Advocacy & Safety - 100 Feet

I was out in the yard this afternoon and witnessed my neighbor to the south get in her car and drive over to our neighbor to the north's house. She went up to the door and handed them a small object then drove home. The two houses aren't 100' apart!! Granted there was some snow, but both driveways and the road in between were completly clear. We are a hopeless automobile culture.
Speaking of the snow, I was proud of myself this morning. I cleaned the 8" inches of snow off my driveway with my human powered Yupper Scooper (push shovel) faster than the neighbor to the north could get his done with his 5hp snow blower. All that snowblowing probably made him late to the gym for his workout!

This is the basis for my passionate argument:

The reason (with some notable exceptions) so many people are overweight in modern industrialized society is simple: our bodies were designed by nature to expend a great deal of physical energy everyday. Fat storage is a tribute to the efficiency of the human machine: fat is a fantastic fuel. We store fat so efficiently, our bodies don't even know when to stop! Now, we lie in the bed, sit behind the wheel, sit behind the desk, and lie/sit on the couch. We eat for fun. Exercise is no longer a part of daily life, but a "new year's resolution."

So many of our modern diseases (heart disease, stroke, diabetes,
osteoporosis, depression) are often linked to physical inactivity.
We pay billions every year to reverse these trends, but the solution is often simple: bicycle, walk, swim, hike, ski, etc., and eat sensibly.


:rolleyes:

Same here in my neighborhood.

The few who DO walk, stop in front of my house to poop their dogs in my yard.

Yep, I'm the only one around here who has no snow blower.
" 'Why do I hand shovel the driveway', I've been asked."

Because I can! :thumbup:

Strike up another one. It continues to amaze me the way people will drive distances that are simply faster to walk. As far as I'm concerned, bring on $5/litre fuel.

And I thought your post, "100 feet," was about a new math equation:

100 feet = 50 bikers :D

but, as I read it, I realized it was about those darn lazy non-bikers.

Where I used to live (about ten miles away) there was a group of neighbors, none living more than 2 houses apart.

On Broncos football Sundays, it was funny watching each of them get into their cars, drive two or three houses, and park their cars in front of the host for the game on TV.

Of course, we learned later that they were getting their exercise in a different way. They were all sleeping with each other, and eventually there were some divorces and recouplings.

On the subject of snowblowers, I do have one and use it for snows over about 3 inches in depth. I have a large driveway, and shoveling snow is NOT one of the better exercises, especially for those of us in our mature years. Very hard on the back, and one of the more effective causes of heart attacks. I use a "snowplow" type of push shovel for those 3 inch and less snows. It works great. BUt for heavy snows, I save myself for other exercises and use the blower.

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