By now our BRAGgers are on Day 3, they’ve accomplished completing two days of riding and should find things “interesting” as the rain pulls into Georgia today.
To say that I accomplished little of what I needed to do this weekend is an understatement. My crowning glory was getting some yard work done on Sunday. From the discomfort I felt last night and this morning I continually wonder if I am allergic to grass, or perhaps the pounds of Georgia red clay dust that I inhale each time I mow my “grass.”
Today’s Daily Challenge
Give a good stretch to your wrists, arms, and spine with yoga’s upward facing dog pose.
Upward facing dog, also known as urdhva mukha svasana, is a basic hatha yoga pose. It provides a nice stretch for the wrists and arms. You should also get a satisfying stretch through your whole spine, which can be a welcome feeling if you spend much of your day sitting.
I found that I can get the challenge early enough to post that day’s challenge in the appropriate blog. So now each day you’ll get today’s challenge instead of yesterday’s.
Another One Bites The Dust
On Friday I went to the Dunwoody Tavern to attend a going away happy hour for one of our company’s longer-term managers who has decided to leave. I am an ardent opponent of “Going Away Lunches” since I feel it sends the wrong message — “You’re leaving? Well congratulations! Let’s take you to lunch!” — however in this instance the person leaving is one of our happy hour regulars so I decided to join.
If not for the fact that Dunwoody Tavern is in the wrong direction from home, it could become a regular stop on my newly-forming bar rotation (the loss of my favorite servers and constantly-high beer prices at Taco Mac has really lessened the appeal there for me), for the food looked good (I never got around to eating), the beer selection was fine (though also a bit high-priced), the bar is non-smoking, and the waitstaff attentive.
No Riding. No. Riding.
I was going to ride my mountain bike up to the Summer Shade Festival in the Highlands on Saturday, but then I decided against it even though the weather, save the high winds, was lovely. I can’t recall what I did Saturday other than foregoing breakfast for an over-sized lunch, lounging, napping, and failed attempts at reading a lot. Hmm, almost sounds like the perfect Saturday now that I re-read that last sentence.
On Sunday things didn’t work out as I planned them, so I didn’t ride then either. I did take the time I was planning on riding to do the aforementioned yard work and continue with June Super Secret Project #1. “What is a June Super Secret Project?” you ask? Well, it’s a project, perhaps life-long, which I am beginning this month; it’s all part of the “Ch-Ch-Changes” I hinted at on Friday.
Clap Your Hands Say Huh
I had heard that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were going on tour again this year. They are scheduled to play at next Sunday night. Planning on reliving my early 2000s I decided that I’d go to the show, assuming that I would be one of the few doing so. What I hadn’t planned on was finding out that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is opening (my, how the once-mighty have fallen) for some other band, and that the show has sold out. Oh well, I guess I could dust off that first Clap Your Hands Say Yeah CD this week and relive my grand memories of seeing them at The EARL.
And Now For Something Completely Different
While not doing what I was supposed to be doing I had an flash of creativity, which I will most likely do nothing with, but have had nonetheless. It’s refreshing. I’m not going to give my idea away, but it regards a (physical) book that I have in my collection, one that I started reading again last night (I haven’t read it since middle/high school).
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair, feeling a bit crummy but trying to rally
Current Music – silence, and will probably continue this trend as I have a ton of work to accomplish and need to focus
Website Of The Day – Not sure I’ve ever picked Weather Underground, my new go-to weather website, before. Perhaps I need to start another June Super Secret Project for archiving my Websites Of The Day.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing (pity, that)
Morning Weigh-In – decided not to check
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 5.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights
Days Of Bed-Making – 0
Vegetarian Days – 1
Carnivorous Days – 2
Pancakes Eaten – 0
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
- Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
- God, No! — Penn Jillette
- The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
- Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore
- How We Decide — Jonah Lehrer
- Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson
June Goals
– Post at least ten new photos during the month
– Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
– Finish two books (audio or otherwise, comic books do not qualify)
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
– Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course
2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
– Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than one one 10K
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
– Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
– Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions
– Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
– Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
– See more live concerts than I did in 2011
– Eat more pancakes
– Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Looks like the BRAG folks got a little rain last night, with more on tap for today. Stay dry friends!
Paulie you should have rode with Steve and me Saturday. It was just a perfect day for the bike. We rode 31 miles, Steve pushed me (I know I slowed him down a bit) but it was a really good ride and I managed a nice run after.
Yesterday was a longish trail run. Took a friend out to Sweetwater, for her first trail run, thankfully she enjoyed herself. We did the Blue/White loop together, then I ran another hour by myself. It felt great, I almost didn’t want to stop.
We went to Summerfest yesterday, yuck. I really just don’t get these ‘festivals’, it was hot, crowded and the same vendors that are at every other festival. The only festivals I like going to now are Summer Shade at Grant Park and EA Strut. Summer Shade is nice, 1) I know a lot of folks there and 2) as the name might suggest, there is lots of shade.
Paulie , Don’t know if you recieved my message ; looks like this window sash will fit. Call me , Willy.
Willy, my apologies for not getting back to you this weekend. I have no excuse other than I thought you might be having fun doing other things in this great weather. I’ll call you later and we’ll work out a time amenable to your schedule to get things done.
Thanks!
Martha, I considered riding on Saturday too, but I just never got my crap together. I’ll blame my overconsumption on Friday night, a cool evening with me comfortably wrapped in a warm bed, and a desire to eat a lot of food for lunch.
I did realize that I know very little about Silk Sheets, having only ridden it once. I went to Trish’s website for a cue sheet and was a little overwhelmed with the options for Silk Sheets.
fyi – blog notifications are screwed again.
Saturday was only my second time there, I was going to go it alone if no one wanted to join me. Worst case, I would ride out and back. I’m glad Steve volunteered to keep my company. The routes are marked but it isn’t always easy to tell exactly which way you need to go (BBC is marked way better), to complicate matters (for me) we did the route backwards. I think another trip or two out there and I’ll be okay.
I have a 2:30 ride planned for Sunday, not sure where I’m riding just yet.
It looks like the folks at BRAG have found some shelter in order to dry out for the day.
That’s cool (about the BRAG folks). From what I gather BRAG is trying enough, never mind when you add 100º heat or torrential rain.
I may try to join you on Sunday, though 2:30 seems like a hot time to start. My Saturday is already booked, so Sunday will be my only day to ride next weekend.
Sorry, I have a 2 hour 30 minute ride planned…you know me, I’ll be starting much earlier.
I second Martha’s comments- we had a lovely ride on a gorgeous day. I’m glad I was able to drag you around a bit Martha, that’s the only way to get faster. We’ll make a plan to get out on the Comet and get in some real “motor pacing”.
Regrettably, that was my only ride for the weekend- Sunday the mizzus and I went over to a nearby farm containing 53 horses. Her husband had a stroke recently and she “needs” to get rid of most of her herd… she hasn’t quite got the memo yet, but she will soon enough.
Saturday evening, we met some Scottish friends for dinner at E.A.T.S. Did you know there is a “Flat Shoals Ave, S.E.” north of I-20? Oddly enough, the restaurant isn’t on that part of Flat Shoals- GPS strikes again. I managed to talk them in and no worse for wear. Dinner was excellent, as usual, and we enjoyed catching up with them and not on FB.
This would not be a great day to be on BRAG- there might have been a battle this morning as to who was going to drive the truck. Y’all stay safe out there.
-FP
Ah, I should have known better, like you would have said 1430 instead of 2:30! 🙂
Yes Steve, I did know that there was a Flat Shoals Ave SE north of I-20; “back in the day” they were one and the same (see also: many streets which were cut by I-20). What’s curious is that your GPS sent them to the wrong one, though I shouldn’t be surprised as my GPS has my house located on the incorrect side of the street.
When they said it was only 4 blocks long and they were looking at some fairly unappealing (run down) buildings, I asked if they were north or south of 20- knowing EAP is an old neighborhood helped. 2.5 hour ride?? Hmmm… I could handle that.