ON FUN ~ Trimming The Fat...

GYM RATS - #14

With the recession we are always looking for ways to trim the fat. But not the muscle. So when my office park opened a new gym for $30 less than my current membership I thought I would check it out. Saving $360 a year seemed very budget savvy. However, you usually get what you pay for so I wasn’t convinced that this alternative could compare to all the amenities I’d grown used to.

But lo and behold, this gym was brand spankin’ new. All new weight machines - nothing randomly going out of order for weeks at a time. Personal T.V.’s with over 40 channels to chose from - not 15, half of which disappear without any concern. Sparkling new showers - not dark, damp caves that need to be escaped as quickly as possible. Attractive locker room - not dented lockers that only close with effort. Plenty of exercise balls, elastics, steps, mats and free weights all lined up and organized - not a jumble of random items scattered and often missing. Open 24 hours, 7 days a week - not hours that keep getting cut back, closing earlier and earlier. Twenty steps from my office building - not requiring a commute through traffic every evening. All for $30 less a month.

There were downsides. It was much smaller in size, but my later hours would not put me within the busiest time. Most group classes were only offered during the mornings and lunch - not evenings or weekends. But I do not ever take classes or have much of a desire to. Most problematic for me was not being able to work out with Andy anymore.

However, I broke the news to Andy that he would be flying solo with his workouts and went about ending my membership at our current gym. It took me a week before I could find anyone who worked there with the power to cancel. It seems anyone can sign you up, but you’ll get the “not my job” real fast when you tell them you don’t want them anymore. I eventually had to break up with them over the phone.

Last week I transitioned to my work gym and away from the facility that helped me lose weight and tone muscles, but not the fat in my budget. I love my new gym, without the stress of traffic to get there on time, find parking, wait my turn for the equipment I need, and watch my wallet shrink for the pleasure. But one thing I realized is that I didn’t have a lot of that stress because I didn’t have the Gym Rats all around me.

I usually have my new gym all to myself once or twice a week which is great. But that means I can’t people watch. I don’t have Gym Rats to laugh at or smile with or be puzzled by anymore. I just have myself which isn’t that entertaining. So I read a lot more which is a good thing. And I pay more attention to the games I like to watch. But the Gym Rats entertainment is no more so I won‘t have any more posts to share about them. I hope you’ll forgive me, but I just didn’t think they were worth $360 a year.

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