I Left My Chair, At Lake Hartwell

Thankfully I used the power of technology to request that ITP-Reader Betsy bring my camping chair back to Atlanta for me. In exchange for her kindness I purchased Betsy a Sharkarita from Holy Taco.

Yes, I Left Hartwell Early; No, Nothing Was Wrong
On Friday night at Lake Hartwell we were all drinking like college freshmen. I believe the collective drank the contents of more than two kegs of beer. Even taking in to account that Friday’s Hartwell campout population was probably greater than any Friday night in the past, that’s a lot of beer drinking. And medicated or not, I was partaking. Somehow I made it past 2:00am when I came to the crashing realization that things weren’t working out the way I’d hoped, so I staggered back to my tent.

Saturday was a bit rough, made rougher by the knowledge that I wasn’t going to be able to either ride my bike or run trail. I made an attempt at getting exercise by swimming in the lake, but was quickly reminded why I don’t swim more often — I don’t like doing it. My spirits were lifted later in the day when I received multiple compliments about my andouille grit cakes (I had ample help preparing them at Hartwell, so I shan’t claim all of the credit, though I believe that the sauce I prepared this year was the best ever.)

After dinner I wasn’t feeling overly social, and after sitting around a campfire for awhile I decided to walk back to my tent. My early to bed was met with an early to rise which was also helped by the sound of thunder. Rain had been predicted for Sunday so I knew it was a possibility. Being wide awake o’dark thirty I decided to beat the rain and pack up my tent. I then decided to drive my car up the dirt road before the dirt turned to mud. When I made it to the house I couldn’t find any nearby parking, and when I assumed that I would probably be the only person awake at that hour I decided to continue driving back to Atlanta. And that’s why I left Lake Hartwell early this year.

Big shout out to ITP-Reader Tony who cooked some amazing food on Saturday night.

ITP Flickr Pic
Another from the Big Vacation
Barely Doing The Badlands Justice
This is a panorama of The Badlands. This shot was fifteen shots (portrait orientation) stitched together using Photoshop CS5.
(I’d recommend clicking the photo and looking at this larger)

Monday Morning Confessional
This will be a new segment on InsideThePerimeter…

Today I confess that, while I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s Pavement concert, I was never in to Pavement when they were popular. There are a few seminal indie bands who also fall into this category — Sonic Youth and The Pixies spring to mind. I don’t know, maybe it was because I head solidly into REM and Hüsker Dü back then and didn’t need to spread my wings as much. So, unlike the rest of the crowd I was not able to bust out all of the lyrics to every song that Pavement played last night. Hell, I’m not that much of a lyrics person anyway, so maybe that statement is true for all concerts I attend.

RealiTV Update: Guess Who Forgot To Set A DVR Timer
I missed the season premier of The Amazing Race last night because I was at The Tabernacle for the Pavement show. Even worse, none of the three dvrs at my disposal had a timer set up to record it. Oh well, perhaps I can stream it online like I did for last week’s Hell’s Kitchen season premier.

Happy Happy Birthday Birthday
Yesterday was the birthday of ITP-Reader Debbie, so like when a Federal Holiday lands on a Sunday the holiday is observed on Monday. Even though it rained a lot I hope your day was wonderful, Debbie.

Today is the actual birthday of ITP-Reader Randy. I’ll get the pleasure of lifting a celebratory beer in his honor when I visit Raleigh this weekend. However, I won’t be able to administer any birthday punches because he’s now so old that I don’t think I could punch that many times. 🙂 Also in his honor I will attempt to make my day a vegetarian day, perhaps the only time this month I’ll accomplish this task.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – tired, and tired of the toe issue
Current Music – listening to Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, Channel 26, currently playing Das Racist — “Fashion Party”
Website Of The Day – Hmm, I just Stumbled Upon TV Clicker, maybe I’ll use it to watch The Amazing Race at some time.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check, but I should have
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 26
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
– Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
– Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
– lose five pounds
– eat vegetarian at least one day a week

2010 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I’ve sadly gained weight; I’m at 203 pounds]
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
– Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Sharpened Stone.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
– Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

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27 Responses to I Left My Chair, At Lake Hartwell

  1. Barb says:

    Bummer you missed Amazing Race – I’m not sure who I want to root for yet. That poor girl that got smacked in the face with the watermelon, wow, that had to have hurt.

    Happt Birthday Randy – hope you have a great day!

    Wow, you guys went thru 2 kegs of beer friday night? sounds like a party! Was there lots of hangovers Saturday morning?

  2. Martha says:

    Now I’m even more disappointed that I missed Hartwell. Sounds like you had a good time.

    I heard the folks doing 3/6 Gap had quiet a ride, several of the guys from the ‘hood road and as far as I know they all made it back alive. Better them than I. We went to Kennesaw Mt, made it back to the cars just as the rain was starting.

    So just an FYI (and why I’m disappointed) the FDR campout is the weekend of Nov 13th. I noticed yesterday that the AH4 and BS sites had conflicting dates…checked with SuperSuck. It is not on the BS weekend and since I have a race on the 13th, I doubt I’ll make it. So that means no camping at all for me this year. Bummer.

    Don’t forget to try Village Kabob while visiting Raleigh!!

  3. I forgot to mention: Bonus Points if you sing today’s title to like Tony Bennett. Extra Bonus Points if you know who Tony Bennett is. 😉

    Many, many hangovers on Saturday. At least one person spent time on the Hartwell Recovery Couch all morning.

    On Saturday night I was certain that no one would be hungry for dinner as snacks and appetizers kept coming out while circle was occurring. Tony and Sue (and to a lesser extent me) made a lot of food, much of which was eaten. I’ve committed to making Andouille Grit Cakes for Little Easy’s birthday party in January (mostly to ensure there will be a party then), so if you’ve ever wanted to try them…

    No Martha at FDR? INCONCEIVABLE!!! Young lady, your priorities are misaligned. 😛 Hot Pocket and I were discussing how sad it was that you don’t come to the hash any longer…

    I’ll try Village Kabob on a day when I’m working up there. Thanks again for the suggestion.

  4. Steve says:

    My attempt at 3 Gap was washed out with the rain. I was staying in Dahalonega with an old Atlanta hasher (Super Dooper Pooper Scooper) and his wife (NFHN Dena) and the thunder and lightning woke me at 03:45. The rain was fairly torrential until I finally rolled out of bed about 6:30. Thought that maybe if the radar showed a significant break, I’d give it a shot. No such luck.

    I did hear from one friend from Greenville who had driven down to ride- went to pick up his packet yesterday and got soaked. Turned around and drove back to Greenville. A friend of his did the 6 Gap in 7 hours… what a miserable day on a bike.

    -FP

  5. Barb says:

    I get both bonus points.

    I’m so glad we didn’t sign up for 3/6 Gap this year, anyone that actually rode it is quite the trooper – riding down slick mountian roads would scare the crap out of me.

    Martha – 11/13 is a better date for us – we might even be able to make it now – you need to just cancel that race. How much did you pay to enter? Maybe we will take up a collection……..

  6. Yeah, there will never be biking (especially on a steep course) in weather conditions like that unless I find a time machine, return to age 20, and am sponsored to ride in the Tour de France.

  7. Yeah, Martha, you can run all you want around Pine Mountain and get a fantastic workout. Hell, bring a bike and you can perform a Martha-Duathlon!

    I’m in for $5, Barb. 🙂

  8. Martha says:

    Well I was planning on going to FDR…I might still try to make it down after the race (which is in Columbus) just depends on how I’m feeling. I was(am) pretty bummed about the change in dates.

    It looks like I’ll be skipping Myrtle Beach mini-marathon…everyone that was going to go with me has backed out, so I can’t cancel another race (not to mention my failed attempt at the Flying Pig Marathon). I really need to get back on the ‘running horse’. My fun fall is falling apart.

    If there was one extra day in the week I might be able to find time to hash, until then I’ll do what I can.

    I forgot you are visiting non-meat eaters, probably not much at VK for them to try.

  9. I’ll be veggie with the Raleighites on the weekend (not that they give a hoot) and in Raleigh until Thursday morning so I’ll have plenty of time to locate Village Kabob. Also on my list is revisiting Flying Saucer since it’s stumbling distance to my hotel.

  10. Terri (SW) says:

    The Pavement show last night was awesome!!! One of the best shows I’ve been to in ages (aside from it being waaaaayyyyy too crowded). Did find it funny that it was almost all dudes. I think the ratio was 10:1, but apparently all the chicks were in the balcony (I went upstairs for a spell because I was tired of being crushed against the soundboard by the crowd ).

    Patrick only knew three songs…I think I knew all but three. I listened to a lot of Pavement in college :)!

    Hartwell was a stone groove! Packing up in the rain sucked…so you made the right decision to leave when you did. I freaked out a little when it started to lightning Sunday morning, so I “slept” for about an hour and a half in my car. Needless to say, I’m still feeling the effects of the sleep deficit today.

    My luck…tonight is Parent Night. Drats.

  11. Steve says:

    I’m a decent descender, but I think it would have been a challenge yesterday, for sure.

    Paulie, were you alluding to something:

    “when I came to the crashing realization that things weren’t working out the way I’d hoped, so I staggered back to my tent.”

    ??

  12. Terri, Mike and I discussed the male/female ratio and expected to be as such. I did have a lovely Latino girl in front of me who occasionally allowed me to smell her long hair as she whisked it from her back over her shoulder and past my face. Mike and I spent the majority of the night about four “rows” back on the floor stage left (or is that stage right) — the opposite side from Malkmus. I almost wanted to see how many people would get angry/laugh at me by leaning over to my friend Mike and screaming “I don’t know these songs. Do you think they’ll play anything from ‘Dolittle’?” 😉

    I and a terrible descender so there would be no way I’d ride 3/6 Gap in that sort of rain.

    You’ve read between the lines well, Mr. FP.

  13. Steve says:

    Good for you!! Keep swinging until you get a hit.

  14. Thanks. My personal issues limit my attempts, but every once in a while I test the waters.

  15. Barb says:

    Steve – I read between the lines too, but figured Paulie would tell us more if & when he wants to.

  16. I’m better at leaving breadcrumbs than full disclosure. Besides, work and women are the two verboten topics for this blog.

  17. RanLiCoop says:

    Paulie – thanks for the Bday wishes and for agreeing not to punch me this weekend – you know how fragile we vegetarians are 😉

    I agree with FP, keep on swinging – that’s the only way to improve your batting average…

  18. Tom Miller says:

    We don’t know each other, but I saw your post about Lake Hartwell and noticed that you enjoy swimming, biking and running. Do you do triathlons? Did you know about/participate in the Tugaloo Triathlon at Lake Hartwell? I live and work at Lake Hartwell.

  19. debbie says:

    Thanks for the birthday wishes. We did have a good day since I had the unexpected pleasure of Steve’s company and a breakfast delivery. We need the rain so badly that it didn’t cloud my day. Cloud my day, get it?? I’ll be here all the week. 🙂

  20. Steve says:

    She cracks herself up… try the veal!

  21. Whew, I’m back.

    Hello Tom. I am not a triathlete, though some here are and did the Tugaloo Tri a few weeks ago. Due to knee issues I limit myself mostly to biking these days.

  22. Tom Miller says:

    Do you own property at Lake Hartwell or just hang out with friends?

  23. A group of us spent the weekend with a friend who owns a cabin on the Georgia side of Lake Hartwell.

  24. Lisa says:

    Hey, could you please bring the Jets helmet, the spatula and ceramic bowl? If you can’t carry all that maybe you can just give Randy a Birthday Handshake. I’ll make sure I slip him some iron pills so he’s strong enough to take it!

    Can’t wait to see you!

    Lisa

  25. The helmet must stay in the house as I believe its eBay price will skyrocket when the Jets win the Super Bowl this year, and I believe the TSA would consider that spatula a weapon.

    I will need to see proof of iron content prior to a handshake. Perhaps I will settle for a signed waiver absolving me of any harm initiated from my handshake. 🙂

    Really looking forward to seeing you all.

    Neat website Terri. I think you’ve just help with tomorrow’s blog entry. However, there is some discussion about the accuracy of the list posted for last night.

  26. Terri (SW) says:

    I saw that…seems that the songs are right, but in the incorrect order. Loved that they ended with “Here”…such a beautiful song.

    There were a couple of songs I heard last night that I had not heard since college. I have been trying to figure out what they were…I have four of Pavement’s five albums (missing Terror Twilight, which came out after I had graduated) and they are not on there. Frustrating.

    Set list isn’t helping as I don’t know the names of the songs I’m searching…and I only know a snippet of the lyrics because I was never quite sure what Stephen Malkmus was saying anyway!

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