Last Wednesday the fitness center at San Jose State got 6 new eliptical trainers. They are by StairMaster. They are one of the machines that also does arms. I HATE THIS MACHINE. I hate it. It is the hardest, unmotivating machine that the fitness center was trying. Apparently, when I first got my membership, the fitness center was trying out different eliptical trainers to decide which ones to purchase. I liked two. The Precor EFX and the Life Fitness 95Xi. I would alternate between the two. The Life Fitness on MWF and the Precor on TTh. I tried the StairMaster once before and hated it. I never tried it again. On these other machines I was able to go almost 6 miles an hour. On the StairMaster, 2.2. On the other machines, I burned over 300 calories in my 30 minute workout. On the StairMaster, 90. It is the most unmotivating machine I have ever used. And now I have no choice. I have to use it, or go to the recumbant bike. They have 2 different brands of recumbant bikes, two brands of regular bikes, and two different brands of treadmills. Could we have two brands of eliptical trainers? NO. We are stuck with the icky one. What makes me the most irritated is that there was supposedly a survey taken asking people which machine they liked the best. No one I have talked to has heard of said survey. No one was asked. In the mornings, I'm not the only one upset about this. Of the four girls I've talked to, only one likes the StairMaster. Everyone else liked the Life Fitness. I think that the manager of the fitness center is doing what the current president of the United States is doing. Pretending to care what the people want, taking falsified survey results and then declaring a mandate with 51% of the populace agreeing with the policy. What happened to diversity? Why does the manager feel that everyone would like using the same machine? Why couldn't we have one or two of the other machines and 5 of the StairMaster? I'm absolutely frustrated, and now I don't like going to the gym. After 3 months of going, I don't want to go anymore. That my bahama mama challenge friends is the biggest bummer of them all. I had finally found a workout routine that worked for me. And I was doing it every day. I'm very disappointed in the fitness center. I'm also disappointed that my complaints have gone unanswered. I've never wanted to write a letter to the editor of the Spartan Daily before. I really do now. I think the fitness center should be about all it's users, not just the precious few that were actually questioned. That is, IF anyone was actually asked what they liked. And yes, I'm cranky about it. I have been since last Wednesday.

Part of getting ready to move included my mother calling my cousin Cindy to come down and help me "get rid of the clutter." What this meant to my mother was, "Gwen has too much shit, won't get rid of it, and I know Cindy will." So, knowing what had to happen, I allowed 25 bags of clothing to go to GoodWill on Sunday. Jones New York suits. At least 10 Jones New York suits. Granted, I couldn't wear a one because they were too big, but still. Beautiful wool skirts and pants that coordinated with the suits. Dresses. My most favorite Jones New York dress. Black silk with gold stars. Shoes. The navy blue suede Charles David pumps I got for my sisters wedding that I may have worn 3 times. Hell, the dress I wore at my sisters wedding. Gone. All gone. Then, my Family Circles going back to 1999. I kept the Christmas ones, but good thing I went through all of them before I tossed them. I found four that weren't pulled out. Every Mode magazine that was ever printed. Gone to the recycle bin. And there is more. Stuffed animals that I didn't get rid of the last cleaning. My old walkman and sony cd player. Purses, wallets... All gone. I hate giving things away. I hate that my mother forced the issue. I hate feeling like I had no choice in the matter. I hate that she had me go look for houses while the purging continued at my house. I hated filling up the recycle bin tonight with all my magazines. You know whats worse? Knowing that barely one room is done. I've got 4 rooms and a garage left to go, and that doesn't count the space under the stairs. As much as I want a new house, I hope it doesn't come too soon. All this purging doesn't make me feel better, cleaner or free'er. I feel a huge sense of loss, and having it come because someone else forced the issue so only makes it worse. I would have packed it all and moved it to the new house. It is, you know, the pack-rat way.