1. I am a sucker for clearance
items. I am especially a sucker for grocery store clearance items.
Not things that are set to expire immediately. I’m talking about
products being phased out because they’re not selling. If I see the
red sticker that says ‘clearance’ you’ve got my attention. I
now find myself buying things I likely don’t need mainly because
they’re 50% off. I’m not saying I needed 2 different types of BBQ
sauce, but the red sticker was too much for me to pass up. The funny
thing is that sometimes I find something I like on clearance, and of course, it’s then sold out forever, and I have to go try to find it
somewhere else, for full price, booo.
2. April Fool’s Day was this
week. I have had many years where I post something outlandish as a
joke. This year I decided against it mainly because I felt that if I
posted something about moving somewhere or getting a new job, I’d
have people immediately jumping to conclusions. Then I’d end up
losing my job or having to move from where I live because people
thought my April Fool’s joke was real. Maybe I’m just old and not
funny anymore. There’s a joke, the not-funny part. I definitely am
old-ish now.
3. As a trainer, I take great
pride in constructing workouts to challenge and help any client I
have. I consider myself flexible as well. If someone comes in with
low back pain, I am going to scrap any exercises that might inflame
that issue. So I do get bristly when I have a new client basically
acting like a coach trying to make me run their plays. I had a lady
come in and start listing what she wanted to do. It was a lot of
‘shouldn’t I do this instead?’ or ‘I want to do this.’ It’s
like, if you’re so knowledgeable why did you come to me? It’s rare
to have a client who is rude, bossy, and dismissive of my efforts. I
was literally counting down the seconds until her session was over.
Then to top it off, she stayed in the gym late, trying to milk extra
time. Sorry lady, I had another client waiting who I actually enjoyed
working with.
4. Sad news about the death of
Val Kilmer at 65 from pneumonia. He had a lot of great roles, from Top
Gun to Tombstone to Batman Forever and more. To me though the lasting
memory of Val Kilmer is his 1984 underrated comedy movie Top Secret.
I think it's because its cheesy spoof humor appealed to me when I first
saw it at age 11. If you haven’t seen it, you should. I’ll be
watching it again this week for some good old-fashioned nostalgia.
Rest in peace, Val Kilmer.
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| My favorite Val Kilmer movie. |
5. Happier news is the
incredible recovery of my Uncle Bob. He suffered a pair of severe
strokes late last summer. For a time, it looked like he would not
survive. It has been a slow, difficult journey spent in a rehab center
near Boston. There have been times where the news was slow coming and
I had no idea where he was at. Then suddenly this week, he is back
online commenting on a post I shared about my Nana, his mom. He says
he hopes to be home soon and it will be so good to get to see him.
It’s honestly close to a miracle he pulled through when I think of
how my last interaction was with him in the ICU. Such great news.
6. That post about my Nana
that I mentioned above? Well I had a new client sign up to start
training with me this week. It turns out that she used to work with
my Nana at the electric company in the 1980s. My Nana has been gone
for 15 years. Hearing about her from a stranger’s perspective is
very rare. It was so thrilling and a bit emotional to hear this woman
gush about my Nana. It was like she was still alive which really made
my day.
7. I freely admit I get way
too excited for the new seasonal seltzers from Polar. It’s summer
and winter flavors. They usually keep a few the same but try new
ones. I am currently drinking Poolside Grape Pops and love it. This
won’t be a weekly review thing where I try a new flavor but
honestly, I wouldn’t mind it. If 20-year-old me knew that one day
I’d be waking up before 7am on days off, loving dollar stores, and
geeking out over seltzer flavors he’d probably have just moved to
the mountains and waited for the bears to finish him.
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| Yes, I love the Polar seasonal seltzers. |
8. Some people lead very sad
lives. It says a lot about a person when I post a photo or video of a
sunset and they feel the need to complain that it’s going to rain,
or is too cold, or the sunset will soon be ruined by bugs, or
tourists. I mean good lord, these people are literal black clouds.
Your bitterness doesn’t need to be in my comments. Just go back to
looking at your high school yearbook and wondering where it all went
wrong.
9. 2 things. 1. the Domino’s
Pizza parmesan-stuffed crust is awesome. 2. I can’t eat things like
that ever again. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it tasted great, but man, my
stomach was angry almost immediately. I wanted a cheat meal and
didn’t realize that my body has gotten used to eating relatively
healthy. I guess that’s a good thing. Next time I want a cheat meal, maybe I’ll get a box of cereal.
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| It was both good and bad... |
10. Honestly, I can say that I get as much of a good feeling from popping an
edible, sitting in my chair, and watching YouTube videos as I used to
going out to a bar and drinking. It’s not as loud. I don’t have
to worry about driving. I don’t have a hangover. I don’t have to
worry about waking up next to a wildebeest. It’s likely just me
getting old and boring but still, I don’t miss alcohol or the
surrounding shenanigans one bit.
