Unfulfilled

Sadly, today’s title is the best way that I can describe my life. Once again things aren’t working out in my favor and it’s getting me down. I’m trying to put a positive spin on things, but it’s much harder for me than it should be.

Today’s Personal Project
Move on…

Today’s Daily Challenge
Write down one physical activity goal for the next three days, like taking a walk or joining a class.

Writing down an exercise goal gives it more weight than just silently deciding that you’ll do it. Whenever you see that note, you’ll be reminded of your promise to yourself! And by choosing something manageable, you’ll feel more empowered to take it on.

Taking a walk. There are no short piers off of which I could take a long walk, so I will have to settle for a smog-filled jaunt around a part of town I do not call my own.

The Last To Fulfill
Like a good little fanboy I ordered my iPhone 5 early two Fridays ago, the first day that pre-order was available. I missed the scant two-hour window in which the “initial” batch would be available, so I settled on waiting until delivery occurs sometime later this week.

Yesterday upon return to the office I saw that at least two of my coworkers had their iPhone 5 — which they purchased from AT&T and Verizon stores over the weekend without waiting!

Now I know that I am all “Paulie with the Dark Cloud His Head” but what the fuck? I feel gypped (I know, it’s a fucking First World problem.) I am goddamn tired of thinking that I am doing the right thing only to be shat upon.

Oh, spoiler alert, there may be cursing in today’s blog.

Attempting To Fulfill A Work Promise
My project is scampering to keep its head above water. I stayed until 9pm last night, passing on the opportunity to get some exercise yesterday afternoon, toiling. Oh, for those keeping score at home, the office building’s air conditioning shuts off at 7pm and regardless of how “nice” it is outside, it gets warm inside the office.

I took my work home with me and spent the best part, if not the entirety, of last night rewriting PIN code entry and validation code.

I’m glad that I like what I do for a living so much that I can do it for over twelve hours a day. I just wish that I didn’t have to.

Many Packer Fans Are Feeling Unfulfilled
The officiating in last night’s game was a travesty. I am certainly not the only one who was left scratching his/her head after the bogus nature of the game’s ending. My only question is why didn’t the Packer players try to knock the ball away or down instead of going for the interception? All they needed was to make sure that the pass was not caught by Seattle (which, by the way I will always believe that it was not.)

My condolences to Packer fans out there. As we said in New York, yous was robbed.

Hoping Kindle Singles Aren’t An Unfulfilled Promise
While listening to The Kindle Chronicles podcast (the creator of which I sat next to in a photography workshop four years ago in Fort Collins, Colorado) I heard about one of Amazon’s newest eBook offerings — Kindle Serials. In the Kindle Serials program you buy a book and when “new” content is released for the story (a la a magazine serial in the olden days) it is delivered to your Kindle reading device (read “iPad” in my case).

I’ve started my Kindle Serial reading experiment with a classic Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist”, which was originally published as a serial in the 1830s. I’m hoping that I enjoy the process of reading a little and waiting in anticipation for the next installment, you know, like watching Mad Men.

Ticket Fulfillment Is In Place
Atlanta chef and former Top Chef Cheftestant Kevin Gillespie has written a cookbook called Fire In My Belly : Real Cooking. To celebrate its launch next month there will be a launch party at Woodfire Grill, the restaurant at which Gillespie used to cook (and partially own(s)?) on October 9th. Yesterday I bought two $35 tickets (sans full-priced $40 cookbooks) for the party/food-sampling event. I have a gut feeling that I was overly optimistic with my purchase, but I’m sure that I’ll attempt to make the best of whatever situation presents itself.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – unfulfilled (you should not be surprised by this), and battling a bit of bad health probably brought on by the cooler nights/mornings
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – Many people are feeling unfulfilled by Apple’s new iOS maps and have started The Amazing iOS 6 Maps (not).
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing, I worked until 9pm
Morning Weigh-In – see yesterday, or wait until tomorrow

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~70.2 miles
Wheel Mileage – ~90.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 2

Vegetarian Meals – 39
Carnivorous Meals – 26
Pancakes Eaten – 12

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

September Goals
– Wear “nice” clothes to work at least twice a week, if for no other reason than to have people wonder why I am dressing up. New!
– 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
– 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 100 miles
– Walk (or run) no fewer than 100 miles
– Do no fewer than 750 sit-ups
– Do no fewer than 300 push-ups
– Read a non-techincal book

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]