Oh, and I realized at the very last minute I shouldn't be thinking of vacuuming the living room rugs during the Lunar New Year (sweeping good fortune out the door and all). Whew! Close call!

Later. To test this better day theory I took the bus downtown wondering what I might be up for (lunch at City Center, sit for a while, maybe walk a few blocks around Chinatown, then catch the bus back - no real exertion of any kind, in other words?) and found myself walking many blocks down Broadway to Jack London Square (whoop!) feeling good and checking out the empty restaurants and store fronts that have popped up in my absence, the square itself almost empty just after one on a Wednesday afternoon.

Lots of store fronts, restaurants and at least one theater looking for new tenants. A number of smaller stores have gone out of business all along my stretch of Broadway between Grand and Jack London, I wonder if this is the low point or a check point on the way to the basement? Two of the major restaurants right in the square itself are gone, the windows taped over in brown paper with signs looking for new tenants. Not good. I suppose. Makes me wonder what all the new condominiums coming on the market in the downtown are selling for.

Still, real estate aside, the economy aside, when's the last time I've walked around for a couple of hours anywhere? A good sign? Yup. I'm saying “yup” as I sit here at the computer with the News Hour playing in the background, feeling good, a sore muscle or two, no complaints. Ran into Ms. V on the way who it turned out was using her two hour lunch to run around the lake and the area to put 30,000 steps on her pedometer (part of my old company's program to get its people in shape). A reality check. I'm crowing about walking for two hours and she's running for two hours? Yup.