Cheating

For the past few weeks, I've been battling a couple of different illnesses. First, it wast the GI flu, then it was whatever I have now. And both times, I was basically down and out most of the day. I absolutely detest getting sick, and I'm admittedly useless when I get sick. Thankfully, my wife has been able to take care of things for the most part. I just pray that she or my kids (who likely gave this to me) don't catch it.

So in these times of being sick, I'm faced with a dilemma: how on earth do I complete my move goal? At the time of this writing, I've completed my move goal 296 times in a row – but it comes with a caveat. My wife will tell me that I'm cheating, but really, I blame Apple for what I'm doing. How am I "cheating"?

I lower my move goal.

I blame Apple because they really need to provide ways for people who are sick to have some rest days. How am I supposed to complete my normal 550 move goal when I have a 102ºF fever? There should be a way to change the Activity rings to a "sick" mode, where it lowers all three rings to a reasonable amount. While I'm at it: there should be a rest day, at least one day a week, that I can not complete my rings and the move goal streak can continue. Activity++ does this, and I like that the streak just continues even if you've taken a day off.

When I'm done being sick, I'll change my move goal back to what it was and complete it regularly. But if I get sick again, I'll likely lower it to reduce my stress and keep the streak alive. Sure, I could let my streak lapse and start over. But unless you're a superhuman, it's difficult when life gets in your way and things slip a day. I'm all for the gamification of things like activity, but I'm also going to game the system if there isn't a reasonable way to let me take care of myself.