Crazy From The Heat

It was a rough but enjoyable weekend. The heat was brutal, causing me to head to the basement when I arrived home yesterday, only to spring up to the main floor for short needs such as food and beer.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Chew at least five bites of your next snack or meal twenty times each.

Your stomach isn’t solely responsible for digesting food – the process actually starts up in your mouth! When food has enough time in the mouth, the tongue recognizes the flavors and sends a message to the brain. From here, the brain tells the stomach what kind of food to expect so it can have the right natural chemicals at the ready for digestion. Plus, saliva makes food easier to swallow and helps break down food molecules into a size your body can absorb. When the tiny pieces of food finally hit your stomach, they take less energy to digest. It’s simply easier for the body to receive and use nutrients in tiny bits of food.

This is something that I really need to attempt.

Today’s Personal Project
Renew the Jackmobile’s tag.

Summer Slacker Series #2
Heat be damned, we were riding!!! We started off a little later than originally planned, thankfully not because of my lack of attention while driving which helped me miss my exit for the Moreland Day Spa. A larger pack started than for Summer Slacker Series #1, but the heat caused some to shorted their rides and then a mechanical problem cause the abandonment of others. I was doing fine for the first half/two-thirds but then my lack of training combined with the brutal heat, warm water in my bottles, and potentially some exercise-enduced asthma cause me to fail. I must have looked as bad as I felt because as I neared my return to the Moreland Day Spa a vehicle passed me, only to stop and ask ITP-Reader Steve if we were okay.

With nearly thirty miles under my ever-expanding belt I hopped off the bike and walked up the long, gravel driveway which leads to the Moreland Day Spa. Once in I showered off, popped open a beer, jumped into the pool (sans beer), and repeated these throughout the day. I think all assembled had a great time even with the oppressive heat.

I look forward to Summer Slacker Series #3 — “The Return of Dominoes.”

When Life Hands You 100° F, I Say “Surrender”
As I mentioned, I spent yesterday down in the basement. I briefly considered heading up to Marietta for the Canada Day hash, but the thought of spending another day outside in the 100° F heat didn’t seem like a good one. So I caught up on some, unfortunately not all, basement chores — I messed with my video connections, defrosted my bar freezer, and gathered things to take to Goodwill.

I also managed to finally start watching the BBC series Sherlock. I have long since been a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective and had heard great things about this modern-day revival. I was also planning on watching Arthur Miller’s “Death Of A Salesman” but I didn’t feel like going through the dance that my Roku box required me to do before I could stream video from Amazon‘s Instant Video. Instead I reacquainted myself with my favorite movie of all time, Glengarry Glen Ross (wow, has it really been twenty years since I first saw this?).

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, but I can’t figure out this tooth thing. I didn’t notice it at all yesterday.
Current Music – Listening to today’s stage of the Tour de France (since I never watched yesterday’s). Huh, it sounds as if I missed out on a big crash yesterday.
Website Of The Day – After a great meal including some sushi made by ITP-Reader Barb and her hubby Allan, I’m headed to study up at Make My Sushi.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – should have checked yesterday, but I did not

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 0
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore
6. How We Decide — Jonah Lehrer
7. Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson
8. Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays) — Arthur Miller

July Goals
– Take at least one load of stuff from my house to Goodwill
– Post at least ten new photos during the month (let’s try this again)
– 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
– Ride no fewer than 150 miles

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]