random thoughts – Day 1,522 – (Sunday) – walking

The annual Lowel General Hospital TeamWalk for Cancer Care raises money to help cancer patients “by paying for medications, nutritional supplements, wigs and prostheses, support groups, skilled nursing visits, transportation, mini-grants, and supportive services to patients of all cancer types” (LGH TeamWalk website). This year’s event was the 25^th annual, and once again, Enterprise Bank was a sponsor and like many other years, employees gathered as a team to walk in the event.

Walkers and tee shirts.

It was a cloudy morning, beset with drizzle, but the atmosphere was bright and light, just like in past years. The start of the event feels like a festival with donuts and coffee, team photos, and displays of tee shirts honoring cancer patients and teams strung around the grounds at Tsongas Center. Groups in brightly colored tee shirts imprinted with company, family, and team names dotted the area.

Our group of bankers in fluorescent green tee shirts gathered on the front steps of Tsongas Center for a photo before scattering back to the coffee and donuts and the opening ceremony. Kids played on the grass and bubbles floated in the air.

I was in a cluster with colleagues from my department and the Technology team. With the good, non-work conversation, the miles flew by. As we started walking, volunteers and Patriot cheerleaders, and UML mascot Rowdy the Riverhawk cheered everyone on. We walked the concrete path along the river before turning at Boott Mills and heading to Merrimack Street and the downtown leg. 

"Take on Me" with brass.

Besides this year’s drizzle, the three mile course included a brass band playing the 80s A-Ha hit “Take Me On” near boarding House Park, the LCCPS panthers step squad on the deck near the trolley museum, an acapella group at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, local cover band Big Blue Sky near Wannalancit Mills, DJ Mark Watson at the start/finish area, plus countless route guides and supporters. After the walk, restaurant tents offered fruit salad, mac and cheese, hot dogs, hand cut chips, and popcorn. The whole event is very festive.

The step counter had me at 7,700 steps by the end of the walk and it was barely 11:00. That’s a record for the step tally. 

Back at home, life returned to the usual level of glamour. Laundry was started, and as I sat in the living room scrolling social media and playing Words with Friends, I realized the washing machine was exceptionally, eerily quiet. The kitchen held the slight aroma of burned rubber. The washer sat motionless, filled with water and a load of clothes. I turned it off. And back on. And off. And on. Nothing. 

Google searches for “washer won’t agitate" and "washer stopped” began. results were not helpful and involved using tools and dismantling things and a mention of checking the electrical. It's impossible to unplug the washer without pulling it away from the wall, which would be impossible when full of water and clothes.

A visit to the electrical box in the basement (20 steps from the kitchen) yielded no helpful info other than the circuits were all flipped in the same direction and are well labeled, thanks to the previous owner. The home inspector even commented on the beautiful labeling before I bought the house. There was a label for the dryer and two or three marked "kitchen" but none marked for the washer, so that seemed puzzling.

Weird mystery chunks.

Another puzzle in the basement was a scattering of about two dozen odd black chunks of something of varying sizes along one wall. At first I thought it was some kind of unalived insect, but when I got closer I saw dark chunks like broken coal. So weird. Homeownership sure does come with a lot of mysteries.

Back upstairs, the washer smelled burny and wouldn’t turn back on. Of course, I did what any sane, puzzled homeowner with a dilemma would do. I removed myself from the scene of the stress and went to get some groceries. Messed up washer or not, I would still like to eat during the week. It appears that no trip to the Basket can happen without a stop at my place of solace, the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop.

Thirty-three dollars later, I had two small decorative mirrors and eight spring/summer garments to replace the closet full of stuff that no longer fits and is on the way out to the door to its own thrift shop destination.

The grocery store was quick with a short list of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and mushrooms for salad for the week. While shopping, I was considering the ways to bail the water out of the machine using the small and the large wastebaskets.

The washer seemed to appreciate my absence. I pushed the button and it sprang back to life, just like it always has. That was good news, because there was more laundry to be done, including the recent acquisitions of denim shorts and capris, summer pants, and tops. The initial load plus two others were completed and it felt like I’d dodged a bullet. Or a blown washer motor. 

By evening, the step tally was at 10, 088 steps. Clearly, the answer to me reaching a high step tally is to not be tied to a desk all day. My next vocation should be vacationing, as I usually get to walk a lot then.