Bad Idea of the Week

In the village this morning, I spotted a notice for a walking group. “For anyone who is new to walking or just want to improve their fitness. 30 minutes guided walk around a level, firm path. Meeting every fortnight.” Not a bad idea, I thought, maybe I could join them? Then I checked where the walking would take place – it will be in Dalry, which is three or so miles up the road.
So, anyone from around here who wants to join this walking group will have to travel those three miles somehow. Anybody capable of walking the three miles there and three miles back (along a tarmaced, mostly level road) is unlikely to need the benefits of a gentle 30-minute stroll once a fortnight. So – in an area that’s criss-crossed with footpaths and tracks that are open to all walkers – they will be driving there and back. In order to take a walk. I’m reminded of a conversation I once had with a woman who ran a gymnasium. She was shaking her head in disbelief at the number of gym members who regularly drove two or three miles to the gym, spent an hour on an exercise bike or a walking machine, then climbed back into their cars and drove home.
(I believe that type of stupidity – using money and complex technology to do something that can be accomplished simply and for free – is known as the “Butterbox Principle”; from the fact that American fridges used to, and maybe still do, have special insulated compartments for keeping butter soft. Apparently US housewives didn’t know that butter could be stored outside the fridge.)

Anyway. Finally got that report printed and posted – in the end I had to drag my machine over and hook it up to B’s printer (yes, I know – wireless networking will be included in the next upgrade). Still haven’t got the CD-burning software sorted. Sigh.
B and Son have gone off to fetch the new bath. It’s a big one – wider than the usual size. And B mentioned this morning that he had only just thought that it might not fit through the doors or up the staircase! We’ll just have to wait and see….