Walking is good. It’s a healthy exercise, and sometimes has the advantage of taking you from point A to point B. When you don’t want to go to point B, preferring to stay at A, the solution is a treadmill. We learned that from hamsters.

I’ve had a treadmill for several years, bought used for $100, and used it often. It was a good one, telling me how far I went, how fast, and for how long. Finally, though, it gave up, saying “Just go to point B.” So, I drove to point B, because the treadmill store was too far to walk, and I needed my truck to bring a new one home.

I bought a new treadmill, same good brand as my old one, and drove it home. That was the easy (but not cheap) part. My door is only about 32 inches wide. That had been fine for my old treadmill– a bit tight, but no problem. The new one, I found, was just a bit wider, no matter how it approached the opening. I tried all the approaches. I would either have to make my door bigger, or the treadmill smaller.

I chose the latter option. After inspecting the treadmill, I found that with 4 bolts removed, plus a wire connection, the frame and the belt and motor part could be separated. The hardest part was fully disconnecting the wire, which had been stuck through a hole with a solid piece of plastic around it. I had to cut the plastic piece loose without damaging the wire. That took time.

Separated, both parts were heavy and tricky to move, but I got them through the door. Then came reassembly, which involved holding two heavy parts in the right position to put the bolts through the holes. Using pillows from my bed helped.

The entire task had taken several hours, but at last my new treadmill was ready for a walk. I decided it had already given me a full workout, and only walked long enough to test it.