2017 Fall October 31 Tuesday

 2017 Fall October 31 Tuesday

41 degrees this morning, walk 35:03 minutes

A little cooler than I expected this morning.  I am still relearning how to dress for cool weather.  For example, I learned this morning that 41degrees may require a slightly warmer sweat pants, and light walking gloves may be appropriate.  

On the other hand, it may be that I just need to gradually get used to the cooler walk.

Pace was 21 seconds slower than my goal, which kind of surprised me, since I thought I was walking faster.  It is just hard to really judge how fast I am walking.

I was on a college campus yesterday for my job, and it was like being in another world.  The energy on the campus is really amazing.  

I wonder what happens to that energy when we get out of college or school?  It seems to permeate the entire campus, even outside.

All of the students were very courteous and helpful, they probably thought of me (or face it, they probably didn’t even think of me at all, they have other things to think about!) as an eccentric professor or a sales person or whatever.  

When I think of myself at that age, there is too much else going on to dwell on the stranger in our midst!

There is a mall (or rather  a former mall turned office building) that has a school on it for high school students and I notice the same energy there when I saw a group of students walking to  lunch (or wherever).

I do have to wonder how we lose our sense of wonder and engagement.  

A lot of the sessions at the conference I attended last week was on how to keep that sense of wonder and engagement, or maybe how to reawaken it.

The Starbucks/Panera Bread competition (which ir really only in my mind) continues with Panera Bread the clear winner on food and Starbucks the clear winner on Coffee!  

Actually Starbucks has one sandwich I really like.  Last weekend it was out on Saturday and so I bought another kind.  Sunday the Starbucks closest to me was out of the sandwich again (this is the wonders of “mobile ordering”, so I drove to another Starbucks that had one!  (We have four Starbucks within relatively easy driving range although “our” Starbucks is about a mile away but is always extremely busy).  

Meanwhile, Panera Bread didn’t have ice coffee one day and I haven’t been back since!

I have to take at least a half hour for lunch.  Since I normally “eat on the run” while “in the field”, I take my half hour and catch up with “The Sopranos” while sipping (or swallowing) ice coffee, since I normally take my “lunch” right before I head home.  

More on that in future posts.

That’s it for now, Tuesday, October 31, 2017.