I'm Not a Pedo. Honest.

I canceled my $10/month Planet Fitness subscription earlier this month. It wasn't because of the cost. It was because of the idiocy. The place was a moron's Shangri La. Given the low economic hurdle to attend, it drew folks from a wide swath of life (but mostly the idiot sub-tranche within that swath). Many attendees were either extremely old, extremely obese, or both. It was a big building with high ceilings, and I could check attendance before I went. But every time I went, I would see multiple folks on cardio machines with masks below their chin/double-chin, people lifting with masks below noses, or folks wearing loose masks that were not remotely air-proof. 

To handle this, I would keep my distance, regularly wash hands and use sanitizer, and sometimes give my best stink-eye to make folks begrudgingly address their mask situation. I even went to the front desk a couple times. But all in all, it seemed pretty unsafe, for them and me. And it's too much negativity. I'm there to wail on delts, not snitch on dolts! So while I missed having access to cables, heavy dumbbells, stair climbers and the like, I wasn't going to miss potentially catching the 'rona. This group failed the "do you think they would self-quarantine if they had a symptom" eye test. In retrospect, I should have expected as much from a gym directly across the street from a restaurant called Manny's Texas Weiners. And no, Manny's is not cool. I wanted it to be cool. I went with my sons a couple times a few years ago. I wanted to buy a t-shirt. Was a bit of a bust. A flaccid weiner, if you will.  

So lesson learned on the gym, at a de minimis cost. With that said, I continue to make incremental purchases for my modest home gym set-up. I decided to buy a pair of slider discs. They are useful for stretching/cardio/interval exercises, they don't get in the way, and they are cheap (< $8!). 

I ordered a pair on Amazon. They arrived yesterday. Not sure where it was mailed from, but it was made in China. And it bummed me out when it arrived. Usually Amazon packages come in a box or a plastic bag, right?  Not this. It was "as-is" in the box, leaning against the molding next to my front door. Not sure who the Chinese Photoshop wizard is who designed this picture, but it's far creepier than I realized when making the purchase. It looks like the creatives there said "put a 14 y/o Russian girl in skimpy gear and give her a lot of lipstick."

Haven't used the sliders yet, but I already threw out the package.  Hoping that not too many dog-walking neighbors of mine saw it. The Amazon delivery person was nice enough to properly lean it so all could see the picture. Good times.