The Blog to Nowhere

Well, it's New Year's Eve. Another year gone. I won't go on about the things I've accomplished mainly because I didn't do much, but there are two things worth mentioning:

1) 1500 km challenge. So my company put out a challenge at the beginning of the year to all the employees in the city. Walk 1500 km in one year. That equalled over 2,000,000 steps. At the current count, I'm a little over 5,000,000, so it's safe to say that I doubled the required amount. I doubt I'll win anything in the end, but I guess winning an outdated iPad wasn't the whole point of the challenge. It's about being active, even if the only exercise I managed was taking walks on the weekends.

So, during the entire year I went through: a) 1 pair of running shoes b) 2 pedometer batteries c) 1 pedometer.

2) I read 57 books this year, one less than less year. I got distracted by video games during the year, so that's a really good number. Actually, I think I might have read 59 books. I read all of the short stories that make up The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes online while at work, but since I didn't actually read an actual book, I don't think it really counts. But anyway... The last book I read for the year was Frozen Heat, the fourth novel in the Nikki Heat series, a poorly disguised take on the characters in Castle. Well, it's a tie-in to Castle, so I don't expect any less. It's not the greatest mystery series in the world, but it has a cute picture of Nathan Fillion on the back so it's nice to support the show a bit.

I picked up a couple of new book series this year, but I think the one I liked the most was the Maisie Dobbs series. It's a mystery series set in 1920s-1930s London with a strong female detective. Maisie's a bit of a Mary Sue in that she's really good at everything she does, but I love the setting. I'm surprised it's not a TV series or something in the UK. It has the strength to carry a miniseries at least. I also read a crappy YA, supernatural series. I don't get why these things get published. I really don't.

That's it really. I'm still employed, so that's always good. Bring on 2013. Two words: Doctor Who.

Whew, I'm back from London. I got home in the afternoon yesterday but I was so pooped. I think it is virtually impossible to sleep on a plane.

But London was good. Saw way more stuff than last time. Two days total of sunshine, I think. Rest of the time it was cloudy. Oh well, it's London. ;-) So amongst the many things I did, I had high tea, visited a few museums, ate a ridiculous amount of fries (chips), toured the Harry Potter sets, and, oh yeah, saw the Queen. Okay, it was from a distance and she was in a car leaving Windsor Palace, but it was definitely her. She was on her way to Ascot and wearing a pink outfit that matched all of the pictures of her from that day. She even waved at us.

Only downside? My pedometer broke on the friggin' first day! So angry. So I did a ton of walking but I don't know the exact total. I'm going to have to get a new battery or a new pedometer when I get back to work tomorrow.

Also, there is nothing to watch on the BBC when Doctor Who isn't on. ;-) I watched that show with David Tennant and Billie Piper, True Love, but only because it was on. Mostly I ended up watching QI. So amusing. I might have to find some eps now.

I'll post some more later. I want to blab a bit about the Harry Potter tour.

Yup, made it past 1500km last night. Whoo!

Now I just have to conquer 2,025,000 steps. :-P

Crossed the 1,000,000 step mark on Sunday. So halfway there in about two and a half months. Whoo!

And this was while I was trying to finish Mass Effect 3. I'm surprised I left the house at all. ;-)

I guess you could say the 1500 km challenge at work has started in earnest today. Yesterday, they handed out the pedometers to those who wanted one and I could hear co-workers playing around with them. Everyone quickly discovered that just shaking the thing can register as steps. But I think today was the day to start being serious. Either you want to make it to 1500 km or you don't.

There's also a leaderboard on-line and you can see what people's totals are. I thought people would be hovering around 10,000 steps. Nope. Someone made it past 20,000 steps already. I can't help but think that some people might be cheating. I don't know. They had to send out an e-mail today to tell people to zero out their pedometers when they get them since most had steps registered just from being transported. If you have to tell people to play fair, then you know there are going to be cheaters.

I'm not a very competitive person, but I like a challenge. It's like NaNoWriMo. I was determined to do my quota every day and if I didn't I was super bummed and a little angry at myself. This is sort of similar. The daily quota here is like 4.1 km per day if you want to make it to 1500 km by the end of the year. I want to make it 4.1 km every day, not because I want to win, but because I would feel down if I didn't. I don't know if that's unhealthy or good motivation. Thankfully, my route to work is about 4 km, round trip, so at least I can stay on track as long as I start walking on the weekends.

And I can't help but think of this song (and this video) every time I think of this contest. Maybe I'll play it every time I hit a decent milestone. :-)