Could Be A Big Weekend Ahead

I’m not counting any chickens…

Today’s Personal Project
Have a good time hanging out with a friend tonight, thinking little about my troubles.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Share one new food that you can add to your next salad, such as nuts, dried fruit, beans, or egg.

There’s no doubt that eating a green salad is a great way to get important nutrients, but the typical lettuce-and-veggie combo can get a little dull. It takes only a little effort to throw something new into the salad bowl, and the unexpected tastes or textures may tickle your taste buds. It may even inspire you to try other fun add-ins in future salads!

I dig adding dried cranberries (brand name — Craisins) to my salads, the rare times I make salads.

Egg Salad Sandwich Redo
If you remember yesterday I mentioned getting an egg salad sandwich at Zoë’s Kitchen the day before. While eating at Zoë’s Kitchen a coworker asked me if I had tried the egg salad sandwich from our building’s cafeteria.

I had not, at least until yesterday.

By and large an egg salad sandwich is an egg salad sandwich, as long as you don’t do anything gross like add raw onions. The version procured from the cafeteria and consumed for yesterday’s lunch was very good. I ate baked potato chips (brand name — Baked Lays) instead of the marinated slaw and also had a soda, and my lunch was $3.50 cheaper than at Zoë’s Kitchen. To be fair to Zoë’s they did have much better “atmosphere.” 😉

iPhone 5 Is Still Not Alive
I allowed myself to leave “early” yesterday (6:30pm) when I was asked to join my boss for a beverage at Chuy’s. Of course we only had beverages and chips at Chuy’s so when I was done I meandered over to Taco Mac.

By the time I arrived home I was kicking myself when I realized that I could have spent that time activating my new iPhone 5 instead. Oops.

Tomorrow will be my official iPhone 5 activation day. I’ll have full access to Siri, and will have to think of a witty new outgoing voicemail message for it.

Braves Game Tonight?
I may be headed down to Turner Field to watch my beloved NY Mets battle the Atlanta Braves. The other day I received a phone call from a friend who offered me a ticket for tonight’s contest. Here’s to hoping the rain holds off, the beer is cold, and the Mets pull out a meaningless victory.

Is tonight “Chipper Jones Appreciation Night?” Not from this Mets fan…

I Might Even Get Two Days Off Again This Weekend
My status is uncertain at this time, but I just might be able to take two days off this weekend… for the second weekend in a row!

I Fully Expect To Experience A Gator Loss This Week
Even though LSU looked weak against a less-than-stellar Auburn team I think they have a good chance at beating the Gators this weekend. Fortunately, the game is in Gainesville so maybe the home cooking and crowd can prove me wrong.

Another Month Coming To An End…
However The Amazing Race starts again on Sunday! (I really wish that they’d move it to a different night during football season, however).

I’m looking at my stats and I’m perplexed as to how I seemingly will not make one hundred foot miles this month. You figure that one hundred miles is five miles a day for twenty days. Admittedly I rode (only) two days, so that leaves twenty six that I could have walked this month. I swear that it seems as of I’ve already exercised on twenty of them. Who knows, maybe I am taking more credit than I should, especially if the numbers aren’t lying…

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – still battling
Current Music – silence because I need to get this done quickly
Website Of The Day – I’m reminded of the days of MetroBlogs when I hear abotu Patch, covering local news in about twenty-two states and the District of Columbia.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, ~5.4 miles
Morning Weigh-In – dammit, I forgot to check. I’ll check on Monday, which is October 1st btw

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~81.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – ~90.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 5

Vegetarian Meals – 44
Carnivorous Meals – 28
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]