It was actually just above freezing in downtown Minneapolis today, and I varied my skyway walk by going outside for a few blocks (without a coat). On Nicollet Mall I saw someone casting breadcrumbs on the sidewalk for the birds, and I felt the urge to burst into song (Lyrics here).
Of course, it is all a snare and a delusion. This is Minnesota. On the way home I heard a weather forecast for 6-7 inches of snow on Thursday.
I finished rebuilding my foot-powered lathe this afternoon, and then did a some practise turning for a while. It seems to work just fine. I just need to get more practice with it. That will come: Turning is addictive. Also, since the power is supplied by pushing my foot against the treadle, this has some exercise value. The steps show up on my pedometer, which is reasonable. Pushing against the spring and the resistance of the wood is a lot more work than walking.
I wore my pedometer all day today. It has several scales on it, including calories used. Figuring that Playford and similar dances are basicly walking, I recorded the numbers before and after colgaffneyis dance session this evening. The pedometer reports that my walking today expended 665 calories. 99 of those were during dance. Furthermore, though I walked over 2300 steps during dance (not just dancing, but also the general hanging around), I was not active enough for a continuous period for any of those 2300+ to count as aerobic exercise. The pedometer reports that I managed 5543 aerobic steps today over a total of 40 minutes, which must have come from walking the skyway over lunch hour.
Yes, I know: All of these figures about calories and aerobic exercise are rough approximations. However, they are all I have got, and far more than I had before.
We slept in this morning. I try to observe at least the beginning of Saturday as a day of rest.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 