It was cheaper than joining a gym...

...and we WILL use them.

A big truck came to our house a while back. Great deal at Costco.com on exercise equipment.

I once lost 46 pounds while on a project in Chicago for three months. How? Well, for one thing, I lived in a hotel, had a crazy project that kept me busy, and had nothing else to do with my spare time. Well, OK, it was Chicago and there was lots to do. So I guess I also made it a priority.

One night, I think it was Cinco De Mayo, everyone was going for drinks after work. I said I was going to the gym first and I would meet up with everybody. Dave Craigmile, the project manager who I had a ton of respect for, said, "Why? You're just going to die old and fat anyway." That really motivated me to prove him wrong. Although lately,it looks like he may have been right. I am out to prove him wrong again.

Incidentally, Dave was, and probably still is, wicked good at Foosball. I spent like two months on that project trying to impress him with my speech recognition expertise to no avail. It wasn't until I slipped a couple past him that he showed me even a hint of respect. Then we got along fine.

It helped to have the equipment right down the hall. I brought my book and a water bottle to the gym and I worked up to at least an hour of cardio every day split between an elliptical and a recumbent bike. Sometimes I went twice a day. And wore a plastic sweat suit. I was serious.

We had a bike already, but it hurts Rachel's back. That's why we got a treadmill as well.

So we are making this a priority and all. We are getting older and I think we will get a lot more out of next Summer if we start getting in shape now.

I was worthless in helping put them together because of my shoulder. So it fell to Rachel to don my Geek Goggles and Git Er Done.

And we now have this gigantic pile of cardboard and metal packaging in the garage. I am trying to break it down and get as much as I can in to the recyclling each week. I might just have to borrow someone's truck for a dump run, though, as I think it will take months to get rid of it all.

Anyway - I'm just getting used to it now. I might post my weight and then progress over time. Mabe I'll even post a picture of me in a Speedo monthly. If you are squeamish, you might want to wait a few months before checkiing back.

I'll post a picture of where we've got it set up. It's pretty nice to be on the equipment and look out at our view.