Day 335 - Peas With Honey

  

by  Sam JR 

My second resolution for the new year also comes from my diabetes education session: I resolve to get at least 30 minutes of exercise each day. But first, I thought I should explore all my excuses for why I wasn't already getting that much exercise so that I don't fall back into old habits. Here they are:

• I can't get the exercise early in the morning because I have to go to work early. And I really don't like to get up any earlier than I absolutely must.
• When I get done with work, I am mentally exhausted, so I need a rest - usually in front of the TV.
• The first thing I want to do then is take a shower since I start work so early that I don't get a shower in first. And once I have showered, I don't want to get all sweaty.
• Walking is easiest, but Alex can't walk far or fast so he can't walk with me. And I don't want to walk alone.
• Alex is usually outside the office door as my day ends, waiting for me to join him in some venture outside the house. I don't want to disappoint him.
• In the evening, I have to complete my project.

None of those rise to the level of a reason. They are just excuses. In addition, we have a stationary bike in the garage where there is a stereo for entertainment. And the bike has six programmed routes to vary the experience. I don't even have to leave the house for the exercise. I really have no reason not to exercise.

So the resolution is set.

  by  f2b1610 

This morning, I headed out for my first 30-minute walk. Alex suggested I take his iPod, but I decided there are good reasons for me not to take any distractions with me, so I declined.

We have been in our house long enough for me to know all the ways the nearby streets intersect around all the curves, but I have only driven them. Today I walked, giving me the time to look at the flowers in all the gardens; to check out all those citrus trees full of lemons, oranges, and grapefruits; to check out who else has gophers in their yards and what solutions others use to keep them away. And I let the music that is always in my head when I am not thinking about something keep time with my steps.

I recall noticing the music in my head for the first time as I walked from the Foggy Bottom Metro stop to State Annex 1 where my office was located when we were still in Arlington and Alex was working outside of the area so he couldn't drop me off at work. I realized that it was there, not all that noticeable, but there whenever I wasn't thinking of something. I remember the first time I realized there were words in my head, back when I was somewhere around 4 and told Mom that I could hear words in my head. She told me that was called thinking and that the words would always be there. And that it was normal.

When there are no words, there is music. As a naive observer, I concluded that music, or at least the beat of the rhythm of music, is likely the most primitive of thoughts of humans. In utero, the sound and feel of the mother's beating heart is a constant for a developing baby. The beat is a form of communication between mother and child. If the beat of either the mother's heart or the baby's heart changes, the other may feel distress. But as I say, these are observations of a naive observer, an observer who has no or little formal education, in this case not even any direct experience, an observer with an attitude something like the attitude of a child for whom everything is possible, not of an adult who has learned to filter the world of possibilities down to what is left after leaving out all those things someone else has said are not possible.

I like to think of myself as a naive observer because I know it means I haven't entirely lost the ability to think like a child.

The music that fills my head when I'm not thinking of something isn't necessarily some tune I have just heard. Sometimes it is a tune I make up, in 4/4 time, with the first two lines having the same melody, the third a variation on that melody, and then the fourth repeating the melody of the first two, a pattern typical of church hymns and 1950's rock and roll songs. Since those sources of music come from my earliest childhood, it isn't surprising that the time signature and pattern of melodies of my made-up songs follow them.

The only way I can crowd out the tunes as I walk is to think, or replace the melody with words, something like a mantra. The words have to be almost meaningless to crowd out the tune. And the words I keep stumbling on are these:

I eat peas with honey.

I have done it all my life.

It does taste kind of funny,

But it keeps them on the knife.

I read that verse years and years ago. I couldn't figure out why anyone would try to eat peas with a knife, so it stuck in my memory. But I don't just repeat the verse. I try to figure out a new way to say it each successive time. I change the word I stress in each line.

I eat peas with honey.  vs.

I eat peas with honey. vs.

I eat peas with honey.

Or I change the speed of the lines. Sometimes I say the lines to myself as if I am angry, or tired, or happy, or any other emotion I can think of.

Often, after chanting those nonsensical lines as I walk, my mind wanders away from the rhythm and into thoughts, developing possible scenarios for the unfinished stories that sit in the back of my mind. And that fits nicely with my third resolution, to keep writing every day, although perhaps not so publicly as I have been doing with my 365 Project. When I complete my 365 Project - just 30 days left, whoo hoo! - I resolve to post something once a week, either as a continuation of this blog or on my other blog, Better Than The Alternative. I hope you will keep coming with me for the ride.

Again, happy New Year.

Day 214 - Foursquare and Other Computer Games

image of Foursquare Log In screen
by brennanMKE, via Flickr.com 

I joined Foursquare exactly two years and a day ago. I know that because Foursquare told me when I checked into one of my locations yesterday. I know why I joined Foursquare. And I have had two years to think about whether it made sense.

I joined Fousquare because of a story told by Dux Raymond Sy, a SharePoint enthusiast and frequent speaker at SharePoint conferences. He told his story two years ago at a SharePoint conference in Virginia. Dux speaks all over the world and he had recently returned from speaking at a conference in Sri Lanka. After that conference, he traveled with a friend to India where they rented a car to see some of the sights. Along the way, they had a flat tire. Dux checked in with Foresquare to indicate he was stuck along a road, pinpointing the location with the GPS locator that is part of the app. Within 20 minutes, a car pulled up and a guy jumped out and walked up to greet Dux and offered to help. Dux recognized the guy as someone he had met at the conference in Sri Lanka, so he asked how the guy knew he was there and that he needed help. The guy responded that he had seen Dux's Foursquare check-in on Twitter.

It was a short story that illustrated the impact of social media at a very personal level. So I joined Foursquare to see what it might mean for me.

I haven't had any dramatic results yet. I haven't run into anyone at the same location as my check-ins. But I have continued using Foursquare, although with some long stretches of inactivity, in part because it is a lot like an online game, although not one that can consume all of my spare time.

Image of Foursquare badges
   by dpstyles™, via Flickr.com 

Foursquare gives me points for each check-in. The number of points depend on many factors, most of which I hadn't yet figured out. I know I get more points when I check into a location for the first time. So there is incentive to keep using the app over time. I know I get points when I am the first one of my friends to check into a location, and since most of my Foursquare friends are in places far from where I am, I get those points often. I know that if I check into different locations of certain categories I will get not only points, but badges. And eventually I even learned there are levels of badges.

Foursquare compares my score with the scores of my friends, always showing at least two of my friends along with my score, usually the friend who is ahead of me and the friend who is behind me. That adds just a hint of competition to the game.

The number of points go way down when checking in at the same location later, but Foursquare offers a different incentive for frequent stops - according to a formula I haven't yet figured out, I have become mayor of a number of locations I check into frequently, an honor I also haven't quite figured out what to do with.

All of these points and badges and mayoralties remind me of computer games - especially exploration and adventure games. I enjoy the continuous learning involved, even though most of what I am learning is nothing more than what the Foursquare rules are and they may seem to have little to do with what goes on in the world.

I have discovered some businesses have developed strategies for engaging with Foursquare customers. Some businesses, such as Target, offer special deals to those who check in. Some businesses, such as the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport, offer gifts to the mayor when he/she checks in. Some businesses, such as Nordstroms, send messages to customers who check in, thanking them for stopping by. The latter I think is a very effective strategy since Foursquare posts are reposted also to Twitter and Facebook which means the businesses engages with a broader audience than just the one customer. When was the last time a business thanked you publically for stopping by - not even first checking to see if you bought something there?

At one point, I decided I wasn't sure I wanted my check-ins to be shared on Facebook, so I decided I would only check-in if I had a tip to leave about the location. The tips are where the real power of engagement lies. Businesses can see right away if a potential customer is displeased by something, and the smart ones reach out right away to turn the displeasure around. There is no more powerful advocate than a customer whose mind was changed to a more positive viewpoint by actions taken by the business. But I am happy enough just sharing when something delights me.

But right now I use Foursquare as a game. When Alex the extrovert wants to go out and I would really rather stay home, I use Foursquare as incentive to please Alex by jumping up out of my comfortable seat as I shout, "Where are we going first?"