Hoping to walk a mile or two a day at home

Do you know how many steps there are between your bed and your kitchen sink? I know that's a dumb question to ask, but I counted mine the other day.

I knew that it was a lot of steps since my bedroom is in one addition to my original house while the kitchen sink is in the addition on the other end of my house.

I heard there are 2,000 steps in a mile. I am assuming they are ordinary sized steps so I counted. There are 50 steps from my bed to the kitchen sink. That makes 100 steps round trip, so I decided to start walking through my house for exercise.

I made five roundtrips from the bedroom to the kitchen, which related to one-fourth of a mile. I was hoping I could do a mile or two a day, but guess I'll have to work up to it.

After 30 minutes on my bicycle each morning, I am too pooped to make 40 trips a day from bed to sink.

I wonder if it takes more energy to dodge dressers, bookcases, pianos and TV's than it does to walk in a straight line. Maybe I should try to get in 60 minutes each day

I have a couple of pieces of information to share with you today.

First, if you are a senior who is considering going to a mortgage company to request a reverse mortgage on your home, please take care.

There are many hitches to this type of financing with one of them being excess charges that are made by the lender. These are fees that are added on to your loan.

According to the National Public Radio, these fees can get excessive. Read all the information before you sign.

It's been a long time since I was a loan officer at the old B of A, so I don't know what the rules are nowadays with regard to revealing just exactly what your interest rate and fees will be.

Second, the government has another giveaway program for anyone with a "low" income, which means something in the neighborhood of $26,000 a year.

You can send a Form 8880 to the IRS, which is an application for money you are supposed to put in a retirement account. The flaw in the project is the government is not going to double check to determine whether or not you do put the money away for retirement.

Let's think about this: The government already has a program to give you some money to spend. They want you to spend to help the current economy.

On the other hand, they are giving away money to put in a retirement account. That means less money to build up the economy.

The other day I learned the names of 10 hymns geared to the older generation, so I thought I would share them.

No. 10 is It is well with my soul, but my back aches a lot; No. 9 — Nobody knows the trouble I have seeing; No. 8 — There's something about that name, but I can't remember what it is at the moment; No. 7 — Just a slower walk with thee; No. 6 — Count your many birthdays name them one by one; No. 5 — Go tell it on the mountain and speak up; No. 4 — Give me that old-timers religion; No. 3 — Blessed insurance; No. 2 — Guide me oh though great Jehovah, I've forgotten where I parked; and No. 1 is Nearer my God to thee.

For some reason I am familiar with all of these hymns. I know it is not because I am getting old.

Don't forget the Orland Fireman's Ball this weekend.

Even if you don't plan to go, it would be nice if you buy some tickets from one of the firefighters.

It is a fundraiser, and I can't think of anything more important than the fire department.

Monday is St. Pat's day so be sure and wear your green unless you want to be pinched.