Thursday, December 29, 2005

Help, Jane, stop this crazy thing....

As some of you know, part of my physical therapy routine involves a great deal of walking. But as the temperatures drop and the snow piles up, I'm stuck inside on the 'mill for more and more of my walks. It's aimed toward the sliding glass door on the porch, where even though the view is pretty, it's getting kind of old three times a day for 15-20 minutes at a time. Horse, tree, neighbor feeding horse, tree, sage green deck railing, squirrel, tree. I can't aim it toward the TV without majorly renovating the family room (a task that husband doesn't need to herniate a disk trying to tackle right now) and even if I did, I'm finding TV pretty useless these days. It's got a place for a magazine or book, but the danged top of the console vibrates when I go over 2.5 MPH or so, making me queasy. So I've thought about a few ways that I could make my walking time more interesting and maybe even productive:

1. Augment the belt to include potholes, broken paving stones, and fake horse manure so I’ll feel like I’m walking outdoors.
2. Hang one of those giant Starbucks oatmeal-raisin cookies just beyond my reach. Maybe this time…..
3. Hire some of the neighbor's kids to perform staged readings from Hamlet, Spamalot or the Vagina Monologues.
4. Hook it up to our home heating system. More calories burned equals more BTUs and less propane. I must have at least burned enough energy to cover the cost of the electricity used and the electrician who came to install the dedicated 20 amp circuit. Use money saved for giant Starbucks oatmeal-raisin cookies.
5. Two words: roller skates!
6. Get a second treadmill so husband and I can race to the window! Winner gets giant Starbucks oatmeal-raisin cookies. Or, better yet, gets to stop.

3 comments:

Doc Nebula said...

If TV is no longer your friend (and I know that feeling) I commend to you DVDs. Get some movies. Or get DEADWOOD. Or THE SHIELD. Or the first season of NYPD BLUE or WEST WING. Or the first five seasons of BUFFY. Or some movies. I have lists of good movies you haven't seen (I know everything). Start with BUCKAROO BANZAI.

SuperGirlfriend has a treadmill she hasn't used much lately, either. And it's set up so she can see our TV, too. It's just a time thing -- demanding boyfriend, three kids, full time job -- no treadmill. But she has plenty o' good stuff to watch on the TV, as long as the TV is being used as a monitor for the DVD or videotape player.

Laurie Boris said...

I can only listen to the TV from my vantage point. Trouble is, my favorite DVDs (Family Guy, Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls) require watching to get the whole gist.

I've never watched Buffy (though I liked the movie). I'll look for the first five seasons. Paul got me hooked on Battlestar Galactica too (I like that Starbuck is a kick-ass chick) and he tapes them for me but so much of it requires watching.

Guess I'm going to need him to rearrange the furniture.

SuperWife said...

Working on getting my 'mill back into the daily schedule. I hates it. I hates it to pieces. But I needs it. That doesn't sound healthy at all for something that's, by it's very NATURE, is supposed to be healthy. Hmmm...