As I entered the gym in my community, a small solarium with a few free weight stands, treadmills and an elliptical machine, I heard one of the 3 men there talking workout in a voice that was meant to be heard by all of us. Not wanting to be part of it, I plugged into my music and ran a mile on the treadmill. (I hate treadmills. Why bother having them in a place that has sunshine on average 340 days per year where the temperature seldom drops below 50 degrees?) Afterward, I picked up the ten pound weights and did some lunges and squats. Mr. Chatty looked at me and said, "that's what I should have done!" Right, instead he laid face up, on the bench with his legs above his head, spread eagle--wearing short running shorts. Perhaps I should change his name to Mr. WILL-BE-HEARD-and-seen. A short while late, he started running on the treadmill which overlooks a green space. He was non-stop beratement of everyone who passed by. Finally, sick of hearing him, I told him that he oozes negativity. And guess what he did in his defense? Oozed more, with worse language. No surprise there. Eventually I told him (in not so many word) to just shut up--it was more like, 'I came here to workout, not listen to you go on and on.' He did shut up, by the way.
I firmly believe that you find what you look for. In his case, all he could see in our community is the dysfunction of the Home Owners Association. And while I do admit that our HOA is a bit whacked out,I see a group of condos that are fairly well maintained and quiet. All he saw, looking out that window, was lack of this that and the other.
About half an hour later, I jumped in the pool. The sun was bright and cast a million fractured rainbows onto the bottom of the pool.
Today was a long swim, I swam 40 laps in the 25 yard pool. A total of 2,000 yards. To make things interesting, I tried to slow my pace, reach further and take as few strokes as possible to cross the pool. I have been swimming 21 strokes per length, that is 7 breaths from one end of the pool to the other. My average-slow long haul- lap was around 1:08 seconds. Using this new technique, I was able to swim the length of the pool using 5 breaths, with 16 strokes per length in 58 seconds. It wasn't consistent, but it was breakthrough stuff with so much less effort.
Oh, the baking business. I am being humbled. this morning, I was able to make cookies for an order in no time flat. I put them in the oven and discovered that I hadn't quite gotten my recipe doubled in the correct proportions. I ended up with cookies that look and taste more like a chocolate chip biscuit. That was an awful feeling, knowing how much my ingredients cost and that I would have to buy them all over again. My margin of error is huge right now, such a stupid mistake. I am trying not to make that margin any bigger by allowing myself to feel like I am not allowed a margin of error. I keep reminding myself of when I started sewing... Whew, there is some terrible junk in the world made by my hands!
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