Distance: 4 miles
Time: treadmill time!
Pace: treadmill pace!
Most Challenging Moment: Forgot my book
Most Inspiring Moment: Figured out how to watch John Oliver on the machine
It was back to the Y this week, where I am an official member! The whole sign-up process was so quick and painless. Took my credit card, had me sign a thing. When I asked about contracts and cancelling the guy said, "Well, you have to give two weeks' notice, otherwise you'll be charged another month. Oh! And there's one really annoying thing..."
I flinched. A muscle in my eye started twitching. Was this it? Was the Y just another money-grubbing gym, out to charge me $200 because I can only cancel my membership without a fee if I am being forcibly deported to another country (proof of deportation required offer not valid if country of deportation has a Crappy Expensive Gym).
"Yes?"
The guy sighed. "You have to come in person to cancel. You can't do it over the phone! How annoying is that?"
Yes, truly terrible. Brb, I'm going to go hug my Y membership card real tight.
While he was signing me up, the guy asked what I liked about the gym that made me sign up.
"The treadmills are awesome."
"Oh," he said. "You mean the ellipticals?"
*blinkblink* "No... Treadmills. I'm training for the marathon."
"Oh. Huh. Really?"
Ah yes, casual sexism. Not even the Y is a paradise.
But oh! The! Treadmills! They are great. Here, I took a picture:
Everything is controlled via the touchscreen, and there are so many thoughtful little features. You can workout by time, distance, or target calorie burn, which is just so smart. iPod dock, nice headphone jack, built-in AC unit to blow fresh cool air. It's got TV, YouTube, radio, Facebook, Angry Birds (really). I loaded up an episode of Last Week Tonight and kept pace while John Oliver excoriated doctors for accepting bribes from pharmaceutical reps. It was great!
And then...there was the ordeal with the car
Thursday's Run
Distance: 5 miles (target was 8)
Time: 54:55
Pace: 10:59 min/mil
Most Challenging Moment: Running down a busy, unplowed street, with the dog
Most Inspiring Moment: No broken ankles, no frostbite, all dogs and humans safe and accounted for
So. We have a parking space. It's behind our building, and it makes us feel very coddled and rich, especially after dealing with street parking in Chicago for two years (a place where they will tow your car, randomly and without warning, to another part of the neighborhood and suggest you wander the streets yourself to find it).
Since the snow began, our car has been chilling (ha) in its spot, but we knew we'd need it for Thursday, when we had to drive Abby to and from puppy school. All week, Dave and I steadily dug out and chipped away at the spot, but on Wednesday night when the car still wouldn't budge, we gave up and called AAA to tow it out. Here's how that looked:
Wednesday
8:00PM - call AAA. Get told there is a 4-hour wait for tow trucks. Okay, we say.
Thursday
3:00AM - tow truck arrives, wakes Dave up. Dave and the guy spend the next two hours trying to budge our car. The guy manages to drag our car out of its spot and into a snowbank, blocking our neighbor in his parking space. Having made a mess of the situation, he tells Dave there's nothing else he can do except call in a different truck. He leaves.
6:00AM - Dave calls to check on the truck. Of course, it was never ordered (of course). Dave puts in the order. We are told there's another four hour wait.
7:00AM - With the car still stuck, I decide to run Abby over to puppy school. She is very excited about this idea (see photo). The roads are a miserable mess, the sidewalks aren't plowed, forcing me to lead Abby down the ice-covered side of a three-lane major road. This is not a Good Idea.
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| Note: blur is stubby tail flying off her butt in excitement |
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| :( |
4:30PM - Dave leaves to go pick up his new Zipcard, get a car, and drive over to puppy class. He gives me the number for the tow company.
4:45PM - I call the company. First am told he'll call me back. Then am told there's no estimate on the truck. When I tell him we've been waiting 20 hours for a truck, he says I'm snappy and to take my business elsewhere. Liberal use of condescending "hun"s and how if I were thinking logically, I'd know to be upset at AAA and not him. I give him a piece of my mind because I am exhausted and just want my stupid car out of a snowbank and my poor neighbor to be able to get to work. The guy listens to me complain and then hangs up. I tell Dave we'll need to find a new tow company.
4:50PM - tow truck guy calls back and says a truck is on the way. Thirty minutes. Being a pain in the ass works!
5:30PM - no truck. Dave picks up the car, drives to puppy school.
6:00PM - no truck
6:30PM - no truck
7:00PM - no truck. I am reaching my wit's end. The baby is unhappy. In desperation, I introduce her to Sesame Street
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| That is a 6 month old watching TV. Don't judge me. |
7:30PM - no truck. Dave comes home from puppy school with Abby (the star pupil of the night!), rounds up a few guys in the building, and together they shove the car back into its space, where it will remain until Spring or the Apocalypse, whichever comes first.
8:00PM - Dave calls the tow company to tell them not to bother to send a truck over. The tow guy says one came but we weren't there. BS, as I was watching the street like a hawk. Dave tells the guy this, and he perfectly sums up our entire day: "He never showed up? What an asshole!"
And that is why I ran 5 miles Thursday instead of 8.
Thank you to this week's donor, Nathannie Bernhadtson! The best portmanteau and couple ever!
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