Moving On?
2006-04-27, 3:43 p.m.

Day 613 Moving On

Didn�t go home for lunch Tuesday. Don�t regret it. Bob & Wayne apparently had a good heart to heart talk. Wayne still believes that family should take care of family, and feels that�s all he was trying to do. Bob still wants some measure of independence and realizes he can�t have it if he lives with either Wayne or us. I think Wayne still doesn�t understand that Bob would be trapped ALL DAY LONG at either of our houses � seeing as Bob is giving up driving at the insistence of all of us. It�s nice that Wayne�s boys get home from school at 3pm (if there�s no football, basketball or baseball practice), but one can�t expect a couple of teenagers to entertain a 74 year old daily for the next 5 years.

Bob asked Wayne & Kay to go see The Legacy with him Wednesday evening. Have dinner there, ask questions, see the apartments, check out the whole community. Wayne declined, so Cindy & I went instead. I�ve been there once before, on a random drive by visit one weekend. Cindy took Bob there last week for a more formal guided tour. Our aim was to get a better feel for the apartment arrangement, find out prices, and maybe have Bob meet more of the residents and get their opinion on the place.

When we moved Bob up from sunny Florida, we made sure he brought up a full bedroom set, a desk, a couple of leather recliners, most of the basic kitchen requirements, bathroom towels � and more of the kinds of things you�d need to get started in an apartment. They are all stored at Wayne�s for the moment. WTF did Wayne think we moved all that shit up here for? (yeah, I know � rhetorical question) Wayne doesn�t need the furniture, we don�t need it, none of our kids need it (yet). I can not get a grip on his logic process, unless it was just a ploy in his scheme to suck Bob into his place, get sole power of attorney, then slowly tap Bob�s (pretty sizeable) assets.

Maybe it was just paranoia on the part of Cindy & I, but that�s what we feared he was trying to do. We got a sense of that even a year ago when we first started seriously considering getting Bob to move back north permanently.

Family drama aside � we dined at The Legacy last night, saw more apartments and got info on pricing & options. I think the actual application process is not far off. Especially since they (The Legacy) are making good progress on finishing their swimming pool. That is such a huge attraction for Bob. There is no place else that currently offers year round swimming. Not my house, not Wayne�s, and not many other senior living communities around here. Actually, none that we�ve seen so far. And Bob loves his swimming.

At dinner, we had the opportunity to share a table with a couple of current residents. They were charming folks, and had nothing but good things to say about the community. To a person, every one of the residents we talked to before during and after dinner had nothing but good things to say. The employee who gave us the tour provided frank answers to every question we asked, presented absolutely no pressure to sign a lease or even apply. She did introduce us at dinner to get things started, but pretty much left us alone with the residents after that. The residents were doing the selling for her.

When we got home, we looked at Bob�s income, what he wanted in an apartment, and what he thought he might need for fun money during the month. He was pretty much decided on a particular apartment even. As a matter of fact, he wanted to visit one more time, check out the apartment in question and possible start the application process. Well, that was last night.

This morning, he was singing a different tune. He�s now afraid of alienating Wayne. So afraid that he�s back to considering hopping back and forth between houses again. Guess that little heart to heart talk they had Tuesday is having farther reaching effects than I first noticed.

We are now trying to schedule a get together with all 5 of us in attendance. Our house, their house, someplace where the 5 of us can sit down and try to reason this out like adults. THAT ought to be a real fun time.

Great workout Thursday morning. Consistently staying above the 500 calorie/5 miles in 30 minutes target. Started incrementing some of the weights up. Two measly pounds DOES make a noticeable difference. This morning was a leg/core day, so I wasn�t affected by the Lat pull down machine being broke. But I did notice it sitting there, arms all drooped down, kind of tired looking. If it isn�t back up & running tomorrow, I may be forced to venture over into the Nautilus area and get my reps in over there.

Might be good to compare the resistance machines to the Nautilus and see if maybe it�s time to change. I�ve been hesitant to make the switch, but it�s getting to the point where the newbies are getting really annoying. People not following the etiquette for the area � cutting you off getting to machines, not following the preferred circuit (it�s laid out in an effin circle people), or people sitting on the ab cruncher doing 5 sets when there�s 2 other people waiting to get on it. Do a set or 2 and move on. If you want more, come back later. Once, a woman apologized after doing like 6 sets of abs with 2 of us waiting to get on, saying she was trying to lose some baby fat. I scowled at her and said I�m trying to lose some adult fat - thanks for sharing the machine. Haven�t seen her in there since. Hmmm. Was I rude?

A friend I�ve made at the gym (Pete) is usually on the recumbent bikes when I hit the resistance machines. Pete has a perfect view of the entire resistance machine area from his bike. He thoroughly enjoys watching me get cut off by these middle age or older women. I�ll be minding my own business, using the machines in order. The rules state that if you are coming in to use only a couple of machines, or you are not following the circuit, you must leave a 1 machine gap between you and anyone following the circuit. Also � anyone doing the circuit has the right of way.

Now, I may be doing leg extensions. Might be in my third set. No one is waiting. The machine in front of me is also open. I�ll be just finishing up, wiping down the machine, when this one, particular, ignorant 50-ish woman will come zooming in out of the parking lot practically and jump on the next machine, all proud because she got her ass in there before I got to it. Even though she can plainly see that I am done with one machine and HEADED FOR THE NEXT MACHINE IN THE LOOP. The one that now has her ass in the seat, straining to do her measly 20lb reps. This is where that one machine gap is supposed to come in. I will generally hop over to the next machine in line, do my sets and then loop back to catch the machine I got cut off from. Generally. I also pass out the nasty evil-eye stares � Pete sees them and really enjoys my frustration. He�s even hopped off his bike and come into the resistance machine area and started up rather loud conversations about how rude people are, not following etiquette and all. I know he�s doing it for the benefit of the ignoramuses of the world, but they don�t seem to be getting the hint.

I could go on for weeks, but I really ought to get back to the zoo here. Hope I can wedge in a minute to get this posted. I send them home, but somehow I never seem to find the time to get on-line and get things posted there. Think it might have something to do with Cindy not knowing anything about the old diary here? Hmmmm. Could.

Updated stats:

Weight start: 206.5 on 1/1/06 (265.0 on 1/15/05)
Current weight 195.50 on 4/22/06 (I peeked this morning. Might be ok this week.)
Target: 180 by 7/1/06 (was getting nearer the target line)
Next �official� weigh in: 4/29/06

The Keep on Truckin goal: (idea stolen shamelessly from Marn�s Big Adventure)
Miles at speed 4/27/06: 315.02
Miles with cooldown: 347.13
Target for 2006: 1000 miles

Might have to add a little something for the 5K training too.

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