A New Initiative

As life moves on I keep trying to get better…

Today’s Personal Project
Do the data backup that I failed to get done Sunday.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Eat one potassium-rich food, such as spinach, bananas, raisins, melon, milk, or orange juice.

Potassium is one potent mineral! It has been shown to prevent and control high blood pressure as well as lessen the risk of stroke. A potassium-rich diet also helps to lower the risk of osteoporosis (a weakening of the bones).

I wonder if there was any potassium in that Pop Tart and unsweetend almond milk that I had for breakfast.

WLB’s WIB Program
You hashers know my hash name is “Wee Little Bit” (go ahead, let you imagination run wild), that is for what “WLB” stands. “WIB” stands for “Where It Belongs” which is the program which I plan to (re)start today.

Everything I own has a place “where it belongs.” When objects are in the places where they belong they are incredibly easy to find at a moment’s notice.

Take for example my Road ID. I recall wearing my Road ID on Sunday’s bike ride. I recall having my Road ID on after the ride as we sat around having a beer. I’m fairly certain that I recall taking my Road ID off when changing into my flip flops to drive, and I thought that I would have placed it into my cycling bag where it belongs when I was changing. However, as of this morning my Road ID was not in my cycling bag; it was not in my running bag (used mostly for clothing transport); it was not in my helmet, nor bathroom. I could not locate it using a quick scan of the Jackmobile’s center console nor in the trunk. And since I have no recollection of seeing it last night when I was doing laundry, I have no flipping idea where the hell it is today. In fact, I fear that I dropped it at Sosebee Cycling Park as I changed on Sunday and that I’ll have to purchase a new one.

ITP Flickr Pic
OMG an actual photo taken by me!

You might not think that it’s a great photo, but that’s okay. At least it’s a start back along a path on which I desire to walk.

Is It 2002 Again?
Unless hell meets hand basket later today I am planning on doing my first weeknight group bike ride since the early 2000s. I’m not sure how life has gotten away from me — oh wait a minute, the company for which I toil moved my cheese to the Perimeter Mall area — but it has. Now, seventeen-months-post-accident I am feeling comfortable enough in my riding to have lugged my bike into work atop the Jackmobile.

The plan is to leave work early enough to drive over to Vinings and do the “Silver Lake” ride which departs from Atlanta Cycling at 6:30pm and winds its way around to Brookhaven and back. My coworkers have done the ride, but they are admittedly younger and in better cycling shape than yours truly, so I’ll have to see how I fare.

New York Bound (In A Month)
Just booked tickets to fly to New York to visit my brother and sister-in-law in August. Excited.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, hoping that I can ride this afternoon
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – I know that I feature too many nerdy sites in this space, so here’s another 😛 Daring Fireball.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – still not checking

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~59.8 miles
Wheel Mileage – ~128.9 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 4
Carnivorous Days – 19
Pancakes Eaten – 3

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
9. Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury

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]