Saturday, 04 June 2011
Today, the four of us ventured over to downtown Minneapolis and joined in with the Heart Walk. Despite walking for an entire mile, however, none of us were able to find a cure for heart disease. Oh well. Maybe next year.
“Hold on!” you say. Since when is James willing to drive in to downtown Minneapolis? That’s a great question, and I thank you for asking. The answer is that I did not drive into Minneapolis. Instead, we took advantage of the bus system’s generous offer to shuttle Heart Walkers around for free. That’s right, all I had to do was flash a print out from the AHA’s site to the driver, and they let all four of us board the bus for free.
I have to say, however, that attending and participating in the Heart Walk was pretty much an exercise in frustration and I therefore have no desire to participate again next year. For one thing, catching buses is always stressful. Where do I stand? Should I be on the other side of the street? Is it running late? Did it come early? What if I get on the wrong one? Is this my stop? When will this drunk guy stop talking to me?
When the bus dropped us off at Target Field (a place none of us had been to before), we did not know which direction to go. The bus was also about 10 minutes late so, instead of checking in with my team (where I planned to get four raffle tickets to win a Wii), we instead ran over to the correct section of the bleachers for a group picture. As far as we can determine, they never took the picture. Instead, there was a lot of grandstanding and rah-rahing going on down on the field. Some people spoke in a microphone but, as is typical at large events like this, the audio was unintelligible, so I can’t even be sure what language the announcers were speaking.
While this was occurring, I tried getting downstairs to check in. A few elevators were off limits, and there was no signage directing us. When we finally found the correct spot, no one was there. I later emailed my team captain to complain, and he said we had to be there by 10:00 to get the raffle tickets (we got there at ~10:15). Oh, thanks for telling me now. That’s great.
Finally, at 11:00, the walk began. As my wife astutely quipped, it was more of a heart dawdle, really, as there were too many people in too small of an area. The crowd made the walking so slow that there were times I had to come to a complete stop. Dumb.
Instead of quasi-walking for an hour, I think the Heart Association would be better served by trying to get people to actually work for an hour. Yeah, that’s right, if they want my energy next year, instead of hassling over bus rides, listening to a program on a terrible audio system, and shuffling down main street, I’ll just go to work for one hour and allow my employer to pay the AHA instead of paying me.
The offer’s on the table, guys, just let me know.
Sunday, 05 June 2011
So now we’ve come to that time of the year where I complain about the weather.
God I hate the summer!
The sun so completely sapped my energy from yesterday’s walk, that I pretty much laid around for the rest of the day. Today, we tried going to the Y to go swimming but, halfway there, Owen declared that he felt nauseous, so we turned around and headed back home. So, again, I was too tired to do anything. Later, we even went to the local co-op, a place so close that we almost always walk there. But with the sun reaching Florida-crazy level by 5:00 this evening, we lazily boarded our car for the five block trek.
This evening, I paid a visit to our garage where, I think, I could have died if I stayed in there much longer. I had to remove a storage bin and the heat was so bad I had to stop twice just to catch my breath.
After the sun set, I concocted an ice-cold beverage for Jennifer and I to drink. Sitting under the ceiling fans helped a little. Before going to bed, I checked on Owen. He was sleeping under his heavy quilt. I peeled it off of him lest he have heat stroke in the middle of the night.
Here’s to September: the month I used to despise for 12 years thanks to school, and then for five years more thanks to pioneering. Now, however, I consider it among the best of the year. I eagerly anticipate your arrival, September.
If I seem like I’m in a bad (worse?) mood during the next 90 days, now you’ll know why.