I don’t even remember which day I thought it was when I arose this morning. I do know that I just found out that Sunday is Mother’s Day, so I need to go buy and mail a card to my mother today.
Getting Away
On Friday afternoon I left work a little early (putting in an eight-hour day before I did, however) and started up I-75 for Chattanoonga. I’ve made this trip before and didn’t think much of the drive, I just wanted to make sure to miss as much of Atlanta’s insane Friday-afternoon traffic as possible. And then I hit Ringgold’s post-tornado traffic and things came to a literal standstill. With no actual damage to, or debris on, I-75 the only explanation I have for the slowdown was people’s curiosity with the damage to the buildings along the highway — and damage there was. As we collectively crept along I could see that the Ruby Tuesday in which I ate last year, and the hotel in which I slept, last year when I was returning from a Nashville trip as written about on April 4, 2010 were both highly damaged.
I was able to make it to Chattanooga to check in to my hotel and have a fun time at a Chattanooga Lookouts game, and a beverage at Chattanooga’s Taco Mac.
On Saturday morning I woke and headed out for breakfast at a place called The Bluegrass Grill. As it turned out The Bluegrass Grill was a small family-run establishment in what’s considered Chattanooga’s “Southside” — which would do well to buy a few more street signs for its corners so that people can navigate. I was glad to see that at 8:30am there was no line to get in (a practice which befuddles me here, though when I left a small line had formed), but that the place was not empty. I sat at the bar and ordered the corned beef hash, got to see one of the prettiest young waitresses I have ever seen, and held a decent conversation with the guy sitting at the stool next to mine, along with the young lad who was serving us. I would definitely return.
ITP Flickr Pic
Well, my DSLR never exited its carrying bag this weekend, but I did snap a few photos using the trusty iPhone…
I like Chattanooga, and not just because it has a Taco Mac.
Zippity Doo Da
On Saturday I drove from Chattanooga to Ocooee to meet with a group of people, the only ones I new were ITP-Reader Barb and her hubby Allan, for some zip lining. I’ll say up front that it was good, but it wasn’t really as fun as I hoped it would be; this is not a reflection of the people but rather of me, the activity, or perhaps the location at which the activity was held.
Basically there were six zip lines that we rode (zipped?). Even though I am afraid of heights I was okay with all but the last starting platform (which we were told had 92 stairs to reach its top). Harnessed in you zip along trying to do stunts, or in my case trying to stay headed forward — huh, as I read this back to myself it sounds as if I was one again trying to commandeer a ducky. I guess that I was too focused on the techniques and not getting caught up in the mechanism (shocker, I know) to have and all-out good time. Case and point, though I rode upside down for a few seconds on two of the lines I never saw any of the surrounding areas upside down as I was too busy looking to making sure my feet were in the proper location. Would I do it again? Perhaps, but at another location.
RealiTV Update: The Amazing Race — Reading Is Fundamental
Spoilers
I missed the earliest portion of last night’s commercial-packed The Amazing Race as I was in the kitchen frying up my frozen breaded okra (I’m becoming more Southern all of the time). However I was parked in front of the television in time to see the teams jump into helicopters with one dollar and head toward the Matterhorn to do some rescuing. As each team which arrived after Team Assburger at the first Detour left before it seemed as if they would need to be rescued and get eliminated from The Amazing Race. I was not so secretly hoping that Vyxen of Team Goths Gone Wild would lower Ken to the center of the Earth and never pull him back.
From the Matterhorn all teams had to create their own product placement in the form of a painted chocolate Travelocity gnome to “exact standards” which didn’t seem nearly as “exact” as I thought they would be. In order to construct the product placement one person from each team had to paint two halves of a mold before warm chocolate could be poured into the mold to complete the task. Controversy struck The Amazing Race when molds were mistakenly swapped (or stolen). Someone took Team Trotters half which started a tirade of accusation and frustration. Could these have not been numbered to avoid such nonsense? Controversy and all, Team Trotters finished the product placement Roadblock first and headed to some shack where a which must have never seen black people before nearly attacked them (or was the dog just being friendly?) as they finished first.
It appeared that Team Assburger which lost a lot of time at the Detour was done. But, thanks to the careless clue reading of Team Goths Gone Wild they missed the words on foot in the final clue, arrived third by taking an electric taxi to the Pitstop, and were forced to wait out a thirty-minute penalty for doing so. In the meanwhile Team Assburger found the Pitstop and checked in prior to, and thusly eliminated Team Goths Gone Wild — at which point my celebration began.
Next week is the two-hour finale. ITP-Reader Stacy: Are we convening at your new digs for a viewing?
Heading into the finale here are the teams which remain:
- Team Assburger
- Team Trotters
- Team Sista Sista
- Team Daddy’s Little Miss America
At this point I suppose that I am okay with any of them winning.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair, though rather rushed
Current Music – silence for the moment
Website Of The Day – Yesterday was the first of May and if you are a fan of Jonathan Coulton then you know that “outdoor fucking” started yesterday as stated in his song “First of May.”
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – shit, I’m supposed to check but I just ate breakfast
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)
Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 1
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
May Goals
– “Completely” recover from the bike crash
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Run at least once
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than five days
– Lose three pounds
– Go out on a date with someone else
– Read an entire book, specifically The Laws Of Simplicity
2011 Goals [will be a little more fluid than in past years]
– Reduce my weight by 25 pounds based on the my weight as measured on February 1st
– Completely read the book Daily Negations which I received as a Christmas gift.
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business — one which does not get penalized.
– 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
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than two one half-marathon
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
A lovely weekend indeed. Got to watch one niece get married off on Saturday and a whole lot of bike racers going by on Sunday. Nice to see Bob and Laura and “the babe” enjoying the race.
How much room is there for a viewing party?? I think the mizzus and I migght be in.
-FP
Ziplining was fun, but as Paul said, it was a little different. The idea of just zipping from tower to tower (basically in a big field) was not what I expected, the other place we had gone (North GA Canopy Tours in Lula, GA) was an actual canopy tour, from tree to tree. But,t hat being said, if you had planned a half day rafting trip with the zipline, it would be a good, full day.
I am NOT upset Team Goth is gone, they annoyed me. I may be interested in a May 8th viewing party…….
and note to Steve – sorry we never made it to the crits to say hi, was there any good excitement? After getting done with the 42 mile ride, we went home to clean up & ended up going to a neighbor’s birthday party, then another party. It was a very busy day.
Currently, we are planning on trying the zipline Friday morning and if we are up for it, some hiking after.
It was a very low key weekend here, I don’t know what is wrong with me but I’m just tired, more tired than normal. I ended up sleeping until 8 am this morning and 9am yesterday, no run, no ride…we did manage to make it to the Inman Park Festival for a bit but that was it. Nothing exciting to report, same old ‘atlanta festival’ stuff.
You could still weigh yourself, unless you literally just ate a brick I don’t think it would make much of a difference.
there is plenty of cool hiking up there near the Ocoee……. or even over closer ot Chattanooga. I’m just tired too, but I think that was because I got up early both days of the weekend, and the bike ride was tough, lots of hills (that I’m told are good for me).
Good to see you yesterday Steve.
Barb, excitement? How about a crash that took out just about the whole field? From what I heard when the pack that stayed upright got back around the course they could not get by because there were still riders on the ground. Crazy stuff, i’m sure Steve has better details.
There were also rumors of a Paulie sighting at the crit but we never saw them. Where were you Paule? 🙂
Awesome morning on Sunday for a 42 mile tour of Roswell, had a really good ride.
I have no idea what went on.. I just know the pack was suddenly cut by two thirds… in some places on that course, you could have 5 riders go down and you’re pretty much hosed. There wasn’t a break at that moment (in fact, except for 3 women who got away and spanked the field, there wasn’t a break all day long) which made the restart much easier. Of course, some riders gain position in a restart and some lose. That’s bike racing. We did cart a couple off that were pretty rough.. never heard any report back on condition.
Next time you are in Chattanooga, check out The Terminal pub for good beer and food (right near The Bluegrass Grill). We like to stay in a vacation-by-owner house in that Southside area which is cheaper than a hotel for us (bigger than you’d need but here’s the link for anyone who is interested).
http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentalReview-g54946-d1847443-Downtown_Chattanooga_s_Favorite_Artist_s_Residence-Chattanooga_Tennessee.html
We saw a baseball game when we were up there last month — so nice to be able to park, drink a beer, see a game and not mortgage your house to do it!
I’ve got a Growler from Terminal Brewhouse & have never been there. Might have to check the place out someday.
Barb — Terminal is cool — they brew their own beer and the food is solid. It is also non-smoking which is not true for everything in Chattanooga.
We also like Aretha’s (they are open all day) but its a small place so you have to expect a wait.
http://www.arethas.com/?pg=2_p
Busy morning — I’ve just arrived at work after PT.
Thanks for the Chattanooga info Beth. I *think* I went to The Terminal the last time I went to Chattanooga, but I don’t have the time to search my archives. One of the benefits of staying in a Choice Hotels hotel this time was I believe that I earned a $50 gas card for doing so — which, almost pays for the tank of gas I used going to Chattanooga and back.
The Amazing Race Finale watching will firm up when ITP-Stacy chimes in. I’ll ping her today and let you all know what the deal is.
Must have been my doppelganger Bob. Outside of work, doctors’ offices and Taco Mac there are few Paulie sightings these days.
fyi – I am spending a lot of my waking hours writing software and LOVING it again.
Hooooola! I am so totally up for the Amazing Race finale viewing, but my digs will be out because cable will not be hooked up until later in the month. (That and egads! There’s still boxes everywhere!)
D’oh! So YES on the viewing – unfortunately no at my place. Would someone else like to host? I CAN bring wine…. that capability I do have! *grin*
Cable? It’s on CBS! 😛 🙂
I’ll be happy to host, it’ll give me a reason to clean up the house. If CBS’ schedule doesn’t get screwed up by something the show will start at 8pm and last for two hours. I’ll be happy to cook, or perhaps we can potluck, or if the weather is nice grill out on the deck. So many options…
More discussion about this later in the week.
Actually, I gotta figure that out then. I *thought* I successfully hooked the TV up last night (you know, just for basic cable) but maybe I did it wrong. Or maybe the cable is bad. Or I dunno! All I got was static (it’s waaaay too quiet in that place right now). I might have to try it again tonight! If I manage it, AND manage to clean up enough for company, I’d so be game on. But them’s some big Ifs!
And I do not have the “grill on deck” option… just in case we’d lean that way. 🙂 Am I assuming Miss Terri might join us? How about you, Barb? Wanna come way ITP?
Hee. I can say that now.
Though MAN! I went to the Target on Memorial yesterday (Edgewood? Right?)…that place is a friggin’ zoo. Remind me to never ever do that again. I did, however, wave southward a little hello toward ya.
I’m thinking I’m a maybe to a yes – all depends on what I come up with to do next Sunday, that is so many days away still.
Hiya!
Sunday May 8 is my birthday, so I’m a big “maybe” on any plans. I am planning on going to Stinko de Mayo if I don’t have to do any Mother’s Day activities.
Let me know!