My Nemesis Strikes Again

yesterday i'd planned on working out at curves for at least an hour. i had a pretty crap day at work and i usually feel better if i work out longer and harder than normal. everything was going great until about my third time around the circuit. as i was halfway done, my arch nemesis decides to show up.

she spends about 15 minutes in the bathroom doing god-knows-what. actually, i know what she was doing. she was changing into her super cool and totally awesome ALL WHITE WORKOUT SUIT. she was probably doing her hair and makeup, too. anyway, that 15 minutes was a blessing because i was able to work out in peace without having to endure her voice.

when she was finished changing, she sat her ass down on the machine that works out your pecs and arms. i wish i could find a photo of it, but basically, you sit down and then push (or pull, depending on what you're working on) the bar in and out. i got really aggravated because that's my FAVORITE machine and was hoping to use it a bunch of times before i had to leave, since my arms are Flabby McFlab. anyway, Nemesis is sitting there, and in the course of 30 seconds, she does 2 reps. WTF? then, she gets up, kind of marches in place, and then sits right back down!

as i inch closer to that machine i'm silently begging that Nemesis will not stay on that machine for much longer. no luck. she sits there and starts talking about how she was dying at work today without her air conditioning. she then went on to describe this HORRIBLE CRASH that took out a utility pole next to her office. that's why the a/c was out at her work. yes, it's been hot here in boston and yes, i can understand being grumpy due to the heat. but when one of the other women there asked her what time all this happened, Nemesis said "oh my god, like, 2:30 or something." um, maybe it's just me, but if the a/c went out 2 hours before i was scheduled to leave work, i wouldn't be all THAT upset. Nemesis made it sound like she was without her precious a/c for an ENTIRE WORK DAY. can you see why i can't stand her?

oh, and her voice. you've got to hear it to believe it. it's like nails on a chalkboard. she's got that uppity i'm-a-princess way of speaking, with a lot of "likes" and "ohmygod"'s. you know what i'm talking about.

anyway, when it's my turn to use that machine, she finally decided to get off it. thankfully i was able to use it twice in a row because she moved on to the leg press. all the while she's talking about how she's got to schedule a tanning appointment and OMG! how she went out on a date and some guy bought her a $35 steak. (on a side note, i told phillip about the $35 steak and he said "i bet she put out. there's no way a man would buy someone a $35 steak without expecting a little somethin'." haha!) i had to listen to her talk about this goddamn $35 steak for what seemed like forever.

and because her voice is so grating and the fact that she talks AT people, i cut my workout short. i've never done that before. i felt really pissed off about it. i mean, why can't she just SHUT UP like the rest of us so we can do our work-outs in peace? i was planning on staying over an hour, but by the time she got to the $35 steak story, i knew i had to leave. and that pissed me off.

i went to the bathroom, washed my face and got changed. as i'm leaving, i see her on the other arm press doing it COMPLETELY WRONG. here's how you're supposed to sit. nemesis was standing, one knee on the seat, with her arm half in and half out of the press, barely curling her arm up. WHAT IS THAT?!? it probably wouldn't bother me so much if she wasn't one of those people who says "you need to keep your elbows in when you do that machine" all while she does the complete opposite!

i don't know why her doing the machines wrong bothers me. or the fact that she's there more to talk than to work out. or the fact that she talks AT me. i guess it's because i can't understand people who use a gym as a place to socialize instead of a place to get in shape.

she better not be there on friday or heads will spin.