never take your kindle for a walk.

I have a half marathon in less a week. I have not trained. Actually for the last three weeks or so I haven't even met my goals for regular walking. I'm averaging 6K a day. Hopefully the hills will pay off.

Yesterday I thought was the Allentown, Pa. Volkssport walk. The email said "On Saturday the group walk will be Allentown, Pa. Be at the start point at 10:00 am. The start point is the Comfort Suites Inn on Hamilton Blvd." Perfect. I needed to take Lil Bug to Girl Scouts at Betsy's. She'd be there for three hours.

I arrived at 9:30. Got everything out and waited. Nobody came. Not even Bonnie and Megan. (They did a training walk in the 'hood.) I left at 10:30 and walked alone. I decided I would walk slower and read-and-walk. Paved trails, not many people. I had started a book the day before and wanted to finish it. I rarely get to read and the prospect of picking it up in January did not appeal to me.

Things were semi-fine when I started. The screen was a little dark in the shade but still readable. Then I hit a sunny stretch. Nothing. The next two miles was a sunny stretch. I just closed the case and walked on. Kind of pissed I didn't bring a real book.

Now I have a like-hate relationship with Kindle. I bought my first one all excited and quickly decided I didn't like to read on a screen. I read a few books, and kept it in my purse for when you get stuck places or stay longer than you plan.  Sharon wanted a Kindle for Christmas so I gave her mine and bought the smaller, lighter, newer version. (Sharon STILL is uding that one.) One day I fell and broke Kindle. So Barb sent me her old one. That lasted about a year before I fell with it again. I bought yet another new one.  (#4 if you are counting.) Still the old fashioned keyboard kind, with the white pages that you could read anywhere. It wasn't even a year old--maybe not even 6 months-- and I dropped my purse in Doylestown. It broke again.

I swore, no more Kindles. I'm done. Paper is better.

Christmas morning 2013 arrives and guess what's under the tree? That's right. A new Kindle—a Kindle Fire. I had no desire to own the tablet version. That could be the reason I disliked it from the moment I plugged it in. I really haven't had a chance to read it much since. When I'm home I work. And when it was given to me the rule was "you cannot carry it in your purse" it became even more useless. In my purse was when I used it the most.

The last time I read any thing on it was in July at Barb's house. I didn't even open it again till Friday when I was driving Lydia to appointments. I knew I had a quick read on it (The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling) that didn't take much attention. I was too lazy to go upstairs to get a real book. I only had 14% battery at the first stop--and the wrong cord. This doesn't happen with paper books. I was able to read it at the first appointment. And walked with Betsy during the second. I knew there were screen issues at the third. I had to sit exactly right in the car to see anything.

So Saturday not working in the sun did not surprise me. I was prepared for the sun blocking the screen. What I wasn't prepared for was the over 200 page skip. I was on about 168 when I started. The next time I reached a shady spot I was at about 398. Apparently my moving arm turned the page. Maybe not each time. But more than 200 times. This does not happen with paper books. I had to scroll back to find where I was. Aargh.

If it wasn't that I had 4K pages of Ken Folliet's newest trilogy on there, I think I'd give it away. Maybe I should anyway. I don't have time to read 4K pages.