Elicit Substance

What a month. Last week, just when I thought that I could start training again in earnest, I received a letter from the landlord/management agency that they were going to upgrade the electrical outlets in our apartment on Monday, the 11th.

Unlike most tenants, we have been here over 20 years. If you've ever lived somewhere longer than say, 5 years and had to move, you know how much stuff you can accumulate and that most of it revolves around some outlet. I realized that I would be moving and cleaning stuff all week and I was right. I started Thursday after work, picked up again after Noon spin class on Friday and went right through to Sunday night when I had to finally give it up, get a shower and go to bed. It was a beautiful weekend for riding my bike but the only time I saw the Great Outdoors was when I threw something out at the dumpster.

When I came home from work on Monday, nothing had been touched. I called my husband and he said, "look at the letter - I thought it said today."

I looked at the letter and said, "It says, 'Monday, October 11'. This is the 10th. Do you think we read 'Monday' and they read '11'?"

That was it.

I got home from work Tuesday around 10 AM and saw the electrical truck leaving. I walked in. They had been there and they weren't finished. In fact, they had done more than outlets, they had taken out ceiling light fixtures, bathroom fixtures, electric baseboard wiring, and closet lights.

Since we had only planned on wall outlets getting upgraded , this was a nightmare and a half. They had moved things away from the closets (where you hide stuff) and put them in the middle of the room. Every closet door, every window and the porch doors were wide open. There was nowhere to sit, nowhere to take a nap. My cockatiels were in one of the rooms and it was not warm out that day. They were freaked, to say the least.

Further, the electricians had moved a 4-foot tall plant away from the window to get to a heater and it had toppled over onto my bed. They didn't know where to put my bike that was in front of a closet door so they put it... on top of my couch. They put nothing underneath to protect the couch and they put it with the drive side leaning against the back of the couch. Two for one.

I. Was. Reeling.

I closed the window in the room where the birds were and stayed on the phone with my husband until the electricians returned. I wanted them to know that I had seen EVERYTHING. With a rep from the apartment complex standing by within earshot, I repeated everything I had just seen to my husband and told him I was shaking and needed sleep. Then I left without ever making eye contact or saying a word to them.

I managed to grab my gear for spin before I left but it was only 11 AM and spin was at 5:15 PM. I went to the local mini-mall and hung out at Best Buy, Sports Authority (they now carry the full line of Honey Stinger products) and PetCo where I spent 40 bucks on bird stuff (guilt is definitely an economy booster). I picked up a yogurt, coffee, and ProBar at the grocery store for lunch, ate in my Piece O'Crap car, and then headed back to the gym where I had one of those "DOH!" moments when I realized I could have had a high-in-sodium-and-saturated-fat lunch at the hotel's restaurant for free.

When I got home, for the most part, everything had been put back into place. The first thing I did after checking on my birds was to put my computer back together.

My apologies to those I follow for not being able to comment on your blogs. I've been reading them on my boss' computer but haven't been able to sign in to comment. I'd love to get a laptop but I really need to get a car first.

Later on today, I start the first of six 6-hour class sessions for my personal trainer certification. I'm hoping this will be finally be the catalyst that gets me moving in the right direction this winter because right now, this punk seems to be going nowhere real fast.