random thoughts – Day 1,298 – (Friday) – walk it off

Downtown sight.

The “I need to walk more” concept is gaining traction and this week had three consecutive days of outdoor walking. Being totally stressed out helped the walking mission greatly, especially on the in-office days when I just needed to get away from the desk. Of course, if we had a padded, soundproof room onsite I wouldn’t need to take to the streets to burn off stress, but then I wouldn't get to see the weird and cool sights that downtown Lowell offers.

The leisurely paced Kerouac walk on Thursday evening almost didn’t even happen. Crap was still going sideways and totally wrong at 5:00, but I managed to get out of the house and make it to the meeting point just in time for the 5:30 start.

Wonky app.

The Map My Walk app was started to record the route, and it went wonky at The Grotto, the halfway point in the walk. The distance, showing as just over a mile, disappeared and the duration and calories went totally nutso with unrealistic numbers, showing 23:37:27 duration and 58,356,912 calories burned. 

The app reset itself, and after the walk, back at the car, it showed 1.10 miles, :15 duration, 32.8k calories, and 17954694… steps. Wow. Then it wouldn’t save the walk statistics or turn off. 

Back at home, the phone was restarted and the app reset. On the morning walk from the garage to the office, it recorded the correct distance expected pace and step counts.

The early afternoon walk under cloudy skies was 1.32 miles. There was technology involved in the form of the Map My Walk app, plus, the recently located misplaced watch which was found in my dance bag, of all places.

Dome work.

A series of right turns took me down Merrimack Street, over a canal, then along a canal. At the birthplace of James McNeil Whistler, which is now a museum, the sculpture of Whistler overlooked the garden. Beyond the Hellenic American Academy, the golden dome on the Greek church was being worked on by workers in a bucket truck. 

It was 27 refreshing minutes of fresh air and a needed mental break from the nonsense that the day and the entire workweek delivered. 

It was a week full of vendor screwups, missed delivery dates, excuses, apologies, and undelivered assurances. Then there was all the other stuff heaped on top, like short notice ad requests and ongoing delays in department reviews. Basically, it was more of the same, but amplified and all piled on at once. 

The prize for survival was a pizza delivery for supper. And the stressed power-walking is healthier than stress eating a bunch of junk at the desk, so there was a silver lining.