Staying the Course -- September 21, 2020

[Superbob]

Good New Week, one and all. Hope all is well in Course-Staying land.

It is the time of aniversaries in these parts. Last week was the first anniversary of my second aortic aneurysm surgery. Lots of memories from UNC/Chapel Hill (I now bleed (North) Carolina blue, despite my Georgia/Tennessee/Virginia/South Carolina background -- having your life saved will do strange things to you.)

However, the biggie of anniversaries comes later this week -- our 54th wedding anniversary. Our main celebration will be a very nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants overlooking a beautiful lake. Champagne toasts, steak or seafood, and a decadent dessert sounds good to me.

The weather has turned very pleasant this week -- highs in the 70s, low in the 50s. Elliedawg has about doubled the length of our walks. She had been dragging and showing her age, but now she is reinvigorated. And I am working on a short story on all the ways she has made our lives better. It is for a contest in which a winner can score up to a $100,000 Christmas gift to the adoption organization from which he or she rescued a dawg. I'm sure it would be a long shot to win -- it is a national contest -- but I will enjoy doing the piece. Maybe I will share it here one day.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week. Let's hear what you're doing.

Cheers,
Superbob

 

[Superman]

Sounds like a great week overall. Good weather, getting outside, happy anniversaries! Good stuff. I’m sure your story will do well. I always admire your thoughtful write ups in here. You find a way to make every week interesting.

Fall is officially here. On the calendar and the trees. Seeing colors start to show up already. And the pleasant fall air with highs in the 60’s to 70’s.

Aside from the business of school and college and teaching and work, we’re expanding our home gym. Ordered a nice new treadmill that’s supposed to be here the first week of November. We’ve had a great experience with Peloton on the bike, so we ordered the tread as well. For a single person or even a couple, I could see balking at the cost. But for 7 people in our house and what we have to pay for family gym memberships anywhere - the cost is about the same over time. With the time savings of not adding a half hour round trip to a gym in our busy schedules, there’s value there. Not getting any younger and running on ice and snow in the dark holds no appeal anymore.

The only thing I really miss at the Y is the pool. But in a pandemic or even post pandemic world, it’ll be a long while before we’d be comfortable with shared locker rooms, shared equipment, and all that goes with it again. So spin bike, treadmill, cheap Firestick TV (Aerobics, yoga, and stretching videos), a couple weights to throw around. Should be able to stay relatively healthy.

One of the better parts of the Peloton content for me is that it shares with my work stuff. I get points for exercise and more points equals lower healthcare costs. The Y didn’t share data with work, so all that effort was for nothing. ;-)

Alright. Back to it. Time to get some real work done.

 

[dornole]

Those Work health perks are fun sometimes! I just have my Fitbit hooked up to perks, but the steps convert to points I can spend. Last year I replaced a burnt spaghetti pot, and this year, replacement vacuum! It’s kinda fun to not have to spend cash in those little things.

 

[dornole]

Congrats to you and your dear wife Superbob! Enjoy your celebration.

 

[Superman]

Those Work health perks are fun sometimes! I just have my Fitbit hooked up to perks, but the steps convert to points I can spend. Last year I replaced a burnt spaghetti pot, and this year, replacement vacuum! It’s kinda fun to not have to spend cash in those little things.

My Fitbit works that way as well. We can get a max of 50 workout points a day. 10,000 steps equals 10 points (1 point per 1,000 steps). However we get 5 workout points for every 100 calories. I can burn over 500 calories in 30 minutes on the bike. 25 points right there. Plus an extra 100 points for getting 100 points in a week. Four bike rides and I’m at 200 points for the week vs 120 points for 10,000 steps a day.

Later, if I record a half hour walk with my wife as exercise on the Fitbit instead of just steps, it’s another 15 points (call it 300 calories).

I typically add 250 - 300 points a week. I normally get a bunch of Amazon gift cards with the points and use it for Christmas shopping.

 

[Bryan B]

I've been enjoying the weather as well a bit north of you in central NC Bob. I believe it was the night before last we got down into the mid 40's. I didn't turn my central heat on but had my little portable tower set on 68* and I heard it kick on for a few minutes a couple times during the night. It's been perfect walking weather though...humidity has been low with temps in the uppers 60's to low 70's all week.

Congrats to you and your wife on your 54th anniversary! And yeah it's funny, I bleed a dark blue now (Duke) even though I went to college at NC State. I still pull for State when the two play each other in football or basketball, but I now have a soft spot for Duke when they play anyone else.

 

[Bina]

SB, best wishes and good luck with all your achievements this week.
My big thrill is finally going for a dental cleaning tomorrow.
It has been too long...last spring appt was canceled due to Covid lockdown.
Previous fall appt was canceled due to hubby having emergency surgery.
My teefs need some pampering.
Have a great week !

 

[MartinF]

SB, congratulations on both of your anniversaries. The longer one is impressive!
No news is good news here. Just working and getting ready for the rains in our California winters. I have drainage ditches thru our back slopes and need to clean them out so the water will run thru the property. I'm at the end where it goes under the sidewalk and out to the street. Should finish this weekend.
Last Sunday I had a good run, about 4.5 miles of my 5 miler. Some walking but the running actually felt good. Maybe I'm starting to get stronger.
At work, this Thursday they are going to tell us more about the plant closing next year. It's moving up on the calendar so I might only have 9 months left there. Still looking but most of my industry has left the area (for southeast Asia).