Paid to sit

I'm $100 richer today than I was yesterday. The reason for my fatter wallet? Today I participated in an experiment at UTEP's Biomechanics Laboratory. The purpose of the experiment is to test the effects on your muscles of sitting for long periods of time. An attendant hooks you up to some electrodes and every hour, you do some muscle resistance tests. The rest of the time you sit in a chair where you can read or write or study or stare into space. No computer use allowed.

Getting paid to sit (mostly) for eight hours is a pretty nice gig. I was not bored at all; in fact, I was happy to have a golden invitation to read. There wasn't much else I could do. I nearly polished off East of Eden and started reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read TIME and Cosmo and Runner's World. It was cool. I really wish I could do it again! Uninterrupted time to read for pleasure, there's one thing I could never get enough of....