Corporate Hippy

Its funny how, in 2008, Nick and I each bought 2 new bikes, a big ass HD DLP TV and HD Tivo, a blu-ray player and bought each other new cameras for Christmas – but we’ve been nearly torturing ourselves with hand-me-down desk chairs in our office.  My chair was a freebe.  When the local Knights of Columbus closed down (when I was in high school), my dad helped them empty their “lodge” since my grandpa was a long-time member.  Well, dad came home that day with a bunch of old desk chairs, some file cabinets, a big heavy desk and a 6′ tall metal knight statue thing (I’m not kidding – he called it Bobby).  I inherited one of the desk chairs.  Somewhere along the line, one of the legs got bent and so it wobbled, and didn’t move very well.  In short, it sucked.

My old desk chair - I'm pretty sure its from the 70s

Nick, on the other hand, has been sitting on a chair that he bought at an estate sale several years ago.  Its a really awesome chair, but has been stuck at a super-high height that was just OK for Nick and terrible for me.  Also, its got really high arms that don’t fit under any desk, so he was limited as to how close he could pull himself to his desk.

Nick's old chair - bought at an estate sale.

Well, I’ve finally had enough.  Staples had a sale on all of their chairs, and I splurged a whopping $70 each on new chairs for us.  Let me tell you – its a small upgrade that I wish I would have done a long time ago becuase it is freaking wonderful.

THIS CHAIR WRAWKS.

This is my new desk chair. Please excuse the messy desk.

Let this be a lesson to me.  It doesn’t have to be Aeron or bust.  Sometimes, a small upgrade is good enough.  Heh.  Who knew?

Nick's enjoying his new chair in the sunshine.

I’ve been tagged ..

I’ve read 6 random things about Namrita, Danielle and Andrea .. And now, apparently its my turn to enlighten my own couple of readers with 6 random things that very few people know about me.  Here goes:

1.  I was very shy as a kid, and even into college.  I still struggle with being shy and introverted even though most people who know me now, think I’m quite the opposite.

2.  Another childhood story – I was also quite the tomboy.  My neighborhood friends were boys, and I spent a lot of time doing boy things: riding bikes, climbing trees, playing in the mud.   I was the only girl on my t-ball team (and my dad was the coach).

3.  I started competitive swimming at the age of 9 and continued through my junior year in high school, but quit during my senior year.  When I was young, I used to dream of swimming in the Olympics and Janet Evans was my biggest hero in her day.

4.  While I have a really good, really corporate IT job (network security), my bachelors degree is in Health Education (non-teaching), and my minor is Physical Education with emphasis in coaching.

5.  I went to catholic school from kindergarten through 7th grade.  Uniforms and everything.

6.  I lived in Brooklyn, NY from 1984 – 1988 (age 9-13) and spent a lot of time running around the city by myself or with friends – very little parental supervision.  It was great freedom that would never be allowed by any parents today.  Times have certainly changed.  It was an experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

And now I must tag some others – I’m going to target the boys and see who’s still watching my blog 😀

Steve (aka I’m moving to Washington, wait, no! I’m not)

Robert (aka Hermitman)

Alex (aka the Dolpinator)

Nick (aka the hubby)

Last winter, Nick and I bought a Concept2 indoor rower.  Its something that Nick’s wanted for several years, since he first used one at Lifetime Fitness.  I’m a fan, although I’ve not been able to use it with any kind of consistency – mostly due to laziness and lack of motivation.  Shocking, I know.

Well, one of the attractions for Nick was that Concept2 is more than just a company that makes indoor rowers, its also a community.  There are races and challenges going on across the country throughout the year.  So, of course, when he received an email form Concept2 about the upcoming holiday challenge, he forwarded it my way for consideration.

The challenge starts tomorrow, and I’m about to create my online account for tracking my meters.  There are two levels of objective for this challenge, and we’re both shooting for the greater goal of 200,000 meters in 4 weeks.  Concept2 will donate $.02 for our first 100k and $.04 for any meters beyond that to our choice of these charities:  The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International or the Alliance for Climate Protection.

So, 200,000 meters in 4 weeks breaks down to 50,000 meters per week.  This is a hefty goal.  All of my rowing in the past has been for ~30 minutes, ~5000 meters .. and never more than 2 days in a row.  Starting tomorrow, I will be rowing close to an hour a day, at least 5 days per week, for the next 4 weeks.

Its daunting, but I’m surprisingly excited to start.  With any luck, it will turn into some kind of habit and I will have successfully added indoor rowing as a cross training exercise.  Rowing really works the core muscles, so it is definitely something I will benefit from if I ever have any energy to ride my bike again 😉

Wish me luck!