Walking, Part 2

Its quickly getting too hot for some lunchtime walks of 40 to 45 minutes as summer approaches. On a recent walk, among all the other trash that is along the roadside was a Scratch-off lottery ticket. Of course it was a loser, and yes I checked, but I had to ask myself what if it had been a winner. And what if it had been a big winner. When is someone obligated to find the owner of a lost, but valuable item?

People find money occasionally here and there of nominal amounts to their good fortune. There are stories of cab drivers finding jewelry or huge amounts of cash left behind in their cars and ultimately finding the owner.

So, would I need to find the owner of a lost winning lottery ticket? And its a big winner. How would I do that? Perhaps a CraigsList ad - "If you've lost a $25 million dollar lottery ticket, please email me with the date and numbers, and where you lost it, and its yours."

Or perhaps I decide to cash it in. I can't find a scenario where I could be in trouble (my greatest fear in all this, accused of theft of some sort!) and would then be the winner. Clear conscious? Nothing a few hundred rounds of golf couldn't cure I hope.

The Bible has the parable of a man out walking who finds a great treasure in a field. He hides the treasure, sells all his property, then buys the field and acquires the great treasure for himself. The walking man does not tell the original owner of the treasure - maybe it was property owned by a corrupt government that acquired it threw some corrupt means, but we're not told that part of the story.

I am not sure what would happen, but I will keep searching.

Walking Part 1

Since I haven't been getting much exercise at home, I decided to spend most of my lunches at work walking. I have been getting about 40 to 45 minutes in about 4 times a week. The weather has been good so far but will be too hot soon enough. I have learned a few things.

Walking near where I work is no picnic. Many of the roads have no sidewalks, and the roads turn out to be highways. I am constantly on the look out at traffic. Often I have to walk in a dried out ditch to avoid being too close to the road.

There is trash everywhere. Even where you think there might not be trash, there's trash. I have seen just about everything in the most unusual places except for the stereotypical fish skeleton. People are pigs!

Out walking by yourself is like mowing the lawn. There isn't much to do except walk and think about stuff. When I return I don't remember much of what I thought about either, much like my dreams at night.

Sea To Shining Sea - By Bike!

A high school buddy of mine is riding from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic by bicycle. The trip involves 25 days of riding of about 100+ miles each day. They started with 7 straight days and then had a rest day; then 8 days more before a rest day and then finally 10 days straight to the Atlantic.

He is blogging about his ride experience and posting a few photos. The ride organizer also is posting entries and photos here.

Sounds like a great way to see the country, but as Eric writes there have been serious accidents and injuries and three riders have had heart attacks that have taken them out of the tour. Tragically one man dies in his sleep.