Greetings From City Island, The Bronx, New York

My “secret” is that I am not inside the perimeter and haven’t been since Saturday morning. I am currently on City Island in the Bronx, New York visiting my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews and quickly touring the area of the world on which I spent my childhood.

This was a pre-planned excursion that I was not going to let the burglary cancel.

Who You Gonna Call? Sunbusters!
I’m on a string of bad luck. Even if you take away the burglary, and that’s a big takeaway, my luck this Summer has been less than stellar. It seems that my quest for location photography needed to be quelled because for the second time in a month it has either been raining or cloudy at my vacation destination. Given that I’m spending limited time on vacation this unfortunate turn of weather events has kinda bummed me out.

ITP Flickr Pic
My brother lives near the water.

If the weather would cooperate I could get more than black and white images.

I Suppose That I Should Have Left Sleeping Dogs Lie
The other day my brother and I stopped into one of his friend’s businesses. We went into the back and sat down for a short chat. The guy’s dog came out, sniffed me and sat there. I was warned that the dog may try and nip at my feet, but when he didn’t, I started to pet him. All was going well, we seemed to be making friends, and then all of the sudden the dog snapped at my face. Luckily for me I was wearing my glasses because the dog’s mouth hit them and its teeth only managed to nick my eyebrow.

The guy was extremely apologetic and made sure that I was okay. I’m sure that he was also concerned that I might be litigious (which I am not) since his dog tried to bite me. It was a reminder that perhaps I shouldn’t be so trusting of animals with which I am not familiar.

Coincidence Can Be The Funniest Thing
Those of you who know me, or have looked at my profiles, know that my last name Nuesslein is not exactly “common” in the United States. In fact, fifteen years ago I, along with a handful of other Nuessleins, received a Christmas letter from some Pennsylvania Nuessleins. Last year I received a Facebook message from another Nuesslein currently residing in California.

Upon discussing my Facebook connection with my brother he questioned if she was related to the guy who sent us that letter. Being a bit of a pack rat, and an organized one at that, he produced the Christmas letter from a drawer and we looked at it. Lo and behold there was a photo of a young lady who had the same name as my new Facebook friend, so I naturally snapped a quick photo and asked if she were that person. It was she.

Even with a fairly unusual surname it’s strange to think that there was that paper introduction fifteen years ago with someone who has now been made even more of a connection thanks to the internet.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair, but bummed about the weather
Current Music – nothing, I’m typing in silence
Website Of The Day – With a little bit of luck I’ll be visiting New York’s newest park, the High Line, which is an old elevated train rail on the west side of Manhattan.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – n/a
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – ???

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 65 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (7)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 9
Marta Rides – 0

August Goals
– Not get fired from my job
– Restart work on house, actually making progress this time

2009 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
РEarn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalape̱o Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]