Which isn't really a good start to the month. But really, life is busy and I do have a hard time slowing down. At least if I'm busy lately it's partially an active kind of busy what with gym outings at least once a month with Jon and quite a lot of Pokemon GO walking (today was the end of their first event ever: Halloween week, and I'd say on the whole it was a success, aided in part by the weather being not quite wintery for the whole week).
And here I find a topic on which to type: Pokemon GO. I first downloaded the app during the long weekend in September partially out of curiosity but partially also because of my desire to get walking more, seeing as walking is one of my most favourite ways of staying active and of locomoting from place to place. And while the app didn't track all of my movement on this first weekend, due in part to my not setting my phone settings correctly, I learned quickly and was soon in the habit of playing daily.
The Pokemon GO PLUS which I chose to order and receive on release day has helped a whole lot with this. This makes my walking (particularly in places where I need to be much more cautious, in other words, in places where it is dark or where there are roads with traffic or perceived people danger or etc.) potentially less distracted, and my Pokemon GO playing much more passive, but eventually with some updates to the game the PLUS has allowed me to concentrate on throwing the balls at Pokemon rather than trying to find Pokestops madly and so on. It's a rather useful tool as I learned when the temperatures got colder, as I could play with my hands in pockets (theoretically I could play with my hands in mittens too but it hasn't quite gotten that gold: I've played with thin conductive touchscreen gloves on my hands, though, and pockets are generally much warmer. The downside of the PLUS is of course that the catch rate is much reduced when compared to actively throwing pokeballs, but that's a small price to pay to be able to concentrate more fully on other things and/or keep my hands warm. The PLUS has also been very helpful when it comes to taking transit or being a passenger in a vehicle (note that I do not drive so I am not one of those players who would EVER be caught operating a motor vehicle and playing Pokemon GO simultaneously).
Yes, as Jon would say, I am perhaps a bit addicted to the game, but you know what? I find it a whole lot of fun and it has been encouraging me to walk outside for longer, even when the temperatures are less than ideal. And that's a win-win. Because, certainly, I want to get out walking more. And when it gets colder, having West Edmonton Mall (among other malls) as an indoor option for Pokemon GO gameplay will be rather helpful.
I'm not letting the game distract me from rather important things like work, for example. But I'm really enjoying it when I'm out and about. This game encourages me to walk more so in that sense it is an utter success in my books. Sure, it's the first Pokemon game I've ever played, and while I do love the theme and the jokes and the art etc. of the Pokemon themselves, for me the greatest appeal is the walking and the little acheivements throughout the game, even if the acheivements are personal rather than only the actual badges (though in my case I'll often keep walking just to hatch an egg or to find a gym that I can actually deposit a Pokemon into etc. and I consider those good short term walking goals for a day or a walk).
I hope to get back into the writing habit more properly this month — I know that I barely wrote throughout the rest of the year last year, but I did manage to write every day of November with the exception of Extra Life (please donate! I'd like to raise a whole lot more money this year than last, especially given how hard it is to stay up for that many hours playing games). This year, my hope is to ACTUALLY not miss any days at all.