Hip replacement

My mom called me yesterday to let me know what the 4th doctor said about her hip and knees. Please understand I love my mom, but she has been known to exaggerate her illnesses for attention. That being the only major personality disorder that plagues her and the only one that extremely annoys me.

The exaggerated illness have resulted in her going to the hospital twice because she claimed she was having a heart attack, nothing wrong was found. She did, does, have diverticulitis but made her condition worse by eating all the things she was told not to eat. The result was numerous hospital stays, until she had to have very serious surgery that almost cost her, her life.

Her new complaint is arthritis in her knees and hip, which she does have. I have spoken to her doctor only once. My mom signed the form to allow it, but rescinded after she realized I found out things she claimed were wrong were in fact not. So no more speaking with her doctor for me.

Last year she called to tell me she had scheduled surgery for hip replacement in October. I couldn't believe it and tried to talk her out of it. She became angry and let loose with what was really bothering her. Loneliness. She had no one to take care of since my dad died, all the kids were working including me and no one had time for her. Which is not true, but in her eyes it was. I suggested many ways she could occupy her time and enjoy what she was doing. But she was not going to hear any of it. Eventually she hung up on me. 2 days later she called back, apologized and said she cancelled the surgery.

I was surprised yesterday when she told me that the 4th doctor pretty much told her what I have been telling her. She has to loose weight and start walking. Hip surgery was a long way off, she is to young for that kind of surgery, recovery is a long haul, and replacement surgery is the last resort. But she made sure and emphasised that her knees are almost bone on bone, and that the hip is really bad.

Over the last few years I have tried to get her to occupy her time with volunteer stuff. She doesn't want to be committed to it. She wants her schedule free. For what I do not know. I do know that she has started smoking again, and eats all the time. I have left detailed messages for her doctor to which I know the doctor can not respond, but at least she can talk to my mom about the issue I call about.

My mom is only 69. She has 7 grandchildren. I know my mom is lonely, but believe it is her choice. She claims to be depressed but I don't know. That is something I think people use as an excuse to avoid reality and so they can continue to be lazy. She claims she does not have the money to see a counselor, but spends her money on painting the basement floor so water will not seep in. Water has never seeped in the basement. It's been dry for 47 years. Priorities I guess.

At least this last doctor had the sense to tell her the truth.

My dad's gun

Over the weekend I learned that my son has been using his grandfather's rifle for target practice. I am very happy with that knowledge. My dad died 4 years ago, he knew, as we all did, that his time was limited, so before he left us he gave away his prized possessions.

Proudly he gave me his Good Citizenship Medal that he received in the 4th grade. He gave my grandfather's Wedgwood ring to my brother David, his handmade cribbage set to my brother Matthew, his 22 rifle to my son, and to my daughter his stuffed dog that he had since babyhood. All prized possessions. All priceless.

The rifle has special significance because it is the same rifle I used for target practice with my dad. I remember trudging across the cornfields of our cousins farm, in the fall after all the cornstalks were cut down, to the edge of the river, to the spot where all the extended family went for target practice. I remember the kick from it, and the reminders from my father to always, always always carry the gun pointed down and never ever loaded.

It is the same rifle my brother David used when he started to go on hunting trips with our dad, and the same rifle Matthew refused to handle. It is the rifle my crazy sister took from the house to chase after the mean boys in the neighborhood with. Which I might add ended with a blistering belt spanking from our father.

Before my father had to be attached to an oxygen tank, he used to take my son to his gun club and teach Greg the basics of shooting, and drill into him the importance of gun safety. At that time my dad had a small collection of guns, 3 handguns, several rifles, a couple of shotguns and he wanted to make sure that curiosity would not cause an accident with the guns. So he introduced his grandchildren, 3 at that time, at an early age to guns. Curiosity factor eliminated.

Greg learned to shoot when he was 6 or 7. I never thought much about it, it was part of what my dad did, who he was. I was happy that they found common ground and spent time together.
My son has those memories too. I am happy to know Greg takes care of and uses my dad's gun.

Alarmed

At 4am this morning our house alarm went off. It had to happen because Mark is out of town. That's the way things work around here. Mark goes out of town and things break or malfunction. Being the princess that I am, I call the repair men. Which irritates Mark, because I should wait until he comes home to fix that which is broken. UhhHUH!

I patiently waited 3 minutes for the monitoring company to call, tell me it was the fire alarm and not the glass or door break alarm. The monitoring lady stayed on the phone with me while I went to my son's room to find him standing at the bedroom door, with his shotgun loaded ready to shoot an intruder, and escort me around the house to make sure everything was OK. Which it was. No fire, no intruder.

This same situation happened about 2-3 years ago, when Mark was out of town, only at 2am. The security system company rep. is Jeff. I paged him every 20 minutes until he called me back at 8am and told me which wires to unscrew to disconnect the siren. He claimed he accidentally turned off his pager and did not realize it until 8am. UhhHuh! The worst part of that episode was, I had to sit at the alarm pad and every 30 seconds enter the code to shut it off. I did that for 6 hours. My neighbors were so annoyed they called the police 3 times, but there was nothing I could do because I did not know how to shut it off. The very good looking police officers tried too, but knew less then I did. As it turned out there was a spider web inside one of the sensors and that was causing the malfunction. Jim the installer repair guy showed me which wires inside the main alarm box to dismantle if the system ever malfunctioned again, and advised me to vacuum the sensors a couple times a year. OK so I did not mark the wires to detach, but I do vacuum the sensors.

This morning at 4am I vacuumed all the sensors and it finally shut off the siren, the monitoring company disconnected their end of the system so they would not keep getting notified of an alarm. The monitoring lady told me to call the security system company to advise them of the malfunction. I was going to wait until 9am to make the call because I thought everything was OK. That was until 6am when the alarm went off again. I paged Jeff, no reply, 20 minutes later paged him again, no reply. I paged him 5 times with no reply.

After looking carefully at the main system box I saw 3 white wires, and after putting on my glasses I saw a couple of symbols that looked like bells. So I took a chance and under screwed them. AAAHHHHH. Quite! The siren stopped.

HHHmmmm. Lets put this together, a Red Head, awake since 4am, dealing with annoying noise that the neighbors are not happy about, no reply to pages, dogs barking and crying, husband out of town, and prior problem with system company, all this equals === a nasty attitude brewing.

Jeff finally called me at 9:30 this morning, his excuse, he did not get the pages until then. Funny I left messages on the answering machine too, he did not check it. I made it clear that I was not happy, he used the same excuse 2 years ago when I needed his help. His answer to me, after being a 12 year customer, who pays on time and only had 2 problems in that 12 years and recommend his company which resulted in a few new customers for him, find another company, have a nice life. Click. The ass hung up on me.

Before he hung up he told me that he is not on call 24 hours, funny that's not what the contract states. And that he told me 2 years ago how to disconnect if there was a problem. OK he did. But at 4am I am not a clear thinker, and looking at a bunch of tangled tiny wires trying to remember if it is the white, the cream or the lite yellow, which f ing blend together on my color wheel, are the ones that are suppose to be disconnected is going to be a problem. Why the Fuck didn't Jim the repair guy tag them so I would know!!!! I didn't say those things to Jeff, but I did tell him he sucked at being a business person and I was going to let the Better Business Association know that he failed to respond again. I think he hung up when I said that.

So now I have to find another company. Jeff better refund my monitoring fees, the ass.

Sorry

My sister in law sent this picture, along with the following caption



Sorry is a word everyone uses all the time.........

Did you ever wonder what "Sorry" looks like? Well wonder no further..........

Scroll down.........












How freakin cute is this little guy??

The Weekend

The second half of date night turned out to be better then the first half. Unfortunately Larry the bartender was working the outdoor bar and I did not have an opportunity to take a picture of him. As we expect the patio at the Pub was packed. The first evening of hot weather and everyone wants to be outside. I can't blame them. So Mark and I opted for the usual end of the indoor bar.

After we ordered our drinks acquaintances of ours came in, we ordered them drinks, and called another couple that we are all friends with to come to the Pub. Which they did. The evening was fun and ended late after we all had dinner at the House of Poon. Our daughter met us at the restaurant and had to drive Mark and me home. Obviously I had more then my limit of 2 beers.

Saturday was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. Mark and I took advantage of the weather and went for a bike ride, we stopped at the cemetery to see my dad and Mark's dad. They are resting about 6 rows apart. It was weird tho. I didn't feel the sadness at my dad's site, like he wasn't there anymore, he was gone, kinda of moved on. But my father in law was different. I did feel the sadness, I felt he was still there, sleeping, not ready to go, but peaceful, waiting.

Sunday just as gorgeous, I rode the same run as Saturday but managed to cut my time by 8 minutes. I was really spurred on by the tender crotch I gained from the ride on Saturday. The cure for the tenderness is to keep riding, which I plan to do. But this morning I opted for a fast walk in order to give the the tender area a day off. Hopefully tomorrow I will be back in the saddle.

All the sounds, smells and generally most of the people that I see when I ride are pleasant. I stopped to look at 3 large birds circling in the sky. They were not hawks, but I couldn't tell what they were. Just very large, and gracefully circling in the sky. One or two flaps of their wings and they could glide for what seemed like minutes. One left the group and flew over my head, then back to the group. It was beautiful. The shadow the wing span cast appeared to be about 12 feet wide. I was surprised by the enormity. They were just beautiful.

The weekend ended with a Sopranos party last night. Mark cooked up steamed clams, clams in red sauce with wine, bruschetta, and whole wheat pizza. Delicious. I made chirizo sausage and turkey burgers, topped with a lowfat mayo, cilantro, and lime sauce. Which also was used as a dip for the fresh veggies. Lots of food, and just a few friends. Just the way we like it. Comfortable!

I hope everyone had as pleasant of a weekend as I did.

Date night cut in half

Well I didn't make to the Pub last night. Mark had to go on the road today, so he wanted to finish some office work and get his car loaded for the sales meeting he has today. No big deal. We did go the Quimbys for wings and quesadillas. Our usual waitress Christie greeted us at the table, and Mark began his usual sarcasm. "why are you here you hate us" I want Lauren as our waitress tonight, you don't like us any more" I wasn't sure why he was saying this, he actually looked foolish, and it wasn't like him to be such a whiny baby with his sarcasm. Normally he's funny, but not last night.

Christie must have been in a bad mood because she turned around and walked away and told Lauren to take care of us. Which is not a bad thing we like Lauren just as much as Christie. Mark kept it up though, he complained he couldn't believe she walked away, why would she do that, I'll never have her as a waitress, I'm done with her. What's her problem, what's the matter can't she take kidding, then don't be in this business.......and on and on and on. I was embarrassed.

Finally he told me what was really bothering him. He lost 3million in business yesterday. I listened to the voice mail he got from the customer. "Mark, it's Don, I'm done, fuck it." One of the more professional messages I have heard in awhile. I made the mistake of reminding him that he knew this was coming, which renewed his tirade not at Christie but about his business in general. Later he added that he found out that another piece of business he lost was due to the owner of the company bold face lying,(which is the biggest sin in our house)

OoohhBoy! I asked Lauren to bring Mark another vodka, and I became the designated driver. Oh the miracles that liquor performs, ya gotta love it. Mark was much happier by the end of the evening and after another vodka. His mood was much improved by the time we arrived home, and he was in a good mood this morning.

Tonight we will have the other half of our date at the Pub. As GKL requested I will attempt to get a picture of Larry the bartender wearing his suspenders and belt. (Larry looks like a very thin Colonel Sanders)

The Pub

I checked the calendar today, after a few customers assured me it was Thursday and not Wednesday, and they were correct. It is Thursday. That means I will be at the Pub, sitting on a stool with a Coors light, from a bottle not from the tap, poured in a glass, in my hand at about 6:30 pm. My husband will be standing next to me with his vodka drink in hand, and Larry the bartender will be sporting his suspenders and belt, (yes the man wears both at the same time) cranking up the tunes, only to be told to turn it down by the manager.

After we finish our drinks we will head over to Quimbys have another drink, wings and quesadillas. (I really want the deep fried tater tots, but my ass won't fit into a pringles can now. HAHA Thanks Skylers Dad for that one, so I will suffer with just the quesadilla)

Life will be good, and we will be happy until the alarm clock rings in the am to start another rainy day. If it were going to be sunny I would not be whining. Saturday holds more promise of a sunny day then Friday. Yea!

PS Is quesadillas spelled correctly? The spell check had no suggestions.

Cheers everyone!

Complete Relaxation

This is our dog Lucy.

Stupid News Reporter

I watched the news last night about the murders in Virginia. The Chief of campus police and the president of the college were visibly upset, rapid blinking of the eyes, sullen expressions, monotone voice, all indications of incredible stress. The police chief was doing his best to answer the questions from reporters, when one ass blurted out several times, "Can you describe the scene?"

Does anyone really want the scene described? Does anyone want a visual of the carnage? Why would someone be that callous? Wasn't it enough to know that 30 plus people were murdered, without having to have a description of the scene?

Stupid reporter!

I have only been to two concerts in my entire life. The first one was to support a friend of ours who was attempting to break into th e music promotion business. We were all 20ish, I think, and our friend manged to get Jan and Dean to play at the AUD. This was 1989, if I am remembering the year correctly. Our friend's career did not last long, he lost money on the Jan and Dean concert ( big surprise there) and did not pay some of the creditors.

The experience of attending a concertwas fun, but the noise level really bothered me. I have sensitive hearing which makes concerts something I avoid.

The second concert was two or three years ago and was an outdoor venue. We saw Tom Petty. My husband loves Petty's music, I find it very whiny. Because the concert was outdoors I was assured by my husband, friends and kids the noise level would not be bad, and it wasn't. The problem , and that problem prevents me from attending another concert, is concert etiquette.

I do not understand the logic of paying the price for tickets in the seating arena if every one is going to stand up blocking the view of the people in back rows. Or stand in the aisle and block people's view. I did not want to stand the entire time we were there, if I did I would have purchased lawn seating, which actually is the standing area.

So the Petty concert was not the experience I had hoped for and not what my husband and son were looking for either. They had to be my body guards towards the end because of my incessant nagging of the drunkards in front to sit down. Security tried their best to control the standing and at one point removed several people for refusing to sit down. I was not the only one unhappy about people standing, but at least I did not involve security. Nagging is my approach.

It is best if I do not attend concerts.

Cranky

I'm miserable. Cranky. Intense PMS has set in and I hate it. I take a B6 daily to help relieve the mood swings and it's not working to well. At least my husband is still alive, I didn't kill him last night that's a good thing. I feel bad that I am so nasty, but I can't help it sometimes. What can I say, it will all be over in a few days. Then I have next month to look forward too. Hooray!

Addition to Peeves

1. Bloggers that have the irritating word verification on their blog. WTF! F'ing A! I hate that. It takes me 2 or 3 tries before I am accepted. I don't have the time for that. WTF! Is it a control thing??

I need to look at a calendar, what week of the month is it?

Peeves

I am feeling peevish this morning. So here is a list of peeves that annoy me.

1. food service people not wearing gloves
2. food service people that clean tables with gloves on then prep food wearing the same gloves
3. people stopped at a red light then do not move the second the light turns green, which causes the jerk behind me to toot his horn, not in a short polite burst of sound but a long annoying beep, causing the jerk in front of me to flip me off and not move until the light turns yellow
4. new coffee baristas that do not fill the cup to the brim, thinking, not asking, I need room for cream and other additives
5. new coffee baristas that put 2 small ice cubes to float in the coffee at the top of my cup, after I asked for an inch of ice in the bottom of the cup
6. people who decide to have a conversation in front of the coffee shop door because they are the only ones in the whole world, preventing others from entering or exiting
7. people waiting at my store front door, and say " I thought you opened at 10am" when it is only 9:55am, then do not buy anything

So far that is the list, but the day is young and more could be added.

Draft Beer

About draft beer. As a distributor sales rep I had the pleasure of selling company wares to restaurants, bars, pubs, schools any establishment that would use food service disposable products. Those wares included chemicals for cleaning.

Some of the chemicals were used for one purpose, like cleaning beer tap lines. The lines are the tubing from the keg in storage to the tap at the bar. As with some things in life the out of sight out of mind saying applied to many of the restaurants, bars and pubs when it came to tap lines. If my memory serves me correctly the tap lines were suppose to be cleaned once a week if not every day. Let me tell you that does not happen.

Anyway selling the chemicals allowed me to get a look at the tap lines. AAuugghhh! Yuck! Gross! Disgusting! In most of the lines mold and god knows what else was growing. Ever get something floating in your draft beer, or get a belly ache after a night of draft beer drinking. It's not the beer, it's what is in the line that gets loose and ends up in your glass. It's really disgusting and easily preventable. But out of sight out of mind.

The general attitude among the managers is saving money and if the public can't see it, don't spend money on it. That is why I drink beer from a bottle and not from a tap.

Quote from the Internet "Foamy draft beer can be caused by the build up of bacteria, yeast, mold, and beer stones within a beer line. Un-clean beer lines lower the quality and taste of beer. It is important to regularly clean beer lines, faucets, and keg couplers to ensure the dispense of high quality beer. "

"Regular cleaning of the beer line, faucet, and keg coupler is extremely important. If this is not done, bacteria, yeast, mold, and beer stone will build up and quickly degrade the quality of draft beer."

So there you have it actual quotes from the Internet that sort of back up what I said. The beer lines need to be cleaned.

Bartenders

I now know why NYS holds bartenders responsible for people driving drunk. Last night was date night and hubby and I went to our local hangout. Usually I have 2 lite beers and that's it. But last nite I had a vodka, soda, extra lemon, lite on the ice, in a tall glass, with a straw, drink. My thinking was the tall glass with soda would dilute the vodka and I could have more then 1. The drink was good and after an hour or so I ordered a second, this time I saw the drink being made.

The bartender did not pour 1 shot of vodka, he poured 3 into the glass. I was shocked. Really I was. Why would a person do that? It's like a sneak attack. So there I was thinking I was drinkinf diluted booze when in reality and unknowingly I was drinking 3 drinks. I was legally impaired at the least and possibly legally over the limit. Thankfully I was not driving. Generally I stay away from liquor and drink lite bottled beer. ( I'll write about draft beer another day) I guess the bartender thought he was doing a favor? by giving me the added vodka. The second drink went untouched.

If I was driving and had been pulled over I know I would have blown impaired and gone to jail. That sucks! Where I live the county has tougher laws then the state for those who drink and drive. The sheriff deputies do not take kindly to drinking and driving and are known for having the highest arrest rate for DWIs.

I have a whole thing about drunk drivers, and never ever have I driven impaired or drunk in my life. (positive aspect of an offspring of an alcoholic father). Lite bottled beer will be my drink of choice when I am out and about. 2 will remain the limit.

Today I cried

Today I cried while watching the Today show. I only saw the trailer for the upcoming segment and knew I could not watch the entire story. My sadness turned into anger and disgust and I did not want that kind of karma. I tried to empty that part of my memory but here I am writing about it. Maybe this will turn the negative into positive somehow.

The trailer showed a solider who returned from Iraq on a short leave walking into his little boy's classroom to surprise his son. The boy did not know his dad was coming home. The little guy ran to his father and just sobbed.

I couldn't watch it because my mind goes immediately to President Smirker "Bring it on" Shock and Awe Arrogant The Have's and Have's More We are winning It's not a Civil War George F'ing W Bush. And then I get the picture of Vice President Toad Face Won't Publicly say a Positive Word for Gays Haliburton Secret Keeping Lying Small Dick Cheney. I do not want this in my head! My heart!

I might have anger issues.

Sports

Get Kristie Love mentioned in her blog how old she was when she started hockey. I am impressed and decided to relate my attempts at awe inspiring sports. After all I was a tomboy growing up (until I discovered boys were cute and did not have cooties), and loved the rough and tumble of UNORGANIZED play. King of the mountain, pig pile, tag, street baseball, hide and seek in the dark, you know those really rugged unorganized games. The kind of games that did not require any skill or eye hand coordination. Those were the sports for me.

My family was not surprised when I did not participate in any organized sport program at school. The reasons were many. I did not even take gym class during my high school years. I had a medical excuse from 8th grade that I used for the 4 years I attended high school. The guidance counselor never question the doctor's note and never scheduled me for gym class. I was very happy.

To this day I still ice skate at the same level of skill as I did when I was 16. Slow, but steady, and not having the ability to stop. I can skate backwards though. Physical activity stopped for many years due to severe asthma that required hospitalization. Once we figured out the allergic trigger for the asthma, and removed them I made a complete recovery and have not been bothered by asthma in 18 years. In the early 90's I ran 3-4 times a week 5-7 miles a day but unfortunately had to stop running after 2 serious ankle sprains. I took up gardening.

Then came my attempt to learn how to ski in the late 90's. We took a family trip to Vermont, my daughter and son could ski and snowboard, so my husband and I decided we would learn to ski. I followed the instructor's instructions to the letter, right down to the part of pushing the big toe of my right foot down so I could turn. Yeah, like that was ever going to happen. I tried and tried and tried. Nothing was working. So when else fails, get on the ski lift and see what happens. Up to the top of the bunny hill I went. It was really high, remember I was in Vermont, they don't grow small hills there. Magically got off the ski lift in one piece, took one look down the hill, removed my skis, and walked down. For 2 seasons I tried to ski, but just could not do it. The positive aspect to this is I got to know the ski patrol guys and gals in Vermont, Colorado (Winter Park), Holiday Valley and Bristol Mountain, not because I was injured but because I would get to the top of the ski trail and refuse to ski down it. I preferred a ride on the back of the ski patrol snowmobiles.

Next, Kickboxing! I love it, was very good at it and even became an instructor. Martial arts type kickboxing, not the girlie fufu kind. But it was not to last more then 6 years. The trend did not last and the dojo stopped holding classes due to lack of attendance. So now I ride (or at least will ride in the warm weather) my bike, and am attending yoga classes. I am still looking for a martial arts based kickboxing class, and would love to participate again. Not instruct, just be a student. I really love it.

So this are my sports stories. Some day I will write about all the ski lift mishaps my husband caused, the situations are very funny. Except the one where the lady ended up being accidentally pushed into a pole by my husband, and getting a nasty bump on her head. That wasn't funny for the lady, but watching it happen was.

Buying season

I have been very busy the last few weeks with my business. It is the buying and ordering season for fall. It is really going to suck when I have to go the shows in NYC. Yeah I am not looking forward to a few days in NYC,eating in fabulous restaurants, looking at the newest clothes for fall and holiday seasons, getting a peek at Resort 2008 and early spring 2008 trends, meeting new people from the fashion industry, eating in fabulous restaurants ( did I say that all ready?). Maybe I will even have time to catch a show, and then there is eating in fabulous restaurants. Yep, I am not looking forward to NYC at all.

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Employees

MH is no longer employed at my husband's company. Two Fridays ago his car broke down while he was on his way to see a customer. He ended up renting a car and driving home. Why he did not call the customer we do not know. On Monday he rented a Uhaul truck with a tow thing and towed his car home. Why he did not tow the car home over the weekend we do not know.

My husband emailed and left voice mail messages for MH on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the following week regarding customer issues, and the need for MH to come work in the office for a few days, so my husband could help him with a variety of problems and then hubby would work with MH in his territory. ( MH's territory is 3 hours away from the office).

No response was received until Thursday. MH called and informed my husband the reason it took so long to get back to him was because MH had to cool down, he did not appreciate the emails etc. and then he quit. MH said the customers were not responding to him, to much detail is required from the manufacturers, and that it was best to part company.

Ok, so long, good bye, adios. My husband did request a day and time from MH so hubby could pick up some equipment, samples, and literature. So far MH has not called back regarding this.

MH all ready has another job as a mortgage broker working strictly on a commission basis. We wish him good luck.

TF is going on vacation to Florida today and all of next week. I guess that explains why he was on his computer during business hours looking at Disney sites back in Jan and Feb. My husband is at a sales meeting and show covering for TF while TF is enjoying the sunshine.

Hubby has finally had enough and is going to start delegating, requiring reports and make his expectations of TF's duties clear. He is also going to revamp his management style of the new sales person yet to be hired. Hooray!!!

Movement

So my husband has lost 7 pounds by running like a mad man on the treadmill for the last 3 months, cutting back on bad foods, and limiting alcohol to weekends. I am maintaining my weight and really need to get back into the groove of movement. Yoga helps me sleep, relax, and clear my mind etc, but not in the cardio department.

Over the weekend we took our dogs to the park an did some hiking. It was nice. The dogs loved it, and they even got to swim in the ponds. I am so out of shape my calf muscles are aching from the hike, we hiked for 45 minutes. At least it was some enjoyable movement.

I am going to go to yoga tonight and hopefully get up in the am and go for a walk. I'll put my Ipod on and listen to Dave. The coffee cup will stay home so I can walk fast and not worry about spilling it.



My reward for walking will be the coffee.