Fit for purpose?
Last Friday was just a normal sort of day – almost. We had respite from the blustery (and snowy) weather of a few days previously. So I decided to head off to the public library in town, as one of my recent reads was almost due for return.

Fitbit Ultra

As I got ready to leave, I went to clip my Fitbit monitor on to my trouser pocket. Fitbit monitor? Well, this is a really interesting gizmo that Hannah and Michael gave me for Christmas 2011. It’s an activity tracker, with WiFi connection to the computer. But there’s also a docking station for recharging the battery and also to synchronize the tracker with an online log. I can see how many miles I’ve walked, steps taken, stairs climbed, or calories expended.

Well, I assumed that the Fitbit was on the docking station, but as I reached for it – and discovered it was not there – I suddenly realized that it had been attached to my other trousers. And they’d been in the washing machine for 20 minutes already! What to do? We contemplated stopping the machine but, mid-cycle, that was easier said than done. So, feeling rather annoyed with myself (after all I had only just started to wear the Fitbit throughout the day, and left it attached to my trousers), I left the house.

However, much to my surprise when I returned, I found the Fitbit still showing signs of life. Amazing! Even the correct time. When I connected it to the docking station, it synchronized as normal. Checking my log I saw that it had registered a period of about 35 minutes of intense activity. Must have been one of the spin cycles.

Later on, I thought it had well and truly ‘died’ on me. However, I left it in a warm place overnight, and what ever moisture got inside was removed, and it seems to be working normally. However the battery does seem to be discharging a little faster than before. This is generally not a problem, however. We went on a two hour walk this morning, and it had discharged about two-thirds only. A quick recharge, and I’m in business once again.

Maybe I should contact Fitbit and offer to test other models. As one of my Facebook friends suggested I could put it in the washing machine just on spin cycle, and lounge about on the sofa, confident that it would log many minutes of activity. So much for soothing my conscience.

Cave canem – part two
In an earlier post, I described my love-hate relationship with dogs (mostly love, I hasten to say). I guess it’s irresponsible dog-owners who bug me.

Anyway, on Friday last, I’d not gone more than about 150 m from home, when I passed a man – a total stranger – who stopped and said: ‘I owe you an apology’.

Needless to say, I was a little bemused, and I guess my face must have shown it. ‘Do you?’, I replied. ‘Why?’

And he went on to explain that some weeks previously he had been walking his dog (not very far from where we stopped to talk), and as I had passed by on the pavement, his dog (a small terrier of some sort) had lunged at me, snarling. Fortunately it was on a leash, and its owner – this stranger – pulled it away. I didn’t say anything  but after I walked by, I slowly shook my head from side-to-side. Which elicited a rather cursory and sarcastic comment from the dog’s owner. I still didn’t say anything, but just walked on.

And so the man I’d met on Friday wanted to apologize for his behavior – which I accepted of course – and explained that although he was having a bad morning when the incident happened, that was no excuse for his rudeness. He apparently had gone home and told his wife, and it had played on his mind ever since  Now he had opportunity to make amends, and clear his conscience. Apparently he was recovering from a heart attack and triple bypass, and on the morning I encountered him and his pooch, things weren’t going too well. Even so, he reiterated, that was NO excuse for what he’d shouted after me. I had become the brunt of his being out of sorts.

There’s still decency in folks yet!

But why do some dogs go for me? Maybe they sense my ‘worry’. I have to admit that I am wary around dogs that I don’t know (comes from living overseas where rabies was common), and I do get annoyed when dogs are not kept under control as they should be. Another Facebook friend suggested that perhaps they ‘smell’ my greater love for cats. Anyway, dogs do have extraordinary abilities.

Recently, a friend of mine, Ruth, who lives in Rome, lost one of her dogs. In a lovely tribute to her Lula, Ruth described the rather interesting behavior of her other dog, a terrier called Morgan – The Morgster, after Lula’s ashes were brought home. Read all about Lula and Morgan here. What do you think?