Losing the Balcony Over the Toy Store

I went to my fitness center yesterday. Our daughter has been consistently more conscientious about going than have I. In a good week, I'll get inside the facility twice maybe.. Not that long ago, I was so concerned about my attendance because of the money this is costing me I considered counting as visits days I thought about going. How sad.

I went earlier this week and there were a gaggle of folks working out so I had to settle for a treadmill instead of my Precor Super-Duper Machine of Death, shown here, full size.


If you're no bigger than the period at the end of the sentence above the picture, that is. I crack myself up, I really do. But that's not the point, at least not yet; it may be by the time I get done, but I'm not there yet.

The fitness center only has two of these machines. I suspect that has something to do with the Geneva Convention. Or not. They were both in use. That's a one laughing eye and one crying eye situation for me. I've mentioned when I'm on it, and its actual name is Precor AMT 885 Open Adaptive Motion Elliptical Trainer it almost kills me, but what doesn't kill me might hurt someone else and I'd sure hate to miss that. No such luck. There were two kids and they were each going at least ten time faster on the machines than I ever manage all without breaking a sweat.

I already disliked them but then suddenly I hated them and they started it. Seriously. Each of the two had an IPad set up on the handlebars of the doohickey so that the display screen for the machine was propping up their toys. They were using the center's wi-fi connection and their IPads to play chess with one another.

My lungs were exploding just watching them skip along on the machine at full speed all the while rooking and queening and never taking their eyes off their respective boards. They were already on the machines when I arrived. I ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill (a little slice of heaven for someone with prosthetic knees, but important I not only keep trying to do but that I succeed at) and then I biked for another couple of miles with a sci-fi system of sorts that's really nice.

And when all of that was done and I was a puddle of sweat and gym clothes on the floor near the entrance, those two were still scampering along, playing chess. They may still be there. I deliberately didn't look for them the last time I was there, just in case I found them.
-bill kenny