Returning To Routine

I’m back in the swing of things, a mere two days before our summer-ending long weekend.

Today’s Personal Project
Go to Target, buy the things I need.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Alleviate neck tension by gently tilting your head toward each shoulder three times.

Many of us hold tension in our neck and shoulders. Luckily, gentle exercise, stretching and relaxation techniques can help alleviate some of that stress and tension. The ear to shoulder nod – also known as a lateral neck flexion – is a great way to softly stretches the muscles in the neck. It’s an important stretch, too, since your neck supports your head, which can weigh nearly 8% of your body mass!

Stretching is good.

I’m In The Four Hundred Club
I returned to my local Taco Mac last night. Have I ever mentioned how many kids eat there? I was surrounded by tablefuls of them. Ugh. I needed to kill time, eat some dinner, and have one beer in my system before heading home to make a phone call, so I stayed.

I ordered, but did not eat the entirety of, a heaping plate of Fiesta Chicken Nachos. With the nachos I drank one Fuller’s Bengal Lancer IPA. I was disappointed to see that Taco Mac (Perimeter) doesn’t carry any Schaefer beer (not surprisingly I’ve not had a Schaefer at Taco Mac yet). The Fuller’s was beer #400 on my Taco Mac Brewniversity account!

I’m only twenty-five beers away from earning a $50 credit to my account. Yeah, I know, I’ll be spending a lot of money to earn $50.

ITP Flickr Pic
Sunrise over City Island, New York.

I realized this week that I’ve scratched the lens (multiple times) on my iPhone 4. No wonder why some of my images are looking cloudy these days.

Jersey Boy
New Jersey? Oh god no.

Yesterday I received an email from ITP-Reader Barb alerting me to the existence of a Miller cycling jersey being sold by Primal Wear. Curious, I went to the site and poked around a bit. Lo and behold, I found an even better jersey for me, the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale jersey Schaefer Beer jersey. And, even better yet, the Schaefer jersey is on sale, selling for $59.95 instead of $69.95!

This morning I decided to bite the bullet and buy the Schaefer jersey (I really like the Terrapin jersey too, but don’t need two new jersey because I am not riding enough!).

No Plans Tonight
Well, except for going to Target. If time and weather permit I may make a long-overdue return to the East Atlanta Farmers Market.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listening to this week’s “Amplified” podcast
Website Of The Day – Thanks to Retail Me Not I found a code for Primal Wear which saved me 20% off the price of my Schaefer jersey.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, ~5.3 miles
Morning Weigh-In – 208.6 pounds yesterday

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~64.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 2.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 1

Vegetarian Meals – 45
Carnivorous Meals – 32
Pancakes Eaten – 7

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

August Goals
– Eat no fewer than forty-five vegetarian meals
– Take at least one load of stuff from my house to Goodwill
– Take unused electronics to recycling center
– 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)
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Ride no fewer than 150 miles (might be hard given the amount of travel scheduled this month)
– Walk (or run) no fewer than 75 miles
– Do no fewer than 750 sit-ups
– Do no fewer than 300 push-ups

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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]