The Curmudgeon around the corner

A coworker of mine has a phrase that I have adopted as one of my favorites... "Semper Gumby".  Latin (kind of) for "Always flexible".  I've always thought of myself as adaptive, not being set in my ways-- at least not set enough so that the disruption of those ways causes undue consternation.

I have always been good at adapting to any situation in order to get something done, and I've not noticed any change there.  I have, however, noticed a recent tendency to get flustered if one of my daily routines goes caddywonky on me.  This seems to be especially true about my morning routine, especially my morning workout.

This morning, I had already had a really bad day before 0600.  I woke up too early, even for me, and could not go back to sleep.  I found out that I had left a pen in the wash, ruining 2 good work shirts and 2 out of my three favorite soccer tshirts.  I fell behind in my schedule and had to rush to the gym.  And then, when I got to the gym I realized that I had forgotten to bring my mp3 player, my heart monitor watch/receiver's battery was dead, and I also forgotten the index card which has that day's workout info.  

For some reason, these last three things threw me for a loop.  I **did not** want to do my weight workout without my music, and it affected me so that I struggled with the workout much more than I should have.  I should not have been discombobulated so much by these relatively unimportant happenstances, but I was.

And so, I have to examine myself and wonder why-- am I getting more set in my ways as I age?  Have I become so schedule-oriented and organized that I cannot handle such minor glitches in my daily life?  Is the Curmudgeon in me just around the corner of life?

I am going to enroll in a Krav Maga course soon, and one of the things that one must do in combat or martial arts is to maintain a calm, capable demeanor, ready to scan, decide and adjust to whatever threat comes along. 

I guess I better start working on doing just exactly that in my personal life and its routines....

Riddles and signs at the gym...

Some random thoughts from the gym this morning:

• I get tickled at myself when I solve one of life's little riddles, especially if it's one that should not have been such a poser to my silly self.  At my gym, there is a steam room in the pool area.  There are glass windows, but you can't see through them into the room (wouldn't be much of steam room if you could).  Well, I have wondered many times why some people, prior to entering the steam room, go and get 2-3 of the foam kickboards from the pool area.  It's been something I've idly wondered many times, but never put much thought into-- and then the answer hit me this morning.. they are lying down on the boards in there and using the foam kickboards as a pillow.  DUH
• One of the great things about being someone who really doesn't care too terribly much about what everyone else thinks is that you can do things that might mortify more intrepid souls...and things that may have *never* been done before at a particular place!   This morning, I forgot to grab one of my magazines that I read while I work out on the treadmill and bicycle, so once I arrived, I grabbed my ASL textbook from the book bag.  I wonder if anyone has ever been seen before, at that particular gym in that particular city, signing to himself as he walked off the pounds  :)
• I had forgotten what fantastic exercise rowing is... I used to own a Concept 2 rowing machine, but sold it at one point because I needed the money back.  My gym has two of them though, and I've incorporated it back into my cardio routines.  It is an absolute beating.. 10 minutes of it, and I'm wiped out....
• Unlike some guys, I'm a big fan of the shower "skooshie" when using the liquid soap they provide.  Much better suds that way.  Which makes it irritating when said skooshie goes AWOL from the gym bag.  It's even more irritating when I discover later that I put the skooshie in the wrong pocket of the bag and it was there all along!
• I think I'm finally starting to turn the corner on the exercise thing again.  It's becoming habit.  I hope it stays that way... I like the way I feel in terms of energy and self-confidence when I workout on a regular basis!