In today's Sunday newspaper ad section Office Depot had the Microsoft wireless laptop mouse on sale for $10. It is normally $30. It works great and I think I am going to go pick up at least one more. You do not need to mail in a rebate. It is $10 at the cash register. The package says the one AA battery it takes should last about 6 months.

After picking that up at Office Depot we stopped at PetSmart to see if there were any dogs to say hi too. We also picked up two pounds of small Scooby snacks to have on hand for the neighbor's dog we like.

From there we went to Walgreens because they had a good sale on cosmetics. While Sheri was picking out her stuff I wandered around the store and I came across the second incredibly good deal of the day. The Timex heart rate monitor usually retails for around $50, and they had it on sale for only $26! I got the last one too. Last year I was kicking around buying one, and probably would have eventually even without the bargain-basement price.

We have a stationary exercise bike with a built in heart rate monitor and I love using that because it ensures that you are both:

a) not overdoing it by making sure your heart rate does not go over your high target, and
b) makes sure the 30 minutes you are taking out of your schedule to exercise is actually benefiting you by making sure your heart rate is high enough.

There have been times I have been on my regular bike and I didn't know if I was pushing myself too hard or not. Maybe it just felt like I was because it was hot or thirsty? I didn't know. With this monitor I will have more productive rides because I will know for sure what my body is doing.

It has an upper and lower limit alarm. If it hits the upper limit you know to back off before you hurt yourself. If the lower limit goes off you know to kick it up a notch to make your exercise time really count.

I have read a few studies that said exercising above your recommended heart rate does not burn significantly more calories or give you any extra health benefits, and could actually be dangerous. If you do not get your heart rate high enough you are missing out on all of the benefits of your exercise time. Keeping your heart rate in your zone is the best way to make the most out of your efforts.

There is a transmitter on a strap that goes around your chest and transmits your heart rate to the watch. I tried it on and it picked up the signal and my heart rate right away. I got on the bike to see if the two numbers matched up. They did to within just a few beats from each other.

Sheri got a paged to a bridge call while we were out, so we had to cut it short and go home. When we got home she could not connect to work, so she had to drive into work to fix things. I didn't have anything going on so I came with her. I am sitting at the desk next to hers writing this and using my new wireless mouse on my laptop.

When she is done we might go to the Starbuck's next door for an iced coffee and see if there is anything we want to do on this end of town. We are spitting distance from O'Hare for your reference.