It took some work to drag my ass out of bed, but I was determined to get a run/walk in this morning. I wasn’t feeling it, but I was hoping this morning’s overcast skies would provide me with a little relief. Not even a mile into my jaunt I landed on my right foot and felt pain in my hip — where it still pops. On a pain scale of 1-10 my pain may have been somewhere from 2-4 but it was pain nonetheless. Had the pain been accompanied by a loud pop I may have been able to convince myself that I’ve finally worked my hip back into its proper position within my skeletal frame. I decided to stop running, turn around, and walk back to work. This along with a little pain I’ve been experiencing with one of my teeth (which scares the hell out of me) has gotten me in a real funk today.
A Birthday Of Little Celebration
It’s funny, my thirtieth birthday was my first in Atlanta; it took place on a Saturday and it rained heavily that night. The rain that night meant that none of my friends wanted to go out and I wound up spending the night at my apartment alone.
I had tentative plans for last Friday but they eventually fell through. I wound up leaving work early, driving up to Roswell to pick up my new bicycle (which I had been waiting to buy until I was confident that I’d be able to ride without much pain, a confidence which has eroded) and driving it back to the ITP-Estate. That night I never got the desire to go out again and spent the evening watching videos on my laptop.
Oh well, it’s just another day…
More Than The GarageMahal
On Saturday night I headed up to ITP-Reader Barb’s (and her husband Allan’s) house in Marietta. The occasion was the unveiling of their GarageMahal, but we also got to revel on their massive new deck and brick patio. The addition to the house is impressive, and to think of the amount of work they’ve done in the past year while I let my shack deteriorate amazes me.
I suppose we were also celebrating Barb’s birthday. 😉
The evening was great with plenty of food and beverages along with the opportunity to see a few friends that I don’t see all that often.
Sunday, Lazy Sunday
I woke early yesterday to watch the finale of this year’s Tour de France on my iPad. I was unimpressed with the video quality which NBC was pushing, but the $5 price I paid for video access was fair enough so I wasn’t to annoyed. With the tour and its festivities ending past noon (Eastern) I wandered about the house for a few hours before convincing myself to get out and mow the lawn. I was not ambitious enough to continue on to tackling more of the holly bushes however. Instead I returned inside for a cooling shower before pissing away the remainder of the evening listening to podcasts and playing Angry Birds. Productivity and responsibility can begin again today.
I Think Being Single Has Been Bad For Me
Put aside the emotional emptiness of being alone for as long as I have (one date in recent memory, no girlfriend in nearly seven (eight?) years). I think not having someone for which to “live” has allowed me to slag off and let my body and house go to pot. Sure, I know that I should be doing things “for myself” but without anyone from which to get feedback, or to push me into doing things, it’s far too easy to let things go.
The worst part of it all is that it’s a vicious cycle. I’ve been so broken that I’ve lost whatever smidgeon of confidence I may have had, and am in no mental condition to try to meet women.
Meh, I’m probably just suffering from post-birthday syndrome.
Or maybe it’s post-Tour de France syndrome.
Or maybe it’s because of all of the physical pain I’m in today…
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – depressed, disturbed
Current Music – watching the pre-stage telecasts from the weekend
Website Of The Day – One final cycling related website — Cycling TV.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Friday: running/walking, ~3 miles
Morning Weigh-In – later this week, though I’m not looking forward to it
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~12.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)
Vegetarian Days – 2
Carnivorous Days – 22
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
July Goals
– “Completely” recover from the bike crash
– Buy a bicycle and start riding again
– 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
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]
Bummer about your hip still bothering you, maybe it just needs to get back in the swing of running. Does it bother you when you just walk?
We haven’t even watched the last 2 stages of the Tour – but don’t worry, of course we know who won.
Thanks to everyone for coming by the party – it was a good time. I feel like it only lasted a couple minutes, I didn’t get to talk much to many of the folks, but that is to be expected when you have 90 people show up. I am so tired, had to wake up too early to take Connie to the airport for a 8am flight. Hopefully tonight I can get more than 6 hours of sleep. (I’m a person that needs 8 hours a night, and I haven’t gotten that in about 2 weeks).
Yesterday was the first day in forever we just goofed off – well, besides the morning cleaning of all the party mess. We made breakfast, then went to a friends pool & just floated, then dinner at Tasty China. Next time Connie comes totown maybe I’ll take her out & about & not make her work & party plan the whole time.
It was bothering me a little, but I had been able to “run” fairly pain-free for awhile. The hip mainly pops when I move my leg laterally, not whatever the opposite of laterally is. I’m going to make an appointment with my doctor for this week and see about the next move.
I figured you and Allan would do nothing but watch the Tour yesterday. You all had worked so long and hard getting the house ready for Saturday.
God lord, only 9:30 and I’m ready for a nap. I came to the conclusion the other night that some of my problems with sleeping maybe related to my saggy, lumpy, 14 year-old mattress. I finally bit the bullet yesterday and ordered a new one. I can’t wait!!! After ‘testing’ mattresses yesterday I realized just how bad mine is…I hope it helps.
Running is different than biking, don’t let some discomfort stop you from trying, set up the trainer tonight and give it a go. As for your mouth, Aleve and ice, you got ‘punched’ in the face, it’s going to hurt.
We went to Sweetwater for a 5 mile loop, Jerry took his newest BFF out to show him the ropes, we had breakfast at SSK, then yard work, which reminds me I need to order mulch this week, then after a shower we did some shopping and had dinner at Spoon. We hit up Morelli’s, I had the strawberry balsamic…tasted like strawberry with a strange after taste, not bad but not what I was expecting.
It was an impressive show on Saturday Barb, I can’t say I’ve seen anything like it. We had a great time, in spite of the heat.
Look Paulie, if you need someone to push you, I can do that…Jerry will tell you I’ve got plenty of nag to go around. You’ve got to learn to be happy with yourself, with your life before you can be happy with anyone else. No one can make you happy or make your life better other than yourself. Your happiness is your own, no one should be able to give it to you or take it away…I say this because I learned it, the hard way.
if Connie (& our other house guests) were actually interested in the Tour, we would have been watching it yesterday morning.
Martha – where did you get a new matress? I really like our sleep number, since Allan likes his side much softer than I do, so we don’t have to compromise.
And – he can attest to the differnce in sleep a matress can make, the ones at the startion aren’t terrible, but they aren’t good.
If you need tree mulch (and need a lot), I called a bunch of tree companies, and got on their list for free drops. Then,when they have a load to get rid of, they just come dump it. Unfortunately you have to spread it – but Oops was really good at it, get him to help!
New mattresses are wonderful.
I set up the trainer last night and remembered that I need to replace the rear skewer in order to have it fit into the trainer.
Sadly the tooth in question now is near the rear of my mouth. It may be related to the whacking from last Sunday, but if the pain persists I’ll have to make an unscheduled appearance at my dentist’s.
While agree that my happiness is mine to define, having another person around to push, nag, remind, encourage helps people achieve heights they could not achieve alone. I believe that along with sex and child production, this is why we strive to hook up.
Tree companies love people who want mulch. I believe they have to pay for disposal otherwise.
Sounds like the garage mahal party was a huge success! Sorry I missed it, I had already paid for a dual sport rally before I knew the date 🙁
I need a bunch of mulch myself, guess it’s time to call some tree companies.
Hey Bob – tell Laura if she wants her Chocovine wine back – I’ve still got it……. and – come get your yard game & check out the deck.
and – it can take a few days to get the mulch – I called a bunch of them on Monday, and we finally got a call on Thursday.
Damn, I just realized that I never corn-holed on Saturday night! 😉
I’ve gotten the free mulch before, it was okay enough, I’m on a list again but I haven’t heard anything (it’s been several weeks) and I don’t want all my weed pulling efforts to be for nothing. We will still have all the fun of spreading out ourselfs. I’m sure once I buy a load, there will be a huge storm, trees down everywhere and they will call 😉
We went to Mattres Firm, because it’s close by, we found one we liked and then I ordered a similar moded (same specs) on-line for MUCH less money, plus free delivery, set-up and old matress disposal. We got a Beautyrest Elite, I can’t wait. I’m buying all new sheets and pillows as well.
Thanks again Barb for the lovely evening. While I see most folks online, it was certainly more enjoyable to see people “live”.
Paulie, maybe the bike is a better “therapy” exercise than running… a whole lot less stress on your hips than running.
Martha, “Plenty of nag to go around”… too funny.
-FP
I still plan to get on the yet-to-be-named bike soon. I adjusted the seat last night and made an attempt at adjusting the new cleats. I didn’t get to spin on the trainer since I’d not swapped skewers.
On a different, more positive note, I’m currently steaming some red potatoes in my cubicle. I plan to eat them with the turkey I cooked in the crockpot here last Thursday. I think I’m also planning a TV pilot for my new Food Network show “The Cubicle Chef.”
I think that’s a great idea for a Youtube series… I don’t know what the company would think about it, though.