I feel the need to recap the past week without getting into too much depth starting with last Tuesday.

Jeff and I flew to Atlanta for a Roofing Show and ended up seeing the Aquarium and the Coca Cola factory. The Aquarium cost 34 bucks and that included the dolphin show. The dolphin moves are fairly limited so after some swimming, jumping and flipping, it gets old fast. They had this wild show with a storyline of the an evil species attacking a pirate ship and it made little sense. I tweeted and instagrammed some pictures so I won’t reiterate (you probably can see them on the feed). The Coke factory was 16 bucks and wasn’t that interesting. It felt like a brainwashing because they tried to make you feel so good about yourself and to live healthy when most of their products are the opposite. We did some roofing oriented activities as well but I won’t bore you.

On Thursday I returned and watched the Browns game with Evan. I had some loot on the Browns and won in the 4th. On Friday I woke up early to eat breakfast with CK4 and the groomsmen at Perkins. I had the eggs Benedict. After, we went to Shaving Grace in Doylestown for the closest shave I’ve ever had. They had a nice setup where you could play some darts, drink beer, and shoot the shit while each shave took place. Having a dude stare at your face for 30 minutes was sort of creepy but doable for a special occasion. This was preparation for the wedding of CK4 and Nikkii that took place on the Spirit of Philadelphia which is a boat on the Delaware for events. The tux process and picture taking was standard and then boarding the ship is where things got interesting. The “captain” conducted the ceremony which was drowned out at times by a speed boat. Nevertheless, Chad and Nikkii said their vows and the wedding went off with a hitch. Ck4 wouldn’t have been pleased if I didn’t use that. A few memorable moments were the Sam and Evan dance off that ended in a kiss, some belligerent bro who wanted to punch me which also ended in a kiss, and Nikkii and Chad sealing the deal with a kiss. I had one too many Long Islands which I want to say was probably a bit strong “signature drink”. I do remember having a great time on the dance floor severely liquored up.

After the wedding took place the boat docked and things got pretty hazy for me. I walked myself about a half mile away to Club Risque where I decided was a good place to go. I must have looked hilarious in my Tuxedo and the strippers must have thought I was loaded because I probably got lap dances from 5 different girls. Sorry Men’s Warehouse. I always wake up feeling guilty about the process and the money but at the time it’s amazingly entertaining.

Even odder than showing up in a Tuxedo to Club Risque was that I awoke Saturday morning in my new home after purchasing a hotel room at the Hyatt right next to the wedding. Sorry TC bank account. After I walked back to the hotel, I returned the Tux to Men’s Warehouse. I had to go back to sleep for a while to rest up before I went to the Field house to watch the Miami football game with Rock and his dad at 3:30. We parted ways after the game and I met up with Evan and the Shee for some pregame. I was still in rough shape from the last night and kept at it Saturday. We decided to head to brand new opening of Howl at the Moon which was a dueling piano bar. Drinks are typically priced and the live entertainment is top notch as the multitude of musicians never took breaks performing. I cabbed it home late night to conclude Saturday.

Sunday I felt like water trash but had to watch football with the Shee because that’s what we do. This Sunday was easily my worst football day with losses in Bovada, the ESPN Pickem, Fanduel, and Fantasy. My fantasy prowess is looking questionable as I’m rolling 1-4, 2-3, and 3-2 x 2 in my 4 leagues. I was noticeably distraught on Sunday night and the air co in my house wasn’t working. This freaked me out because it’s a new unit and if new shit was breaking before I’ve been there 2 weeks, I was going to be in significant turmoil. Not knowing what happened I started checking fuses and couldn’t figure it out and ended up cutting power to the entire house. After solving this, it turned out a simple switch was flipped and that was what the problem was. At least I didn’t look moronic calling a repair man.

Monday I played golf with Weller for a fundraiser and it rained most of the day. My knee made it tough to golf but I still had a few good shots here and there. We finished 2 under for the scramble but this was hardly impressive. Weller won a purple golf bag in a raffle that seemed fitting.

On Monday night I put together a bureau. It took me 4 hours but was done successfully and I only almost spazzed out twice. Tuesday I purchased a new TV which should make the living room, as long as I get the setup right, awesome. I still don’t have a couch, kitchen table, or speakers so I’m not quite there but getting there. This was also the first day I worked in 6 days.

Today I bought a desk and will put it together tonight (that was written before I actually did it and probably wont). I’m way behind on TV viewing and have finally gotten caught up to speed in work. My knee is still bothering me but I will join a gym and start working out again. I hope to be able to start playing sports in a week or two. It’s been terrible not being active so I’m looking forward to getting my life together again. I’ve been spending money like a mofo but I know this too will pass.

That’s it for now. Normal entries will start soon.

It’s been a week since a post which feels like a long time to me. I was in Atlanta for 3 days, then Ck4’s & Nikkii’s wedding, then I drank myself into a tizzy and now I’m revived trying to get back on track. My knee has still kept me down but I should be back in motion again come the end of this week or the beginning of next. It’s been unbelievably annoying staying off my legs and not running because I’ve been losing fitness and feeling like a blog. The house is also coming along slowly but surely but I’ll accompany some pictures in a few days. I’ll also rehash the last week in more detail because it will be a good post. Not right now though as I’m trying to set up my living room. Hang in there, things will get back to normal.

I went to the doctor today to have my knee looked at and he basically told me I’m being a pussy. He was twisting it and bending it and asking if it hurt at all and it didn’t matter what he did, it didn’t hurt. I wouldn’t have gone in but I’ve been walking with limp the last 2 days and have a few events coming up that I want to make sure I’m ready for. I suppose it’s good news but there’s not much I can do but rest, ice, compress, and elevate. I’ve been doing 0 of the 4.

I’m pretty excited for a change because the house is coming together and I’m heading to Atlanta for 3 days for a roofing show. I cleaned up my room and even without a desk, bureau, and box spring, it’s actually fairly comfortable. I’m using this tiny bed table as my computer desk so I’m sitting really hunched over with the keyboard below my knees but even this isn’t the worst thing possible. I even purchased a new TV today that I’m getting mounted next week which will let me start making some moves with the living room. There are still a ton of items I want to accomplish but time is long and my schedule is open. I won’t be posting for 3 days so I wanted to leave something for the regular readers. I have had quite a few thoughts that I’ve texted to myself that I want to turn into entries but I haven’t found the time. I’ll be back with the blog starting next Thursday and then it’s off for a CK4-Nikkii wedding on the Spirit of Philadelphia.

Fantasy football update: The Turkeys were my only loss this week to a revenge game from Bud that he deserved to win. 1-3 isn’t ideal but the season is long. I also had a decent week in the pickem picking a point up on a leader who is losing his touch.

I’ll upload some pictures of the new place when I get some time but I’ve been busy putting shit where it needs to go and I’m still far from settled. The biggest inconvenience is that the stairs are spiraled and extremely tights so moving things up them is problematic. This has left me desk and bureau-less so my items are strewn across the house. My mom and sister were very helpful with the move yesterday as everything went to plan. I made a mistake though playing in my football game though as I aggravated my knee and it is causing much discomfort. It seems to be sprained or bruised and even walking isn’t easy. This has left me paralyzed in moving things around. Nevertheless, I’ve been doing my best to get everything situated.

I have plenty of work to do on the place and I know that it’s going to cost quite a few sheckles so I’m already preparing. New floor in the kitchen and bathrooms, re-finishing the original floors, new windows, new water heater, new garbage disposal, and the list goes on. Fortunately I don’t have to do it all at once and I’m able to live somewhat properly as is. A new TV to mount in the living room and a desk are top priority for me item wise. I’m also pretty busy this next week due to a roofing show and Ck4’s wedding which leaves little time to get things done. Still, it’s a pretty fun and exciting time so I’ll blog accordingly.

This title is a tad misleading because not everything this past month was easy peazy. I spent the last 27 days living where I grew up in Upper Dublin and as I’ve wrote in other posts, it has its good and bad parts. The hour long commute to the city is enough to make anyone lose their mind. Constant traffic jams and being on the road for that amount of time made me tired throughout the day and it was difficult to feel productive. Other than this though, the idea of suburban living is attractive.

The quiet atmosphere is something that is desirable but not what I’m looking for currently. There’s not enough going on and it’s easy to fall into a rut. I was able to go on more runs which were enjoyable because I didn’t have to worry about avoiding traffic every street. I’m down to 175 and if I can hit 170, I’ll be in good shape for the 10k in November. Seeing the stars at night is also something that is missed out on when you’re in the city. I did sleep in the living room for a month but I’m like a chameleon and can adapt to any situation. It’ll be nice to get my own place.

I settle today on the house I bought and we are going to go through the move in process tomorrow. It’s an older home so it’s going to take some of my extinguishing cash to fix up but I look at is as a fun project opposed to a chore. I can also finally feel like I have a place of residence instead of always renting and never feeling like I was permanent. It’s a nice feeling to have and as I look back on my 20’s I wish I would have done more owning and less renting. Live and learn. I’ll probably update the blog with pictures of the new place when the move in is finished but this day marks the start of another period of time.

I wanted to start this post of a picture I took in New Zealand because this is how the new blog feels. As you can tell, I’ve installed a new theme and I believe it should enhance the blogging experience. The twitter widget is about 10x better and this new theme connects with Instagram so whenever I post a picture it immediately updates to the blog. Twitter also does this obviously. I figure I can use this more often to take pictures of events or things that I’m doing with my life and even when I’m not posting, I can still create new content on the blog with ease. There are still a lot of tweaks that I have to go through to perfect it the way I want but the process was relatively seamless. It was only 40 bucks! Plus I updated my twitter pictures which will be an instant boost of 36 followers. I’m looking forward to a new segment in the blogging life.

Week 2 of fantasy football has come and gone and I’m sitting precisely average. If AJ Green goes off tonight I lose one game but win the other. I’d prefer him to get decapitated on the first play of the game which would mean Chad beats me but I’d take a needed win in Evan’s league. I started last season 1-4 though so 0-2 is nothing to cry about. The hardest thing about fantasy is knowing when you have a guy who’s injured but his reputation makes you want to play him (Fitzgerald). I also went 2-2 on my betting for the weekend which netted -$2.38. Yesterday I didn’t move out of the couch for 9 straight hours. I did watch Breaking Bad and Dexter though.

The weekend was fairly standard with a reasonably tame Friday night that started with terrible service at Mad Mex. Team Primetime dominated another co-ed football game with Bake having a line that was 300 yards, 8 tds and no picks. Saturday was the Floyd Mayweather fight and that proved to be anti-climatic as he just out-boxed Alvarez. I had 30 bucks on Garcia and he was going off at +200 so that proved to be a decent bet. I also played my first game of Can Jam which wasn’t too bad. I stayed up real late on Saturday and wasted all of Sunday. C’est la vie. Rough Monday morning post but it’s something.

August produced my lowest post total since December 09′. This doesn’t come as much as surprise since I spent a large part of it outside of my “home”. I put the home part in quotes because I’ve been being a nomad as of late. Starting in the middle of August I went from the shore, to Lake Placid, to OCMD in perpetual vacation mode. Today though will mark the changing of the seasons. This is apropos considering I’m listening to The Changing of the Seasons by Two Door Cinema Club. I moved back in with parents at the ripe age of 29 to wait 27 days for my settlement date to arrive for the house I purchased. I have mixed feelings but I think this time will come and go quickly.

I’m fairly happy that the summer is over which sounds crazy I know. It marks another period in my life that comes to a close. I’ve wrote before how life comes in periods of time and this was another one. My living situation is changing, my money is disappearing, and life is starting with a clean slate and a challenge that I’ve not had before. I’m moving out of my comfort zone and I think when that happens it makes you try harder. As I continue to age I think it’s important to add new responsibilities. Nice and cozy is bullshit. The people who get complacent aren’t the ones who accomplish what they are meant to. Even if this house purchase blows up in my face and the entire thing was a terrible decision, I’ll come out of the situation with an experience. This wasn’t happening in my current situation of renting. If you don’t take risks you don’t achieve that next level.

I see my brother reading the 7 Principals of Highly Effective People and when I read it a few years ago I was captivated by the ideas. It’s funny how you can act while reading the book and then 2 years after. It’s not that I forgot the principals but it’s unrealistic to act how a book tells you. I remember when the Shee was reading “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, it was like he turned into a different person trying to implement the ideas. During this phase of his, I kept thinking how much I liked the old, “real” Shee better than the formed one. My point is that everyone needs to be themselves. It’s important to know and learn all of the golden rule, be positive, how to talk to people appropriately but at the end of the day, you are you. Everyone has a different way of living their life and that’s a-ok. I’m beginning another stage of mine.

Today I was on a run and I hit Kelly drive with my watch timing my progress. Every half mile there is a mark along this trail and when I hit the first one I hit my split button. Immediately as I did this I thought to myself, “do I really care about my splits?” Then I thought, “no, I don’t care that much but I want to know.” This got me to thinking that is wanting to know essentially the same as caring.

Know – to perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and with certainty:
Care – to be concerned or solicitous; have thought or regard.

When I think about caring about something it means that I have some emotional attachment. That I’m concerned about it’s outcome or well being. When I want to know something, I’m interested in the truth. There is a fine line between being interested in something and being concerned about it. Take the splits for instance. The time that a split shows tells me how good of shape I’m in. I want to know this because I care about how good of shape my body is in, but I don’t care about the actual split. When I’m running multiple miles and split every half, I don’t care about each split but I want to know each one. So it would seem that knowing and caring would be the same by the transitive property.

The problem is that just because I know something doesn’t mean I care about. I’m constantly being surrounded by information that I like to know but don’t necessarily care at all about. The whole Syria “massive use of banned weapons” is something that I like to be aware of so I’m not completely ignorant to the world but I don’t really care about it because it doesn’t affect my life. So this idea that unless something influences you primarily, there really is no reason to care about it. This idea is something to consider carefully because 95% of people are like this.

I tend to do more knowing than caring. I actually care more about knowing without the actual caring part. It’s difficult for me to care about things. Caring causes unwanted emotion and stress that clouds decision making. Perhaps a bleak outlook but I think a pragmatic one. This doesn’t mean that I don’t care about anything at all I have to pick and choose which proves tougher than it sounds.