There are days that I love modern technology. I rely on the calendar reminder feature on my phone and I think it’s awesome that I can program my coffee pot to start brewing before I’m out of bed in the morning. But there are days when I wish I lived in the Little House in the Big Woods era.
Last Friday was one of those days. Technology completely frustrated me in my fitness quest. Since I don’t live in a Little House on the Prairie, I don’t do all the harvesting and hunting and wood chopping and hard work that was done back then and I must find other ways to stay fit. I spend entirely too much time sitting at my desk, working only my fingers, so I do my best to work out at least three days a week.
I’ve been heading to the Pumphouse most days, to alternate working out on the treadmill, the elliptical, the bicycle and the rowing machine and doing light weights. I enjoy using real gym equipment and visiting with friends while I work out.
However, on Friday I decided that I didn’t want to drive to the gym, work out, drive home, shower and then head to work. Instead, I thought I’d work out at home, shower and head to work.
A simple enough plan. Until I attempted to execute it.
I thought I’d use my Wii Fit program. It’s lots of fun with a computerized trainer to talk you through a series of exercises, some done by a little character called a Mii that is designed to look like me.
I put on my work out clothes, headed to the basement and popped in the Wii disk only to see “Disk not recognized” on the screen. I tried a different disk, same message. I turned the Wii off and back on. I pushed reset. I tried another different disk. It refused to work.
Undeterred from my wish to workout, I thought I’d play an exercise DVD instead. I have a couple of killer workout disks. I thought I’d use one of them. All I had to do was disconnect the WII from the back of the old basement TV and hook up the DVD player.
Simple enough. Except it wasn’t. It was difficult to squeeze in between the entertainment center and the wall, squatting at an odd angle to see the connections and the plug-ins. Once in position, it was really frustrating to find that the three audio-video cables on the DVD player— color-coded red, blue and green—did not match the four inlets—white, white, yellow and orange—on the back of the TV.
I didn’t give up immediately. No, I really wanted to work out. So, I tried several different combinations of colors and plug-in spots before I decided to call it quits. It didn’t help that I realized that even if I miraculously made the correct connections, I wasn’t sure what channel the TV should be on: Aux or VCR or channel 3, 4 or 60?
I wasn’t quite ready to abandon my plan to exercise in my own home. We also have a VCR in the basement. I have a few workout tapes, including a hilarious Richard Simmons video. I figured the connections for the low-tech VCR would better match our old basement television. I found the videotape and pulled the VCR forward to reach the connections—that were not there. For some reason, we no longer have the cables to use our VCR.
By this time I was so irritated that I had to work out or I would explode. I didn’t care if it was cold or not. I pulled on boots, grabbed a leash for my faithful golden retriever, Fearless, and set out on a brisk walk.
The first few strides were spent grumbling and cursing under my breath about my thwarted plans. “With my luck today, I’ll probably get hit by a car,” I griped to the dog.
But after a few minutes, I realized that I felt pretty good. I was fuming and warm from my exertions with the electronics, so I didn’t feel cold at all. The sun was shining and everything looked clean and fresh with a layer of new snow. Fearless was happy that he got to exercise too. And by the time we finished our walk and returned to my house in the big woods, I was ready to face the modern world again.
I am beginning to learn that
it is the sweet, simple things
of life which are the real ones
after all.
Laura Ingalls Wilder
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