SparkBehind

Thursday, December 29, 2011

I haven't been around much lately. I had the last several days off because my sister was in town. This meant too much eating and too little moving.

I'm also a little down because the stationary bike I bought is on back order till January 16. When I called to check on the order, they said it was all fine, then called back and said, oh, no, it's on back order. Do you want to cancel?

The next cheapest price is $32 more and should arrive a week to a week-and-a-half earlier. I'm not sure it's worth it. Plus, I have a $10 credit from this particular website because they sent a previous order to my old address (in spite of the fact that it was the first time I'd ordered from them...and I've been in this house for a year and a half!). They gave me the credit for the trouble of schlepping to the old apartment and looking for the package.

Well, after this, I won't be using this website again, so I figure this is my only chance to use the $10 credit.

At first, I thought, what a bummer that I can't work out as much as usual...I won't lose weight! But then today, I remembered the adage about weight loss being 80% about nutrition and 20% exercise. So I am pledging to stay in my ranges with more gusto than before at least until I get my bike.

And I'll keep working out, just not as much. I have a housemate/tenant, so when she's home, I don't want to be exercising, because it feels weird with her here to be rolling all over the floor. But I'll make the most of the time that she's not home.

Good to be back!

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Just Kidding!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

You're going to get one, and maybe two, more updates on my gym drama.

Before I got home to meet the electrician, I stopped by the gym to see the hot assistant manager, and he wasn't there. The man at the desk said he'd be there after 2. So after the electrician finished giving me light, I went back. Stupid Marcos was at the desk, and he said the assistant manager wasn't coming in yesterday, and he'd be there today. Two trips for naught! I left and was so upset, and it was stupid, but I started crying in my car. Crying in my car! It shouldn't be this difficult and stressful!

But then I got mad and decided I was going to buy the bike. I went Christmas shopping for my husband, and my phone rang. It was MARCOS. He didn't know I was I, so he called about my expired membership. I told him, "We spoke about my membership on Sunday, and I told you I wasn't keen on renewing."

He said, "Oh, that's right, but you were going to talk to Melvin, right?"

And I said, "Yes, but he's not here today."

And he said, "Well, if he comes in to workout, I'll refresh his memory and tell him to call you."

So now I've decided to wait until this evening to buy the bike. If the assistant manager calls me today, then I'll figure out what to do then. But I reached out twice, and I'm the one spending money here.

I stopped by the gym a third time last night and waited. I wanted to see my friend from my Combat class. When she came out, I gave her my business card and told her I probably wasn't coming back, but I really like her, so we should hang out. She texted me last night so I have her information.

Through all of this, I haven't been exercising at all. I thought I was going to Pump and Combat last night, but I couldn't (or wouldn't, really) renew my membership. I'm going to do some ST from SP tonight. Sorry, Starfish, but it's all Marcos's fault!

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Okay, Last Update, I Promise

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I found a bike. Great reviews, reasonably priced. I'm quite pleased.

But I can't give up my membership. As I was talking it over with my husband last night (tonight? It's 3:45 am), I mentioned how sad I was to stop going to see Sharon (my Pump and Combat instructor) and my friend from Combat.

And that's when I realized that the extra $50 (or the extra $111 that the membership costs over the bike) buys me up to 52 sessions with Sharon. 104 sessions, if you count Pump and Combat as two separate classes, which you should.

And THAT, my friends, is worth it.

So today, I'm going to go straight from work to the gym to sign up with the assistant manager and see what all freebies they can give me (I'm going to play it cool and maybe mention the bike!), then I'll come home, get ready and go to see Sharon. I'm spending a lot of extra money here, I gotta make sure I get the most out of it.

Thanks for reading, if you're still reading these boring blogs. I'll try to be more interesting soon!

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Lots to Think About

Monday, December 19, 2011

I went to husband's big gym with him today. I got a cheaper per-month deal there in, like, five seconds.

So there, Marcos!

I found some stationary bikes I liked online, but being 4'10", I knew I'd need to be able to try them out to make sure that I could actually use them, so we hit big sporting goods store after that to try some out. Turned out, there weren't any on display. We inquired as to their return policy, and left more or less satisfied.

Then, we went back to my gym. I walked to the front desk, glanced to the sales desks, and saw Marcos there. Husband said, "We need to discuss membership," and I said, "With anyone but Marcos." The boy said, "Okay, let me go get the assistant manager. I can bring him over here. Marcos isn't even working. He's just here, hanging out."

The assistant manager came over. And he was very nice, and kinda hot. But most importantly, he was very, very nice. I told him about awful Marcos, and that I gave him a hard time, too, but still. He said there was nothing he could do, and that we could talk with the manager tomorrow or Wednesday, but the assistant manager won't be there tomorrow. He said if I come on Wednesday or Thursday, I won't have to pay any additional fees; I can still just reactivate.

So I don't know what to do. I kind of just want to pay my extra $50, but to the nice assistant manager. He offered me free tanning, which is nice, but I don't really want that. I dunno. But at least I feel validated. It's a little closer than my husband's gym.

Maybe I can do like Lulu says, do this, buy the bike, too, and see if I can wean myself off.

I'm still soliciting opinions. =)

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Gym Mess - Advice Needed

Sunday, December 18, 2011

My gym membership expires on Tuesday.

I went to the desk today to renew. And they want to charge me $50 more for a year membership than they did last year!

Okay, so that's $4 more per month. $1 more per week. Not going to break me, and I'm not universally opposed to the increase, though I'm irritated, because:

1. I've been a loyal member for three years. This would have been my fourth contract.

2. I'm not getting anything additional in return. They are letting me go to any of their gyms in the area instead of just this gym, but I don't NEED nor WANT to go to any other gym. There's a gym near my office with no parking, so the only time I'd go would be on days that the weather is too bad for me to drive into work and I take the Metro. Is that worth $50? I don't know.

3. I don't want to pay more!

In addition to all that, the "sales manager" has a lot to learn. He wasn't nice to me at all, talked down to me a bit, and then blew me off at the end. And his arguments regarding why I should take this increase without complaint were stupid. As in:

1. You're not going to find a cheaper gym membership in this area.

My husband pays $19 per month at other big-name gym.

2. Your husband won't be for long. His big-name gym just got bought by yet another big-name gym, so it's all going to go up. I bet he comes here. I guarantee you won't find any other cheaper.

Really? I should just trust you on that. What guarantee are you offering? And anyway, I don't care what other memberships cost. What other memberships cost are completely irrelevant to me. I care about what MY membership costs.

3. Well, you can go to other gyms. Where do you work?

Van Ness, and I used to go to that one, but they don't have parking, although, it's a nicer gym. But I have no need to go there anymore.

4. You should check out the other clubs. Ballston is really big, has lots of classes.

I've been to Ballston. And Rosslyn.

5. It really is a good deal on a membership for this area.

I. Don't. Care.

6. I can offer your husband a one-month pass. That's worth $50.

Now we're talking. Let me check with him. Oh, he didn't answer. Well, I'm going to have to think about this.

7. I can mail you a $25 gift card.

For what? For your overpriced shirts and stuff?

At this point, he said, "Okay," and turned back to his computer screen, and kind of gave me a blow-off hand wave.

__________________________________

The only thing I'm really clear on at this point is that Marcos will not be getting a commission on my membership if I do choose to renew.

So, what do I do? I could renew with a different salesman.

I could stop my membership. I don't know if I would find a different membership for cheaper. It'd have to be cheaper, because it would be farther from my house.

If I don't have a membership, how do I exercise? How do other people do it? Can $350 buy a good elliptical or stationary bike? What about $600? Where would I put it? Would I do workout videos if I got some?

What do y'all do for exercise? And what do you think of my gym membership situation? Am I being unreasonable?

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