average life

For the last couple of weeks I?ve been taking MARTA to work instead of driving.  Every morning at 7:30, I get up, take a shower, get dressed and check my email (not always in that order).  I then walk two blocks to the Midtown Marta station.  I switch trains at Five Points and take the East Line to the Inman Park station.  I then walk half a mile or so to my office.

My decision to do this has little to do with the war in Iraq, the planet, or even the price of gas.  I live so relatively close to my office and Marta is expensive enough that I?m not actually saving much money.

I?m doing it so my heart doesn?t explode.

I?ve never been super active.  Sure, I used to mountain bike occasionally, but I?ve never done?really?anything.  I?ve discovered that college ?doing nothing? is way more active than real job ?doing nothing?.

When you have a real job, you can go for days without doing anything.  I mean, I?ve mentally counted up how much I?ve walked in a day and only came up with the distance of half a mall (not the Lennox, triple-decker-type mall, but the crappy mall in Tucker).

Walking up the stairs in my apartment would get me winded.  I decided that was so, incredibly, lame.  So I started walking and taking Marta.  The next step is to ride my bike, but I need to get some flashers just in case I have to work late.

One of the big advantages of living in the city is that you don?t live in your apartment.  You live in the city.  You want to read a book?  You walk to Piedmont Park and find a bench.  Hungry?  Hop on down to one of the restaurants on Peachtree.  The problem was that I was (read: am) so out of shape, I didn?t feel the energy to even walk to couple of blocks down to the park.

So in order to prevent me from turning into that crazy guy who never leaves his apartment and beats on the wall when you are only slightly loud and has one too many houseplants?I?m walking to work.