Please Take Activity

My husband and I were planning to have some work done on our home a while back, and we called a man who had been recommended to us for an estimate. His name was Manuel, and his command of English was limited. He told us he would rather communicate by text.

That made sense to me. I speak a little Italian and Spanish, but understand the written language better. And, of course, I rely on Google translate. I suspect Manuel does too.

After a few back and forth text messages to make sure we understood each other, we texted, "Thank you. We'll get back to you soon."

Manuel responded, "Thank you very much and I had an excellent time."

He is apparently easily entertained.

I've been trying to get more exercise lately, but I've read too many theories on aging. I have fallen prey to the idea that my age alone makes me super fragile, and under this thin skin are rickety old bones and flabby organs. So, I need to be careful. I don't want to break anything I'm gonna need later on.

For that reason, I recently bought a smart watch. It's not an Apple so it's probably not a brilliant watch. I just need it to track my steps and check my heart rate, so if it's clever, feisty, and cheap, we're a good fit.

I named my watch Helen Wait. That way, when my heart is pounding, I can go to Helen Wait. (Sorry, I couldn't resist that. I saw it on a sign in some restaurant up in North Georgia years ago, and I still think it's funny.)

I set a timer on Helen to remind me to get up from my desk. Every 30 minutes, she vibrates and shows me this message: "Please take activity."

I imagine some hard working person in China ran this translation by the boss, and the boss said, "According to Google translate, that is correct."

And, you know, I couldn't have said it better myself!

I get up and take activity. Like a pill. The best pill for good health that I can imagine.