Dearest Rachel –
As has been the case for a while, I’m writing to you about yesterday’s events – or at least one event in particular. The trouble is, it’s sometimes hard to decide what to focus on as far as a specific topic goes; even on slow days, there are often multiple things going on that might be of interest… or not, but I’m willing to tell you about, in any event.
There was one thing that proved to be particularly notable – in an aggravating sense – but to a certain extent, it’s a similar situation as Thursday’s chaos, which is to say, it hasn’t been resolved like I thought it might be, or at all. I might even have to contact our lawyer, as the matter turns out to involve your estate, which I had thought was all taken care of. In any event, since I can’t wrap it up now or any time in the near future – and as I said before, it’s in some ways a carbon copy of the frustrating events of yesterday’s letter – I’m not going to go into details. Even assuming it does get resolved, I might still keep the story under wraps; it’s somewhat gauche to talk about money like this, after all. So while the other situation may or may not be resolved, either, there is a sense of momentary finality to it (as contradictory as that sounds to type out in the moment), so I might as well fill you in on it instead.
The story begins at an early – but not obscenely so – hour of the morning, as I’d had another night of getting too bored to stay awake until too late into the night, thereby leading me to wake up fairly early in turn. So I had what I thought was plenty of opportunity to put in some time on the treadmill, as I hadn’t bothered for a couple of days. To be sure, it’s not as if I hadn’t been walking in the interim, be it with Lars in the woods or to the ‘office’ from the auto dealership, but it hadn’t been that same faithful every weekday morning like I’d been doing before preparing to take off for Japan.
In any event, I was up at a reasonably early hour, I was motivated (for a change), and I had everything set up to go. So I got everything started with my usual podcast and walking speed, which I eventually ratcheted up to nearly six miles an hour (although not for long, as the treadmill would get so loud at that speed as to drown out the podcast, so what was the point of that?) Everything was functioning pretty much as it should be, apart from the fact that I was sweating so hard that I could barely maintain my grip on the handles – but that was a feature as much as a bug, so I didn’t concern myself too much with it.
As I was passing the hour mark, I figured I could at least keep going long enough to get to a full six miles; it wouldn’t take but another five minutes thereafter, as far as I could tell. But just before the LED odometer rolled over to indicate the change from ‘5.9’ to ‘6.0’, the machine went dark and stopped abruptly.
Now, this wasn’t the first time this has happened, as you know. This is why I have it set up in the in the laundry room in the first place – otherwise, it would run the risk of shorting out the bedroom heating system I’d cobbled together. Granted, it meant that I couldn’t watch anything while I was walking, but that’s how things work (or refuse to) around here; sometimes you have to adapt by listening to things on an iPod rather than a computer. But this was different; when I went downstairs to check the circuit breaker, everything was fine. No circuits were blown at all. It was just that the treadmill shut itself off.
Or so it appeared to. I pulled the plug on it, and plugged it back in, and the on/off switch lit up as if nothing had ever happened. However, when I hit the button that would supposedly turn the machine back on… nothing happened, either. There was no beeping noise as it hummed to life, the heads-up display didn’t light up on the front panel. The only indication that it was (supposedly) operational was the on-off switch, but that was meaningless if nothing else fired up.
I have no idea what happened, honey. I mean, I guess I’m glad that it waited until I’d almost put in my six miles before conking out, but it’s weird to think that I’ve outlasted my home treadmill – and I’m not even that motivated to exercise, whereas that’s this machine’s sole function. It has one job, and apparently, I beat it at that job. But now what am I supposed to do?
I suppose I can take some comfort in the fact that the weekend is upon us; rather than exercising, I’ll end up fasting for a day or so in order to continue to try to lose weight. And in the meantime, I haven’t been back to the gym since the first of the year; it’s about time that I get back to that, especially since the days are starting to warm up (although they’ve been cooler the last couple of days, and it’s going to stay that way for a few days yet to come, so that trek isn’t going to be pleasant right away).
It’s a shame, though, since Logan has been using the thing, too, to a certain degree of success (evidently, he’s finally gotten to the point where he can read his weight in the bathroom scale – until recently, it couldn’t register an amount, as he was over three twenty-five), and he doesn’t have the luxury of a gym membership to replace this with. And I will agree that having this in the next room has been considerably more convenient, too. But these are the things life throws at you, honey; stuff breaks, and when you don’t know how to fix them, they have to be either replaced or gotten rid of (or, in this case, both, if you count the gym as a ‘replacement’).
I don’t think I’ve gotten value out of this thing, either, as a lifespan of three months seems insanely short for any purchase (apart from food). The only consolation I can take from this is that I’ve somehow outlasted my treadmill, for however much that’s worth.
But that’s one of the latest events going on around here, honey – or the latest that I’m able (or willing) to tell you about. Meanwhile, I’ve got to be about the new day, and try to take care of things that may show up today. So while I do that, I’d appreciate it if, as usual, you’d keep an eye on me, and wish me luck, as I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 