Fourth Monday Susan Speaks

Working out

By Susan C. Price

Let me talk about a topic much less “freighted” than ethics…as part of my ongoing series, “Ok, I’m retired, what can i obsess about today?”
    Specifically, why does my energy/interest totally flag at EXACTLY 1 hour with Zumba class, and exactly 1.5 hours for Treadmill and Free Weights?
    Am i really tired? Doubtful.
    Am i bored? Likely.
    Am i lazy? Always have been.
How shall i begin to lengthen this “attention span”? Brute force, 5 minutes by 5 minutes, set self topics to mentally review, listen to Podcast stories vs. Music?

Why do i want to lengthen my workout time? That’s easy, so that without eating less, i can perhaps lose some added poundage.
    I LOVE food...its a boredom reliever, and so much more.
    Yeah, i KNOW. Everyone says, “Oooh, now you are retired and you will be sooo much busier!” Hmph! Not exactly yet and...well, i know it’s a process...but i am a little scared about this. It is perfectly easy for me to move from the kitchen table and newspaper and breakfast, to the couch and movies and tv and books. Hence, I MUST go to the gym or walk or Zumba every day. As I still have desires to wear cute clothes that fit and I’m small and old so the metabolism is NOT working for me, and the rest of the nation will be paying for my health costs starting in October and i want to stay healthy to keep those costs at a minimum.

Oh, all of you with that “ok, here’s what you should do!” turn of mind (frequently, but not exclusively males), I’m not looking for advice, just sympathy.

But, if “ethical” discussions are all you care about:
    How about: Who should get the Dorner $1 million reward?
    You remember Dorner, the sick cop who felt he had been unfairly terminated, so he kills the daughter and fiancé of his representative cop, and then a few more cops...and terrorized Southern California for 10 days?...clearly YESTERDAY’S news now.
    Two have claimed the reward: the “captured couple” and the “guy whose truck was hijacked but dog was not harmed.” Some of the donors who put up the reward have been thinking about reconsidering their financial pledges. The donors find these “claims” of rights to the reward...unseemly (such a lovely and should-be-used-more-often word). The folks claiming the reward did call the cops about Dorner, but after they had been victimized by him...not simply with information leading to his capture. And he was not captured. He was cornered in a mountain cabin…and apparently killed himself, before the fire the cops set could kill him.
    What do i think? Hmm. I think that as a society we should provide anonymity (and perhaps immunity) to those providing information leading to capture, and perhaps “victims” compensation... but otherwise (and given that both of these folks lived in a “vacation” area of Lake Arrowhead not known for its poverty), the seeking of the “jackpot” appears to be like playing Powerball. “I was involved, so I am entitled to win.” Yuck...a much less classy translation of “unseemly.”
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Copyright © 2013 by Susan C. Price

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