Today is National Walk to Work Day!

I don’t walk to work, and I’ve heard and said all the excuses possible:  I live too far away, I need my sleep, I have to pick up groceries on the way home.

If you are reading this before leaving for work, today is a chance to try something new, and create a new routine! If you are already at work, resolve to walk to work on Monday or take a walk at lunchtime.

Walk to Work Day was originally promoted by Prevention Magazine in 2004 to help the planet by reducing the number of vehicles on the road, but was quickly picked up by the US Department of Health and Human Services as a great activity for our physical and mental health.

Of course, there are many other benefits to walking to work. An informal poll here at the palatial Velsoft Head Office came up with several personal benefits:

  • Can catch loads more Pokémon (Brandon)
  • Time for 27 more cigarettes (Scott and Michael)
  • More chance of finding money on the ground (Dave)
  • Burns enough calories to have four more M&Ms each day (Carol)
  • Increased cognitive function (Cindy)
  • Would give 12 hours and 56 minutes of creative thought time (Dylan)
  • More time to bask in the joy of working for Velsoft (Sandra)
  • More time to talk with clients before work (Jim)
  • More quiet time (Sydney)
  • An hour totally by himself! (Ben)

What’s in the Pipeline:

  • Ben is finishing off some custom projects and working with new client projects.
  • Carol is working on a custom project and writing blogs.
  • Jan is on vacation.
  • Kevin and Sydney are working on custom projects.

Tech topics:

  • Velsoft product pages now include course outlines

Course Count:

Courses released this month:

Here is the official count of courses for both courseware and eLearning, broken down by Computer and SoftSkills.

Computer SoftSkills Total Courses
Courseware 279 168 447
eLearning 879 164 1043

Interesting Facts

  • The American Heart Association’s National Walk to Work Day in the United States is celebrated the first Wednesday in April.
  • In Australia, Walk to Work Day is in October.
  • The UK observes Walk to Work Month in May.
  • It takes almost two hours of walking to burn off the calories of a Big Mac meal.
  • Jean Beliveau walked around the world (46,600 miles/74,995 km). The trip took the former neon signs salesman 11 years.
  • Average steps walked each day by Americans – 5,117; Japanese – 7,168, Australians – 9,695. (source http://www.tipsywriter.com/blog/interesting-facts-walking/ )