It Seems That I Should Have So Much To Say

Did anyone notice yesterday afternoon’s (albeit short) post? Some blog turned five yesterday. I’ll give you one guess as to which one it was.

Raleigh Wrap Up
Yesterday my morning was consumed with getting back to Atlanta. We had booked at 9:40am flight which by the time I awoke, ate breakfast, and got to the gate left little time to write a blog. Believe me, the one thing I wanted to do yesterday was celebrate five years of blogging.

I guess that terrorists board planes early? When boarding my flight yesterday there were TSA agents at our gate checking ID of passengers. For some reason they seemed satisfied after the passengers holding boarding passes for zones one-to-three, and just before zone four — the one that I was in — was called to board they held a meeting and walked away. Strange.

I learned on my visit to Raleigh that North Carolina will ban indoor smoking in bars/restaurants that are not “Private” clubs starting in January. Can someone explain to me how a tobacco-producing state can implement this before Georgia? Seriously, we can’t buy alcohol in stores on Sunday and we still allow smoking indoors at bars/restaurants (I know, we have the “no children or no smoking” law, but this would be much better for non-smokers like myself).

On my final night in Raleigh I ate at a hip little downtown restaurant called Humble Pie. Because I was on an expense account I ordered a Bibb lettuce salad, and a plate of grilled andouille sausage. Humble Pie’s portions are “tapas”-style so the two orders did a good job of filling, but not overfilling, me.

Perhaps one of the best benefits of choosing the Clarion hotel in downtown Raleigh was that I was a mere two blocks away from Flying Saucer. Not only does Flying Saucer have a great beer selection, it employees beautiful and witty young ladies as servers.

Me: Can you tell me why some of the plates are covered by black cloth?
Server: Well, there was a group of golfers who were all Ring of Honor members that died in a plane crash. Those are there plates.
Me: Really?
Server: *big smile* No. *laugh* Those are the plates of people who have just joined the Ring of Honor but have not been in for their unveiling yet.
Me: Um, oh. I feel stupid now…

Whoa, I just found out that Flying Saucer is actually a pretty big chain with locations in Tennessee and Texas as well. ROAD TRIP!!!

A Brilliant Plan, Spoiled
I find myself purchasing all of my gas at QuikTrip these days. It’s not that I love QuikTrip’s gas so much, but inside each QuikTrip resides a Wachovia ATM at which I can get cash.

Last night after gassing up (and amazingly all twelve/fourteen pumps were in use when I arrived) I drove up to the store only to find the ATM temporarily out of service. DANGEN! My perfect gas/cash one/two punch was spoiled. Stupid technology.

ITP Flickr Pic
None today. I know, this blows my whole “a photo a day” theme for October, but I just wasn’t able to pull anything off.

Back To The Theatre
Tonight I’ll be headed to Horizon Theatre to see the play “Third.” The play only runs through Sunday so I had to make sure to get a ticket for tonight so that I didn’t miss this run. I’m really looking forward to the show if for no reason other than to do something that feels “different” tonight.

Here Comes The Weekend, Here Comes The Rain
Darn it, I return back to Atlanta only to be greeted with rain. It seems like such a long time since I rode my bicycle. As you may imagine, this does not make me happy.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, but want to get my shit together
Current Music – (re)listening to this week’s “This Week In Tech” podcast
Website Of The Day – I listen to a lot of photography podcasts. I really like Pro Photography Show because it’s not about gear, but rather about technique and the business aspect of photography.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)
Vegetarian Days – 3, Carnivorous Days – 5
Marta Rides – 0

October Goals
– Not get fired from my job
– Take at least one photo every day
– Restart work on house, actually making progress this time (note: not successful during August)

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]