Meet The Beast

I haven't been writing here as often lately, but with all the COVID news, and the shelter in place, there only seems to be grumblings to write about.  And frankly, I'm kind of tired of hearing all the bad.  I'm looking forward to things opening up again and getting back to whatever is going to be the "new norm".

With everything going on, I opted to order a Bowflex treadmill for home use.  Being what most people would politely say "heavy set", the doctors would call "obese", I went for a well built machine rather than one of those cheaper ones you can get from a dot com website.  Well, she arrived yesterday via a trucking company!   She weighed in at 309 lbs.  That's one helluva heavy box!

Once inside my front door, I was surprised to see just how big it is.  The box was nearly 8 feet long, and 3 feet wide ... in fact, longer than my couch!  There's no way I could move this on my own, that's for sure.  Thank goodness I have tile floor, and the box could slide into a good position.  I opened it up, and took it apart piece by piece.  With all the smaller pieces out, only the base was left.  I sliced the bottom half of the box so I could turn the base on it's side and left it wrapped in its plastic bag so I could slide it into the bedroom I plan to use her in.

This was major, and I did it in smaller portions as I didn't want to hurt myself!  But I gathered up my mojo and tackled assembly.  I watched the official video a couple of times so that I would know the steps, and each step was manageable.  It went together like a dream!  In a couple of hours, she was ready to fire up!

She's solidly built and feels like she's built to last.
Sort of like me.  haha
I walked and played around with settings for about 10 minutes before I crawled into bed, so very tired!  And today, I jumped on it after walking Sadie around the block for another half mile, testing the incline and speed buttons.  The speed is VERY intuitive and when I increase the speed with a touch of my thumb, it gradually increases based on the speed of my steps.  If I set it for 4mph and my steps aren't keeping up, it stays with me at 3.8 until I get into a rhythm.  Or did I imagine this?

I think this is going to work well ..... !

Self Investment

Why is it we're so funny about money??   We may not be funny in the same ways, but money is a source of some strange buggaboos so most of us.

I've been working since I was 16 because I wanted independence and money to spend my own way.  Over the years, when laptop computers first came out, I didn't have qualms about spending $1000 on one I liked ... several different times!  I don't have qualms about spending money on what I would call pricey cameras, either.  If I find one I like, that suits what my need is, I have no problem pushing the "add to cart" button!!!

Last week I got it in my head that maybe I should buy a treadmill.  It gets really hot here during the summer, too hot to do any kind of real walking.  Oh sure, I can saunter around the block while Sadie does her usual sniff n stroll early in the morning before the sun rises.  But even during the hottest part of summer, our 5am temps can be as warm as 90 degrees!   Ugh. 

I looked at several different ones, and contemplated the logistics of a treadmill.  For goodness sakes, I own a 3 bedroom home, I should be able to make room for a treadmill somewhere that I'll use it.  And not the garage, we don't have AC out there! 

But what made it so difficult to push that button, make that purchase??  It took me two days to finally come to the conclusion that a) it's only money and b) I need a place where I can get some exercise in order to maintain my health.   So I finally pushed the "add to cart" button, and am now waiting for it to be delivered.  Yay!

Now I can only hope that it doesn't become
something I just hang sweaters on.
hahaha