top cooked vegetables, such as adding nuts or sprinkling Parmesan cheese.

Although many cooked veggies taste great on their own, sometimes we may want to perk them up with a little something extra. However, pouring on the cheese or butter adds unhealthy fats and a lot of extra calories (kilojoules). Thinking of ways you can add fun and flavor means you’ll be motivated to eat your veggies – and avoid unhealthy fats.

Is a cream-based sauce as healthy as parmesan cheese? 😉

Catching Up
re: Skyline — I liked it, would eat it again.

re: Satchmo — So sorry to read this. Hope the little fuzzball fares well.

re: Barb — Bummer about your eyes. Mine are in decline (see also: Jenka’s comment about being 40+) and don’t mind wearing glasses. Of course, I’ve not had to transition to progressive lenses yet.

re: Martha’s house – Well publicized that I no longer do Facebook, I’m sure that it looks smashing and look forward to the house re-warming party.

re: My trip to Florida — Overall I had a good time. Generally I like seeing my mother (in limited doses) and am well aware that there will be a time in the future where I will not be able.

Chevy Malibu: Not On My “Short List”
To its credit the 2014 Chevy Malibu drove fairly well, had some pep in its step, and got me from Dunedin, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia on a single tank of gas.

To its discredit the audio system annoyed the shit out of me, starting to play my iTunes music library immediately after the podcast to which I was listening ended, forcing me to act.

Overall the car just felt cheap to me, even though it was probably close to the top of the Malibu line. Subaru, you say?

I returned the car this morning, after waiting outside (in the car) for thirty minutes for the rental office to open. I had prepaid for this rental, if you define “pre-pay” in the way Hertz defined it today where I paid $40 today to supplement the $120 I was charged last week. In the end I still paid the expected $160 for this rental, but the early morning discovery that I was going to be charged any amount today (since I did no damage to the vehicle and filled its tank nearby) was alarming.

Keeping Costs Down
I tell you that it makes no sense to speed on America’s interstate highways any longer. On Monday I mentioned seeing a lot of state and local police out waiting to pull people over, yesterday was not much different. Thankfully for me I’m over my 80+ mph lifestyle and keep the top speed hovering two-three miles above the posted limit, mind you I am still “speeding” and would have no recourse if I were to get selected as the car the officer wanted to pull over. Luckily this did not occur. The show of force must be making an impact on America’s interstate driving habits however, as I don’t recall seeing many super-speeders along my travels.

Breakfast was in Dunedin, Florida. Dinner was in Macon, Georgia about seven hours later. There were no other stops along the way because I just wanted to get home.

ITP Flickr Pic
“You Can Take The Boy Out Of The Bowling Alley, But You Can’t Take The Bowling Alley Out Of The Boy”

While I did no actual bowling in Florida I was inside of the building twice to eat breakfast at the Chatterbox Diner (NPR anyone?) with my mother.

What Day Is Today?
Wednesday? Yeesh! All of the travel and weather interruptions that I’ve had over the past five weeks have really shaken up my routine.

To Audible, Or Not Audible? That Is The Question.
I am starting to wonder if I should cancel my Audible account. Conceptually I love the service, have a small collection of audiobooks already downloaded to listen to, and a handful of credits to spend. Realistically I am not making the time to listen to books. This car trip is a fine example — sixteen hours behind the wheel and I listened to podcasts nearly the entire time (most at 2x speed as well), never once listening to an audiobook. With preloaded videos, ebooks, and music to also entertain me (and work out my ears to fill the rest of my waking hours) I have to wonder if paying $15/month for a service I rarely use is worth it.

Maybe if I can get myself back into these places called “gyms”?

Maybe I’ll wait and see how useful/useless audiobooks prove to be when I am driving to/from Austin in April.

Today’s Personal Project
Start organizing my life.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – tired and I feel as if I am getting ready to be slammed today
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – I have linked to Used To Be A Pizza Hut before, but the site is regaining popularity after being highlighted on the latest 99% Invisible podcast.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – rental car in, Jackmobile (assuming it starts) out
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]