My husband got a new fancy Timex running "watch" for Christmas, complete with heart rate monitor, GPS, and about a million other things he hasn't figured out yet. His initial take was that it didn't work properly. Couldn't figure out how to make it do what he wanted. Probably broken. Did he read the manual? Of course not...
So, as he harrumphed around threatening to send it back, I gently suggested, knowing I can geek him under the table but trying not to sound like a complete a**hole, "Why don't you let me have a look at it?" He happily slid it over to me and hurried off to do something more to his liking.
I read the directions and fiddled with it for a bit, then went out to run a few loops of the Pecetti Ranch Estates trail system, checking the watch face periodically. At the end of the first loop, I stopped to see what had recorded. Didn't look quite as I anticipated. I reset it and restarted, then headed off on the next loop lost in thought, pondering how the device might be set up to work. I was so totally preoccupied that I dang near tripped over a coyote that loped out of the bushes as I came around the north end of the trail. We were both completely startled; he trotted warily over to the middle of the adjacent vacant lot while I jogged backwards checking to see what he would do next. He was a 
beautiful animal, sleek and furry, with ears alertly pricked up, about the size of a small golden retriever. I briefly wondered if I was in any danger. Coyotes are extremely common all over Reno, and very acclimated to humans, but I have never heard of one attacking an adult. They will devour your household pet in a heartbeat, but I haven't previously felt threatened by the many I have encountered over the years. Still, you never know with wild animals, and I hadn't ever been quite this close to one.
I continued on with my run, checking back every so often. He stood frozen in some tall weeds, never taking his eyes off me until I had crossed Boulder Glen Way and rounded the corner out of view. Guess he was probably thinking the same thing: "Never can tell with them humans" (yes, I speak coyote. And whale).
I am happy to report that I was able to figure out enough about how my husband's extremely complicated new toy worked to pique his interest (and convince him that it was in fact working correctly). He is now, belatedly, watching a video on the intricacies of setting up the display the way he wants it and enthusiastically planning his first run of 2012.
Photo credit: Arastradero Coyote by donjd2, Flickr via Creative Commons License
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