phone call, zoom
Jan. 25th, 2025 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutI had a long phone call with A (technically, 2). That was very enjoyable!
We did Saturday edition (swanky saturday!) of FF. That was also very enjoyable.
I made blondies and granola, however, I haven’t gotten around to watching ST: Section 31 yet.
I did not exercise. However, I did an absolutely frightening amount of research into walking pads and treadmills. I also took photos of the recumbent exercise bike (purchased 2013, used only very occasionally) and posted it for free on FB marketplace. It will be picked up Monday.
As a result of the massive dive into treadmill options, of which there are many, I have reached some conclusions.
First, my office and standing desk are problematic for a walking pad / underdesk treadmill, because it is in a room with a walkway down the middle of it (one end opens to the bedroom and the other to the walkin closet. If you put a treadmill, even a movable one under the desk, it’s treacherous. Also, the walking pads that are light enough to move all the time also appear to burn out after a year of heavy use, so if the walking pad actually fit into my life in the way I want it to it would die. I may still give it a try, but I’m going to think about it for a while first.
Second, I ran across the Walkolution as I traversed Reddit and stumbled over BIFL. The Walkolution doesn’t pair well with most standing desks because it is so tall. OTOH, it is kind of amazing and would completely fix the But I Hate the Display problem. None of us have ever tried that type of treadmill. I may attempt to find one of the Walkolution competitors at a Dick’s and use it in store if that’s an option.
Finally, the lighting around the treadmill in its existing location is pretty offputting. It may be the case that we don’t have a display problem with the current treadmill but rather a lighting problem. So I started poking at that. (It is a bowflex series 7 dating from 2007 or thereabouts.) There are two recessed cans in that area, and no obvious place to put a floor lamp. There are two bookcases, which are currently used to store a few books and a lot of stuffies and toys. They could be extensively decluttered and possibly removed entirely, and then some kind of table or floor light could go where they were or are. I also explored conversion kits for recessed cans to turn them into flushmounts, but I need to check for clearance with the bookcases and with the door to the attic. I also poked around at bulbs for the cans that might be less obnoxious than the current ones, but I really should find out what is currently in there. I don’t want to replace something good with something marginally better and then learn that the problem really isn’t the bulb but the lack of a shade. The bulbs are frosted.
It’s winter, and there are days I’d really like to exercise indoors. And I fucking hate the treadmill right now. I’m mostly hoping that it’s NOT actually the treadmill that I hate, but something else about that space. I know I hate the register in the ceiling that pumps heat out right when I’m trying to exercise, a sure prescription for fury.
In the past, I’ve tended to abandon situations that have this many sensory challenges. As I’ve been spending a bunch of time on emails and texts with H. and C. regarding the December house rental, I’m exploring the possibility that this might be more fixable than I realize. I mean, we got the master bedroom lighting to something that both R. and I really find pleasant and it meant that the room is now used a lot more. There’s a really nice chair in that there I would use, but R. wouldn’t because the lighting was too dim for him, and that meant he was always in the living room, which is fine, except when I was cooking and on a phone call for an extended period of time. Most of those calls happen during the week while A. is at school (not all), but since R. retired, the conflicting needs became an issue. Getting the lighting in another room to work for both of us was really important. I feel like getting the environment around the treadmill to work better could be similarly a difficult task, but very worthwhile in terms of years of enjoyment.
We did Saturday edition (swanky saturday!) of FF. That was also very enjoyable.
I made blondies and granola, however, I haven’t gotten around to watching ST: Section 31 yet.
I did not exercise. However, I did an absolutely frightening amount of research into walking pads and treadmills. I also took photos of the recumbent exercise bike (purchased 2013, used only very occasionally) and posted it for free on FB marketplace. It will be picked up Monday.
As a result of the massive dive into treadmill options, of which there are many, I have reached some conclusions.
First, my office and standing desk are problematic for a walking pad / underdesk treadmill, because it is in a room with a walkway down the middle of it (one end opens to the bedroom and the other to the walkin closet. If you put a treadmill, even a movable one under the desk, it’s treacherous. Also, the walking pads that are light enough to move all the time also appear to burn out after a year of heavy use, so if the walking pad actually fit into my life in the way I want it to it would die. I may still give it a try, but I’m going to think about it for a while first.
Second, I ran across the Walkolution as I traversed Reddit and stumbled over BIFL. The Walkolution doesn’t pair well with most standing desks because it is so tall. OTOH, it is kind of amazing and would completely fix the But I Hate the Display problem. None of us have ever tried that type of treadmill. I may attempt to find one of the Walkolution competitors at a Dick’s and use it in store if that’s an option.
Finally, the lighting around the treadmill in its existing location is pretty offputting. It may be the case that we don’t have a display problem with the current treadmill but rather a lighting problem. So I started poking at that. (It is a bowflex series 7 dating from 2007 or thereabouts.) There are two recessed cans in that area, and no obvious place to put a floor lamp. There are two bookcases, which are currently used to store a few books and a lot of stuffies and toys. They could be extensively decluttered and possibly removed entirely, and then some kind of table or floor light could go where they were or are. I also explored conversion kits for recessed cans to turn them into flushmounts, but I need to check for clearance with the bookcases and with the door to the attic. I also poked around at bulbs for the cans that might be less obnoxious than the current ones, but I really should find out what is currently in there. I don’t want to replace something good with something marginally better and then learn that the problem really isn’t the bulb but the lack of a shade. The bulbs are frosted.
It’s winter, and there are days I’d really like to exercise indoors. And I fucking hate the treadmill right now. I’m mostly hoping that it’s NOT actually the treadmill that I hate, but something else about that space. I know I hate the register in the ceiling that pumps heat out right when I’m trying to exercise, a sure prescription for fury.
In the past, I’ve tended to abandon situations that have this many sensory challenges. As I’ve been spending a bunch of time on emails and texts with H. and C. regarding the December house rental, I’m exploring the possibility that this might be more fixable than I realize. I mean, we got the master bedroom lighting to something that both R. and I really find pleasant and it meant that the room is now used a lot more. There’s a really nice chair in that there I would use, but R. wouldn’t because the lighting was too dim for him, and that meant he was always in the living room, which is fine, except when I was cooking and on a phone call for an extended period of time. Most of those calls happen during the week while A. is at school (not all), but since R. retired, the conflicting needs became an issue. Getting the lighting in another room to work for both of us was really important. I feel like getting the environment around the treadmill to work better could be similarly a difficult task, but very worthwhile in terms of years of enjoyment.