Monday, October 4, 2010

Quarterly Report to the Shareholders, Summer 2010

Blogging

It has been another difficult quarter for blogging. The Shakespeare blog is in mothballs, and after some headway on the Bible made on board the Oosterdam -- I know how to have a good time on vacation -- Michael Reads the Bible might as well be too.  Vexillophilia, a blog with actual readers and the potential to attract more, hasn't competed well for my attention to date.  Quilt blog State of the Craft has shown some life, but we'll see how that develops as the season continues.

Sometimes I think about just pulling the plug on the Life & Times and enjoying my leisure time like a norm.  Yesterday was one of those days.  But now, here I am writing a Quarterly Report to the Shareholders.  I guess I like writing.  And I like you guys.

Reading & Movies

I read 22 books over the course of the quarter. However, 13 of these were audio books that you can count or not, as you will, and another was a graphic book -- I was going to say "graphic novel," but it's non-fiction. That makes eight books that I sat down and read with my eyes, which is not bad at all when you consider that one of them was Ulysses, and that at the end of the quarter I started the long distance event of Musashi reading.

I started the "More Movies" project, and am actually pretty close to finishing it.  That's been fun.

Geohashing

During the Summer Quarter I mounted more less than 17 geohashing expeditions, six of them on a single gonzo weekend.  I became (along with Mrs.5000 in three instances) the first person to geohash no fewer than four graticules.  However, activity was concentrated in August, with only a single September expedition.  Geohashing, like a lot of my hobbies, kind of goes in cycles.

The Chess Project

I completed 20 games of chess against players from countries I had not played before. I've now played against 117 countries -- 48.7% of them as defined by chess.com -- and won against 65 of them. I never improve at the game, with my rating remaining firmly in the low 1300s.

Quilting

The advent of quilting season at the beginning of September has been very productive, actually.  All sorts of progress on all sorts of projects.

House & Garden

House?  Garden?

Music

I have been sporadically aware that I own a guitar.

Counties

I did not visit any new counties during the quarter.

Exercise

The Spring Quarterly report referred to a shoulder pain that I have since forgotten about.  That's great!  I got out a lot this quarter, making the three months of the quarter the first, second, and third best months in terms of total bicycling mileage on an admittedly very young spreadsheet.  I ran a little over 180 miles during the quarter, including in an organized 12K race and a pair of 10Ks, the first organized runs I've participated in since 2006.  Most of the rest of the mileage has been accumulated on the streets of my neighborhood.



Caffeine & Cola

I've continued to wrestle with my caffeine and cola addictions this quarter.

Weight

I have now been consistently under 200 pounds for a full quarter for the first time in this century.  After spending the quarter at a plateau of about 197, I hope to make a break for the low 190s in the remainder of the year.

Tomatoes

I successfully avoided the consumption of tomatoes qua tomatoes this quarter.

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At this point, as is the custom, I will take any questions from the floor.

14 comments:

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

Congrats on the weight loss and all the other awesome developments. : )

UnwiseOwl said...

A couple of quick ones:
1. What will the college football coverage be like in the coming quarter, do we need to go elsewhere for our American Football fix?
2. You have expertly not mentioned the death of M5000 quizzes. After a couple of months away, are you getting that itch again?
3. When can the Shareholder's expect to see monetary dividends on their stock?

The Calico Cat said...

Since the fall is pumpkin season, can you send me a batch of cookies?

Elaine said...

Yes, audio books are 'reading,' though we may need a new term--consuming? processing? experiencing? hearing? overhearing? eavesdropping? leavesdropping?

Well, the end of the L&TM5000 blog would be very sad. I like knowing someone on the other side of the continent who, if not for some bad geographical luck (for me), would make a great neighbor. Just enough similar interests to be fun, just enough dissimilar interests to be intriguing.

Ben said...

I think your blog is a great way for the rest of us to keep up, well, with the life and times of Michael5000! Your posts are always interesting, even when dealing with subject matter that doesn't particularly, in and of itself, interest me.

And, yes, I do miss the quizzes.

I guess the only question I have is: Does it take longer to graph your runs out on the map than it actually takes to do the runs themselves?

Dug said...

Maybe after the "More Movies" project you can set you sites on all of these movies

Jenners said...

I'm impressed with the running and the weight loss. Not so much with the tomatoes.

And perhaps you should take a cue from my own playbook and just have ONE BLOG and just write about what you want. I found it very helpful and focusing.

UnwiseOwl said...

I go again:
1. Now that your boycott has been lifted, how about those Ducks?
2. Is Civ V any good?
3. Are you giving up the bible blog just because Isiah is so damn boring?

Elaine said...

Isaiah IS boring, but a lot of people are still stuck on his prophecies.... plus his name is hard to spell. But how do we know it's not Hosea or Habukkuk that has M5000 discouraged? Or some of the scary Comments, like Dr. Noisewater's re Little Nellie?

UnwiseOwl said...

It's true, Dr. Kenneth is a scary man, and you'd think I'd have the spelling of Isaiah down by now, but obviously M5000 hasn't drilled it in enough yet.

McGuff said...

Is it true that an internal investigation is probing your relationship with a prominent movable book artist? And if that investigation leads to dismissal from your leadership post, do you stand to gains millions of dollars in severance, despite the notoriety with which you've sullied your reputation?

Michael5000 said...

Mr. Owl: 1. I do not anticipate much college football coverage.
2. Maybe.
3. When the book contract finally comes through, I certainly intend to remember all the people who supported me when.

Calico: I'd consider it.

Ben: It doesn't take very long to mark out the runs. Between that and getting them entered in the spreadsheet, it's usually just enough time to cool off.

Dug: Yeah, no.

Mr. Owl: 1. Hells yeah, how 'bout them Ducks. 5-0 and #3 in the AP, yo!
2. Civ V: Dunno. Hardly seem to have time to eat these days, for some reason, let alone buy a video game, let alone play it.
3. I'M NOT GIVING UP ON THE BIBLE BLOG!!! But yes, Isaiah is awfully boring.

ALSO: Don't be frightened by Ken Noisewater. Relax! He's a doctor!

Phineas: No, but it's a lovely dream.

Yankee in England said...

For the second quarter I am asking any luck that Kitchen5000 will make a reapperance?

Michael5000 said...

Yank: I rather doubt it.