Let's Go Shopping!

So last night I finally forced myself, kicking and screaming and cussing, to go and use the treadmill in the other building where I work. As a bonus, I don't think I did anything dysfunctional in front of the company president who was using the elliptical on the other side of the room. Strange how every time I force myself out of my cubicle lately he's always there, whether it's the cafeteria or exercise room. You'd think the position of president would have a job description other than "stalk Tom", but hey maybe it's just coincidence. Of course, coincidence isn't nearly as entertaining as stalking, but that's not what this post is really about.

My running career is currently being limited by my inability to go shopping. It works like this: To meet my goals I need to be able to run long distances in most any weather. But, I don't have the equipment and apparel needed to do this. And finally, I'm having trouble acquiring such things because I'm bad at shopping, even by guy standards. Let me put it this way, it was only about a year ago that I rediscovered these things called ATM machines that can give you cash when you need it. I've also heard a rumour that a credit card can be used at places other than gas stations and auto parts stores.

So it is that I've started to go shopping for the first time in my married life, and sometimes I don't even drag the wife along. While I have managed to buy two pairs of running shoes (look for that story in a future blog entry), it's still a bit awkward. I'm not quite sure what I need or even what's available. So I browse the stores looking at what's for sale, trying to convince myself that people aren't staring at me. Of course, with the economy being the way it is, the people who work in these stores don't have much else to do but stare. Or worse, try and help you. I can just picture the conversation:

clerk: "May I help you?"
Tom: "Ehhhhh" (( don't panic Tom )) "I'm getting into running and need some clothes"
clerk: "Is there anything in particular you're looking for?"
Tom: "Well, my thighs chafe something awful from the sweat and the rubbing, do you have any underwear or bike shorts that might prevent that?"
clerk: "We do, and I'd recommend you start by looking in the men's clothing department, and thank you so much for the mental image of your sweaty thighs rubbing together."

Still Dealing With Winter

The engine roars and tires spin, grasping for traction, as the car slides sideway barely under control. The start of a drag race? No, just me trying to get the Mustang up the driveway after taking it to work yesterday. Took 5 attempts and 2 buckets of sand to get up the 100 feet of snow and ice covered, curved, uphill driveway. But at least the car is back in the garage and free of ice now.

Oh yeah, to get the windows clear, I took a hair drier, slammed the door on the cord so it was hanging inside from the top of the window, and let it run for about half an hour. Then I could scrape the windows pretty easily. I’m thinking front wheel drive is the way to go for the next few days.

In other news, the roads are no longer suitable for running. The snow has made them too narrow for people and cars to share. So now I’m getting my exercise doing laps in the snow in the woods behind the house. It’s a bit of a challenge finding the path I made a few years ago, since so many trees have been knocked over in the ice storms this year. And I’ve also had to cut up a number of trees too. But I’m out and getting my pulse rate up, which is the important thing right now.

I also want to get back to exercising at work during the day, at least during the winter months. This is slightly complicated by the fact that they moved the fitness room to a temporary location in the other building. And the locker room and showers are not in the same area. So apparently some of my coworkers are wandering the halls of the building, one dropped towel away from being flashers.

Car Ice Sculpture

It seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. Put the daily driver in the garage during a snowstorm, and put the sunny day car outside. That way I can just hop in the daily driver and go in the early morning, and sweep the fun car off at my leisure, after all the snow has stopped falling.

But two things spoiled my plan. First, mother nature is a bitch, and decided that snow should be mixed with rain and ice to form a substance that is stronger than the sheet metal and glass it adheres itself to. Second, I live in the woods, and any car left outside longer than a day or two without being moved counts as ideal living quarters for rodents. If the car stays for a week, they start filming reality shows in it.

So now my beloved Mustang is suffering from Mice ‘n’ Ice, and must be moved back into the garage until the next storm comes by. So, clear the driveway with the snow thrower before it freezes solid. It’s never a good sign when a water fountain comes out of the chute. Now get out the snow broom, and put it aside because that snow is simply too frozen for it.

Nah, we’re gonna need to break up the frozen snow with our bare hands and throw the chunks off. Better find a good pair of gloves for that. Did I mention I lose most of my gloves? But there’s a pair in the pickup truck I can go get. Hey look! The mice chewed the thumb off. No fair, I didn’t leave it outside that long!

Okay, now we can start up the car, and after 15 minutes or so with the defroster on high we can chisel a slit into the ice on the windshield, good enough to go from the side of the garage into the garage itself. Did I mention I custom ordered this car and opted not to get the rear window defroster? Stupid!

So now I have an ice sculpture in my garage that vaguely resembles a car. Still trying to figure out how to melt the rest of the ice off of it, particularly the trunk. Today I tried putting my drop light in the trunk and hoped the heat from the bulb would thaw the ice, sorta like an automotive EZ bake oven. No go. Hmm, maybe a hair drier? I’ll have to try that tomorrow. Gotta do something to get the snow and ice off before the next storm so I can do this all over again.

What the heck is this?

Hello and welcome to my latest attempt to start a blog. This is really a test message. Had it been a real post you would be reading amusing and insightful commentary about my life.

I really believe this will be the successful attempt at a blog. For starters, I have a realistic goal that only people who already know me are gonna read this thing. Secondly, I have something to talk about on a regular basis. Specifically my attempts to get in shape, do a lot of jogging, and enter a bunch of races. No, not car races. Just put on your sneakers and run in the streets with hundreds if not thousands or tens of thousands of your fellow nutty-nut-nuts type of races.

Does this mean I want to run the Boston Marathon someday? Officially, not yet. It's just a pipe dream at this point. When I can run a half marathon in two hours, then I'll start thinking seriously about Boston.

And why the name "TomInMotion"? Well, all the good names like "KeepMoving" and "MovingOn" were already taken, so I had to compromise my principles a bit on this.

Well that's all for my very first post. Let's see where this thing goes, shall we?