If you've been to Atlanta, you know that our city is encircled by the busy I-285 expressway, affectionately known to us locals as "The Perimeter". As you approach Atlanta from I-75, you'll see signs referring to it as "Atlanta Bypass", which is really quite humorous, since it goes through some very heavily traveled areas..."bypass" is a true misnomer!
Anyway, as of late, we have new terms describing where one lives, i. e. "ITP" or inside the Perimeter, or "OTP", outside the Perimeter. Think of it as Atlanta's version of Washington's Beltway. If you're ITP, you have trendy restaurants, charming neighborhoods, and high real estate prices. If you're OTP, you have mega-shopping, mega-neighborhoods, and more reasonable real estate prices (although they're still up there). We live OTP, but we do lots of stuff ITP, and there's a truly different mindset to each TP. It's fun to see where you end up.
This past weekend, from Friday night until Sunday night, I calculated that I had made no less than six trips ITP:
1. Dinner at La Tavola in Virginia-Highland with cousins.
2. Walking in Chastain Park, coffee at Caribou on Roswell Road.
3. Trip to water garden store on Cheshire Bridge Road to buy plants.
4. Evening cruise on Ashford-Dunwoody Road and Peachtree Street.
5. Crosstown cruise from Chastain Park to Avondale Estates.
6. Picnic and hiking at Murphey Candler Park.
Hmmm...perhaps this says something. Yes, it does! It says that I'm using lots of gasoline. But I'm also having fun. And note that at least two of the above activities involved exercise. There...now I feel better. Ciao!
Monday, July 3, 2006
Friday, June 9, 2006
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Ordinary Wednesday Chronicle
8:59 AM – …according to the PC clock, that is. Weaved through traffic at Old Alabama and 141 to get here, waved hello to Keiko and Nazima, then sat down to boot up and read email. Nice to see congratulations from Xavier…and yes, I can time the swim meet tomorrow…what happened to John, anyway? I still see his name on the list, but I’ll fill in. Heard Jeremy laugh across the floor…I’d better go make the rounds.
9:55 AM – Just had an unusual conversation with Jean about living wills, trusts, inherited property, and how my uncle was originally buried in the wrong row of the cemetery. Wonder how this day will work out?!
10:20 AM – Waiting for a query to run, so stopped the mayfairstclair.com hosting, checked domain registration.
10:49 AM – One downside of following standards is that they often don’t work. I cannot get the Logistics website home page to display properly, and no one is returning emails about it. Oy, veh! We make life so complicated for ourselves! I should never have attempted to follow the “Corporate Style Guide”! (If I’d followed standards, Whole Bean would never have been published.)
10:55 AM – To hell with it…I’m going to sync my Palm Pilot.
1:30 PM – Yes! My latest database request was completed in record time! Did a Chick-fil-A deluxe sandwich for lunch – oops, there went my Weight Watchers plan out the door. That must be 24 points right there.
1:56 PM – Off to a status meeting on the May Transition project. It’s always held in the cafeteria (oy, veh).
3:37 PM – Trying yet another iteration of the application which will not respond in under five minutes. Hope this time’s a charm. Sent a quick email off to Julie to see what’s up at Harvard. What I’d give for some chocolate about now.
3:43 PM – What is with this White Stripes band? I put the “Elephant” CD on my iPod, and it is SO weird. And the query is still timing out. Ugh!
5:25 PM – Completed weekly status, got query working (with MOD function), drank lots of water. Heading home. Wonder how much traffic is on 141? Am I going to have to cut through the Target parking lot to make a left? I'm thinking so.
9:55 AM – Just had an unusual conversation with Jean about living wills, trusts, inherited property, and how my uncle was originally buried in the wrong row of the cemetery. Wonder how this day will work out?!
10:20 AM – Waiting for a query to run, so stopped the mayfairstclair.com hosting, checked domain registration.
10:49 AM – One downside of following standards is that they often don’t work. I cannot get the Logistics website home page to display properly, and no one is returning emails about it. Oy, veh! We make life so complicated for ourselves! I should never have attempted to follow the “Corporate Style Guide”! (If I’d followed standards, Whole Bean would never have been published.)
10:55 AM – To hell with it…I’m going to sync my Palm Pilot.
1:30 PM – Yes! My latest database request was completed in record time! Did a Chick-fil-A deluxe sandwich for lunch – oops, there went my Weight Watchers plan out the door. That must be 24 points right there.
1:56 PM – Off to a status meeting on the May Transition project. It’s always held in the cafeteria (oy, veh).
3:37 PM – Trying yet another iteration of the application which will not respond in under five minutes. Hope this time’s a charm. Sent a quick email off to Julie to see what’s up at Harvard. What I’d give for some chocolate about now.
3:43 PM – What is with this White Stripes band? I put the “Elephant” CD on my iPod, and it is SO weird. And the query is still timing out. Ugh!
5:25 PM – Completed weekly status, got query working (with MOD function), drank lots of water. Heading home. Wonder how much traffic is on 141? Am I going to have to cut through the Target parking lot to make a left? I'm thinking so.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Go, Taylor! The guy that I hoped would win American Idol did it this week! I came across an interview that Taylor did with WBHM, Birmingham's Public Broadcasting affiliate, back in December, 2005. I'd never watched American Idol regularly until this season, but once you start tuning in from week to week, you get hooked. I especially liked that Stevie Wonder made an appearance. Stevie's music has always been some of the most complex, yet most melodic, work in the pop repertoire, and it was nice to see him in the limelight again.
And if you were a fan of Katharine McPhee, I must say that she indeed did a remarkable job as well. Her rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" this past Tuesday night left no dry eyes, at least among the dads in the audience.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, everybody! =:)
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
I believe that low barometric pressure is reponsible for many of the ills of society. In addition to stirring up bad weather, it seems to engender bad vibes in general. Today was a marked example of this phenomenon -- upon arriving at the office, I noticed that everyone seemed to be just a little bit off center and possessed of a certain guardedness which could not be remedied, even with vast amounts of coffee.
Atlanta is a place where the sun shines often, and I think that we take it, and the good moods it induces, for granted. I recall that when I lived in Chicago, a wonderful city, but home to frequent prolonged low barometric pressure and a listless cloud cover, we would often have to get creative in order to make ourselves snap out of bad moods. Recovery generally involved administration of substantial portions of deep-dish pizza and/or donuts. The problem with this approach was, of course, that concomitant weight gain was an almost certain result. The weight gain would then put us again in bad moods, and the whole thing would turn into one nasty, vicious cycle. Otherwise, Chicago was cool.
So I sit here this afternoon, listening to George Strait on my iPod and trying to figure out how to emerge from the depths of less-than-ideal weather, but glad just to be up and walking around. Besides, the sun will come out, donuts or no donuts. =:o
Atlanta is a place where the sun shines often, and I think that we take it, and the good moods it induces, for granted. I recall that when I lived in Chicago, a wonderful city, but home to frequent prolonged low barometric pressure and a listless cloud cover, we would often have to get creative in order to make ourselves snap out of bad moods. Recovery generally involved administration of substantial portions of deep-dish pizza and/or donuts. The problem with this approach was, of course, that concomitant weight gain was an almost certain result. The weight gain would then put us again in bad moods, and the whole thing would turn into one nasty, vicious cycle. Otherwise, Chicago was cool.
So I sit here this afternoon, listening to George Strait on my iPod and trying to figure out how to emerge from the depths of less-than-ideal weather, but glad just to be up and walking around. Besides, the sun will come out, donuts or no donuts. =:o
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