Exercise and Exorcise

I've got a couple of excuses for not blogging daily recently - first, our elliptical trainer arrived three days earlier than expected, and I've spent the past three mornings with a "too caring" and frightened house- and pet sitter, who just might drive me to drink.  When we ordered the elliptical, it said "some assembly required" and, once the payment was accepted, the company said we'd receive it today, Friday, via FedEx.  It arrived Tuesday morning, while I was walking Rosie and Tess, and, luckily, the FedEx man delivered the 90-pound box to the door and inside.
   Upon opening the box, we found a wide variety of pieces packaged in styrofoam, bags and various types of cardboard cushioning.   There were 93 numbered parts, and most of them came in sets of two, four, six, or eight.  There were 213 pieces that I had to put together - thank the Gods that the manufacturing company included the 11 pieces of equipment needed to put the pieces together - so, I guess, really, there were 224 pieces in the box.  I have to admit that it took me about 7 hours to get the thing put together.  Two pieces were numbered separately, but were already connected, and that took a while to figure out; then pieces were shipped with bolts and washers in place, but they had to be removed and then fitted back to join other parts together.  The easiest thing was connecting the computer parts and confirming they were working correctly.  The thing that both Beatrice and I sweated over, for over an hour, was getting a single counter-clockwise bolt to sit flatly or precisely through two connected tubes and then screw into a large washer and finishing nut.  That took the longest of anything, and I broke three nails into the quick when the blasted bolt slipped several times.
   But, I got the elliptical trainer completely put together, following the instructions, with no extra parts, yesterday morning.  I thought that since I walk 5 to 15 miles daily, using the elliptical would be an easy thing to do.  Nope.  With the tension set at the lowest number, and using the moving hand grips, I'm lucky to get 5 minutes done on the machine.  So, right now, I'm doing my usual walking and putting in 5 minutes on the elliptical twice a day - once when I get up, and then while watching Jeopardy! at 6 p.m.  Beatrice's job requires her being on her feet for 4 to 8 hours each day, with a lot of walking.  She, too, is happy just to get 5 minutes twice a day on the machine.  Of course, we plan on lengthening our times on the machine, and, eventually, tightening the tension bars - but right now, we're happy that we had the money to get the machine and that we have the drive to use it.
   Of course it didn't help that I made a nice supper tonight - lemon-pepper baked boneless skinless chicken breast, four-cheese pasta, and glazed carrots.  There were no left-overs, I'm ashamed to admit.  And I plan on making another lemon pound cake tomorrow.....
   Tomorrow I have three houses to care for - walking the spaniels, walking Tess, and feeding, watering and penning (for the night) Chocolate and Blackberry, who are bunnies.  Tess and the bunnies are no problem.  Actually, the spaniels are no problem, either.  I have personal difficulty with the house- and pet-sitter of the spaniels.  There are three King Charles Cavalier Spaniels in the house.  A deaf female, who is oldest, and named Honey Bear; she's white with copper patches.  Henry, who has a heart condition, is a gorgeous golden brown.  Watney, the black boy with rust markings, is allergic to a lot of foods and the majority of things found outside - including grass.  The dogs walk wearing (what I call) extended figure-8 harnesses.  Henry and Honey Bear are walked together with a joining couplet.  Watney, who pulls, is walked singly.
    I met the owners, the dogs, and the house-sitter in early January.  The house-sitter was cold, and sat by the fireplace talking only to the husband; I sat and talked with the wife.  I was told that Henry was on medication for a heart condition, but that he was fine.  Honey Bear is deaf, but she is fine otherwise.  Watney will urinate on everything in the house, if he is not closely watched.  The house-sitter and I exchanged telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, and we went our merry ways.  I was told that I was being hired to help walk the dogs, as the house-sitter had recently had back and knee surgery.  I have to admit that the woman completely amazed me.  Other than in the cinema, on television, or in the comics, I had never heard a person bleat in real life.  This poor lady is afraid of everything - we arrived at a multi-use crosswalk, with huge signs on either side of the road stating that all vehicles must stop for those people using the crosswalk, be they pedestrians, bicyclists, runners, dog-walkers, school children, who ever - a car was going to turn onto the street which we needed to cross.  The car was 300 yards away.  The woman would not cross the street until the car passed us by, and no vehicles were in sight at all.  When I crossed the street before her - she bleated like a little lamb.  It was the most amazing sound I've heard in quite a while.  While walking, she informed me that we couldn't walk on the sidewalk on 19th Street, because the street was "too busy" and "the dogs would be killed."  The sidewalk on 19th Street is four feet wide, has a grass easement on one side, has a cement curb on the other; the curb is next to a four-foot wide bike lane, then there are the traffic lanes, and another bike lane on the far side of the road.  I kept Watney from consuming anything while we were walking, keeping him directly in the middle of the sidewalk, the first morning.  Yesterday she decided I needed a much shorter leash, so I "could keep better control of him," and I took it.
   Wednesday, the first walking day with the spaniels, we walked a little less than a mile and took more than 75 minutes.  Yesterday I was also told that I had walked both the dogs and her "too far."  That Henry had had heart problems Wednesday afternoon because I had over-tired him in the morning.  I asked what had happened, and she informed me that Henry took several naps during the afternoon, when he was normally jumping about.  I asked how that showed heart problems, and she just got all flustered.  Yesterday and today, and through Tuesday, I will allow her to choose our walking route.  I say I have problems with her....  she doesn't wear a watch and asks me what the time is every few minutes; she forgets things inside the house before we leave, and the dogs and I end up standing for 5 to 10 minutes while she locks and unlocks the door and goes in and out; after all that, she doesn't bring poop bags to pick up after the dogs, and then asks if I have any, and then acts completely surprised and amazed that I do have them in my pocket.  Today, her telephone rang while we were walking the dogs on the middle-school track.  Let me correct that.  I was standing, with Watney, in the middle of the school's track, while she let Henry and Honey Bear root around and chew on things in the grassy area.  When the phone rang, she jumped, pulled it out of her pocket, looked at it, and said to me "Ii don't know who it is that's calling.  I'll just ignore it."  As soon as she put it back in her pocket, it rang again, and we played the whole scene over again.  When it rang the third time, she said, "Oh, dear.  I don't know who it is, or the number.  But it might be important.  Maybe I'd better answer it..."   I really didn't care.  We were not moving and I was trying to concentrate on Watney and give him attention while the other two dogs were playing and digging in the grass.  She answered the phone on the fourth call, and just stood there repeating, "Hello?  Hello?  Hello?"  then looked at me and said, "Nobody's there."   That was rather obvious....
   And I have another four mornings of her inane conversation to survive.   I'll need an exorcism come Tuesday night!