My life continues to be relatively uneventful. I did make some satisfying finds doing research at work, but it would be dull to explain it, especially with as vague as I need to be.
Every day when I come home, I work an hour and a half on my portfolio, with a half hour devoted to each of three sections I've been working on: two annotated syllabi and one annotated bibliography. Yesterday I finally finished the bibliography. So now I have to decide whether I keep working an hour and a half every day, devoting the extra half hour to the syllabi, or whether I only devote an hour each day, rewarding myself with the extra free time.
It's March now, which is the month when trail season resumes. I'm grateful for the snow we got today (I want wildflowers!), and in March the snow doesn't last as long, and it stays light later. So I might really appreciate extra free time on the trails.
While I was writing this blog, my new watch arrived. You might have heard this week that Fitbit recalled its Ionic watch because lots of people have been burned by its battery. Well, I have an Ionic. It has been fine, and only a small percentage of people have been burned, so I considered just ignoring the recall.
But then I thought if I can get a refund on it, it might be worth upgrading. And I decided to switch from Fitbit to Garmin, and I'll see how that works out.
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| It's less vibrant in real life. |
I first got a Fitbit, the Surge watch, at the beginning of 2016, and I loved that watch. But it had a serious design flaw. Its watchband was very flimsy, like the flimsiest band I have ever seen, and yet it couldn't be replaced. When the cheapo band broke, the whole watch became unusable. I used Gorilla tape for a while, but then that didn't work. They no longer make the Surge, and it seems like a shady business practice to make a watch with an irreplaceable band.
So then I upgraded to my Ionic in October 2018. I appreciated that I could wear it swimming, and it had more features. But not everything was an upgrade. Worst of all was that the screen did not stay on all the time. I could set it to stay on, but that would eat up the battery. I hated that at first. Then I got more used to it, but I never fully liked it. I hated having to hold my wrist a certain way to see the time, instead of merely glancing down. I would often look for a clock in the room rather than look at my watch (I have consistently worn a watch since I was eight years old). And I especially hated when I was riding a bike. If I wanted to see the time or my distance, I would have to take my hand off the handle bar, then hold it steady in front of me. I just hated that!
So, now that I had a reason to switch watches, I decided to. My Garmin Instinct's screen will stay on all the time. It's not a touch screen, and I worry I won't like that. But I might like it more. With the touch screen, water droplets in the shower or the pool do weird things, and when I'm running when it's cold, I have to take my gloves off to manipulate the watch. I'm also hoping that the GPS will be better than on the Fitbit. This particular watch is geared more for trail running, which of course is my jam, and it also has a feature for stand-up paddleboarding, which I hope to do more of. The battery life is better. I hear the Garmin app isn't as good as Fitbit, but now I will see for myself.
Also, back in 2018, I chose to stay with Fitbit in part because I was doing step challenges with my cousins, but then that fizzled out. My Ionic had Fitbit Coach workouts on it, and I loved doing those workouts back in 2020. (Nearly every day that summer and fall, I would run up North Canyon in the morning, then come home and do a Fitbit workout. I miss those days when I could do whatever I wanted! Except be social, or go out in public, or...) But last summer, they quit the Fitbit Coach feature. They also used to send me badges when I hit a new milestone for lifetime miles or floors, but it has been years since I got one of those. So I really have less use for Fitbit these days.
I know there will be a learning curve with Garmin, but I'm excited to get started!
In other news, I took the bus to work three days this week, since my UCard gives me free fare. I haven't taken it to work before because of COVID numbers, but I feel safer doing so now. I'm trying to save the planet here, and it also gives me time to keep reading the book on the history of St. Patrick's Day that I started last summer while working at This Is the Place.
Anyway, on Friday, I was standing at the bus stop after work. There was another woman waiting, and then out of the corner my eye I saw someone else come up. But she stayed standing on the sidewalk, rather than off to the side like we were, and she seemed to be facing toward us, rather than watching the road like we were. Evidently the first woman also found it a little strange, because she said hello to her, thinking that she must have said hello but wasn't sure because of masks. Then I looked at the second woman, and I realized that I knew her. She was in my junior high science class (and then in an adjoining YSA ward), and I knew she had some kind of mental challenge, ASD or something—she can still function as needed, but probably not going to go to college. I (re)introduced myself to her, and after we discussed our jobs, she randomly asked if I have any pets. (And of course I do!)
Anyway, that got me thinking about social norms. No one teaches you how to stand at a bus stop. It's just something you pick up. Clearly the girl I knew never picked that up. And I'm glad that, despite all my social awkwardness, I picked up how to wait at a bus stop.
Today I taught my youth Sunday School class. To illustrate the idea that we only have incomplete stories in the scriptures (especially the Old Testament), I had them guess Disney movies based on poor descriptions I came up with. Here they are:
- A sentient body of water can do anything but fight coconuts.
- A boy remembers his brother with a talking balloon.
- A woman turns into a dragon after she is not invited to a baby shower.
- A misfit lives in a magic house.
- An octopus is jealous of a fish.
- A woman sits in a pumpkin to find love.
- A girl falls in a hole and talks to flowers.
- Two pets eat pasta.
- A woman literally blows away her competition. (They struggled with this one.)
- A cowboy takes revenge on a boy who likes skulls.
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