SOL #6 May 7, 3018 - Walking while on the phone

Walking while on the phone

photo credit: splorp Hotline via photopin (license)

I just has a conversation with my Dad on the phone, and got in some exercise. He had just returned from a trip to the Grand Canyon and I knew he would have some stories to tell me. And I just went fishing so I had my own stories, plus the ones we thought of from our past that these stories would remind us of. Most we had both heard and told before, but telling stories of experiences are sort of like telling jokes. While we may have heard it before, the telling of it, this time, and hearing how it maybe different or have a new point/punchline is the magic.

But I digress. So I happened to check my steps count on my phone near the start of my conversation. It was about 9,600 steps for the day. I move when I'm on the phone, usually just walking circles around the downstairs: Through the kitchen, into the dining room, through the living room, past the front door, across the music room, and back into the kitchen. That's a lap. I tend to be in constant motion while on the phone so I did a few dishes, picked up a few things in the living room, but mostly I just walked. In the 15-20 minutes we talked, I amassed 1,500 steps. Once, I walked almost 4,500 steps while talking to my brother for about an hour! Being on the phone is probably good for me.

I have to say though, things sure have changed since I was a kid. Once upon a time, phones were attached to the wall with cords and you could only go as far as the curly springs would allow. My Dad's house phone had a thirty-foot cord, so he could talk on the phone and make dinner at the same time. When I talked, I would walk all the way to the end of the cord, stretching it out, often clotheslining objects off counters by accident, or my little brother on purpose. Then I would spin into the cord and wrap it around my body until my Dad yelled at me to quit playing with the cord.

The phones at my Mom's house were not mounted to the wall but were set on the counters, or a small table in the upstairs hall. The cords were only a few feet long and it way too often that I pulled the phone right off onto the floor with a huge clang, plastic corners flying the phone base. I also got yelled at for that.

So, you can imagine it is to my great relief, that now when I talk on the phone, there are no cords involved. And...my wife has yet to yell at me for walking in circles around the house; although she has asked me if I'm getting dizzy yet.