Weekend highlights

Sat I worked and Spouse went to the gym. Steven & Thad joined the new gym so Spouse went with them for free as their guest, rather than going to the ghetto gym. I left work early because we were due for an early dinner at 4:00 at Steven & Thad's. Their good friends John & Carol Ann came down from NJ for a visit but were leaving that night, which explained the reason for dinner at 4:00. Steven made his version of braciole (pronounced bra-shole), meatballs, Italian sausage, spaghetti, shells, and salad. Spouse & I brought plain ciabatta and rosemary focaccia, and Carol Ann brought a homemade pound cake. We had a delicious dinner and a wonderful time visiting with our buddies and their good friends.

Sun morning Spouse went to the ghetto gym and I went to the new gym as Steve & Thad's guest. Its really nice! Its a huge space with lots and lots of machines, free towels, free yoga, free spinning, free zumba, free tanning, and a 'movie room' that shows films on a huge movie screen while you work out. Its open 24 hours and only costs $19.99 per month! Its all the things the ghetto gym is not and I love it. I'm definitely going to join. I spent an hour on the treadmill, on the 'weight loss' setting. Afterward Spouse met us for breakfast where I had a fruit plate and an egg sandwhich. Spouse had a fruit plate and an egg white omelette with spinach and mushrooms. Afterward we tood Jordan for a walk and then ran a few errands. Later that evening we went back to Steven & Thad's to try and finish the leftovers from the previous night's dinner. Then we watched Temple Grandin on DVD, starring Claire Danes, based on the real life story of Temple Grandin. We really liked it and I would recommend everyone add it to your Netflix queue.

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post. Let's get started!

Spouse & I have begun watching the series "United States of Tara" on DVD from Netflix. It stars Toni Collette as a woman with multiple personalities and John Corbett as her husband. Its a really interesting series!

Construction continues on the new home being built in the empty lot across the street. It appears that my letter to the builder (along with the copy sent to the City) resulted in some improved behavior. The workers are no longer parking their vehicles on our street (where no parking is allowed) and the delivery vehicles have greatly reduced their blocking of our driveway and the street. However, they have continued to use our little 1-way street for deliveries rather than the 'regular' street.

I got a call early this week with some very sad news: a friend of mine passed away. He was the same age as me, but from the pieced together details I got, it sounds like he died from diabetes complications. Folks, 47 is too young to die so PLEASE have an annual physical and take any medications regularly which are prescribed to you.

I gave up on the ghetto gym. I disliked it so much there that I decided I'd rather not work out than to have to go to the ghetto gym. Spouse renewed for another month though. Oddly the ghetto gym bothers him a lot less than me. I checked on the status of the brand new gym and found they are planning to open in mid-March. I hope to get a membership there.

Today I did a little experimental baking and made gingerbread chocolate brownies. It was very simple and the brownies were ah-MAY-zing! I started with a Trader Joe's gingerbread mix and mixed up the batter according to the instructions, but then added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a handful of milk chocolate chips. After pouring the mixture into a greased 8x8 baking dish, I sprinkled another handful of chocolate chips on top and baked. I ate 2 of the 9 brownies, saved 1 for Spouse, and gave the other 6 away to neighbors so as not to tempt us into over-indulging. The combination of ginger, molasses and chocolate was to die for.

Today I had lunch with my new friend Lou. We met last Sept at the car club dinner and awards banquet, and then I ran into him again in Dec at a local bar. We met for lunch and had a great time getting to know each other more. He works from home 3 days per week so he enjoys an opportunity to get out of the house like I did when I worked from home. I brought him a gingerbread chocolate brownie to eat at home later.


Today the weather was just amazing: sunny and 73 degrees, and its the middle of February! I really wanted to be outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather but I knew I had some reading to do for real estate school. So, I grabbed by bookbag and a beach chair and sat on the beach and read.

It was really great to feel the warmth of the sun, the breeze, and hear the waves crashing while I studied. Seeing the lighthouse in the distance was really cool, too. (The photo above was taken using a zoom lens.) Later when Spouse got home, we went for a drive in the Mercedes with the top down, and went for a walk on the beach. Sometimes I miss the access to great restaurants and culture we had when we lived in the DC area, and when I do, I remind myself that by living here I have access to the beach whenever I want it.

This weekend the Rehoboth Beach Film Society (RBFS) is screening 2 gay-themed independent films I've not seen yet. "Violet Tendencies" was written by my friend Jesse Archer and stars Mindy Cohn who played Natalie in the TV series 'Facts of Life', and "You Should Meet My Son" will be shown Sat night and Sun afternoon respectively. (Click on the titles to watch trailers.) I'm excited about seeing both films and will report on them on Mon.

Here's wishing everyone a great weekend!

The ghetto gym

As I mentioned last Fri, Spouse & I joined a gym.

We used to belong to a nice gym very close to our house. A family membership cost us $85. per month, with the ability to cancel at any time. When summer arrived we became so active walking around town, walking the boardwalk, and playing beach volleyball that we stopped going to the gym and cancelled our membership. Spouse always claimed he didn't like the gym because it was crowded, but I rarely found that to be the case. I think it was crowded once and he just never forgot about it.

So a couple of weeks ago we joined a different gym, a little farther from our house. A family membership there is $60. per month, with the ability to cancel at any time. I'm surprised that Spouse tolerates this gym because I hate it.

Its located inside a community center and is very dark and dreary. The walls in the circuit training room are painted a mocha color and 3 of the walls have no windows. The walls in the weight training room are painted chocolate brown and there are no windows, just a single glass door. And as if the dark colors and lack of windows weren't bad enough, 1/2 of the ceiling lights don't work! Some of the fluorescent tubes are burnt out or just flicker. The 1st time I went there I flipped on every light switch I could find, to no avail. Many of the switches didn't appear to control anything at all. It is so dark and dreary I find myself feeling depressed just walking up to the building.

There's no lockers or showers. You hang your coat on rolling rack near the entrance, and if you are a heavy sweater you're just out of luck. You'll have to drive home in your wet clothes unless you want to go into the bathroom to change without showering.

The circuit training room is so cramped with machines that some of them are actually out in the hallway. The machines are so close together you can barely walk between them. Its a total fire hazard in my opinion. There are 4 treadmills and none of them have a holder for a water bottle. Its so ghetto!

The parking lot is behind the building and there's no sidewalk leading to the front entrance, so you have to walk on the street (where cars drive) to get to the front entrance to get in. This normally wouldn't be a huge concern except that we've had super cold temperatures and the snow and ice just won't melt. There's a rear door that leads from the building to the parking lot, but they keep it locked at all times, even from inside.

When I arrived on Mon all 4 treadmills were in use by women who knew each other and were gossiping/talking about someone else. When I arrived yesterday I got a treadmill next to a mature (read: ancient) man who tucked his t-shirt into the waistband of his sweatpants which were pulled up just below his armpits. Not a good look. I wanted to use my Tim Gunn voice and say "This disturbs me..." I've probably only seen 3-4 people younger than me at this ghetto gym. The vast majority are 'retired'. One day the flat screen TV was tuned into the conservative, right-wing channel. It just seems like every time I go there something irritates me.

I guess I should feel fortunate to belong to a gym. During periods of unemployment most people reduce or eliminate unnecessary costs like gym memberships. In our case, we stopped going to a personal trainer in lieu of the ghetto gym, but I really don't like it.

I've heard that a new gym will be opening next month that will be open 24 hours and only costs $20. per month, but you have to sign a year's contract and pay a $49. joining fee. When it opens I'm going to take a look at it. I gotta get outta da ghetto!

Ghetto handyman, part 2

From your comments, at least 6 of you liked last week's Ghetto Handyman post. Thanks to my friend Scott for supplying me with even MORE Ghetto Handyman goodness. Enjoy!

Crush du Jour: Lucky Vanous

Ghetto handyman

My friend Tony sent me these, from the site There, I fixed it. They looked to me to be the work of a ghetto handyman. Enjoy!

Crush du Jour: Adelio Senna