OregganO decided to buy a treadmill. Cream of Tartar wasn’t too excited about this idea because, as often happens with in-home exercise equipment, he felt it wouldn’t get used. OregganO, however, felt this couldn’t be further from the truth. She had every intention to use the treadmill. So, while Cream of Tartar was at work she sent me a text ‘inviting’ me to help her pick up a treadmill. In exchange, I would receive dinner and wine. Seemed fair. We arrived at the seller’s home ready and able to retrieve the treadmill. “Mind if I make sure it works?” OregganO asked. “Not at all,” said the seller. “What are you going to do?” I asked her, “Hang a shirt on it?” “Very funny,” she replied. It wasn’t really very funny – that treadmill joke has been running around for years. Had she decided to do a ‘test run’ on it for 30-45 minutes, while we all waited, that would have been very funny.
But it appeared all of the laughs were on us when we tried to take the treadmill from the second floor apartment to the car. Although it was collapsible, the shape was awkward and made moving it difficult. We’d get a few feet and the bottom half (I believe they call it the tread part) would unfold, putting the treadmill in ‘ready’ position. As the move progressed, one of the neighbors came out, lit a cigarette, asked ‘What are you girls up to?”and watched the ‘move’ unfold, literally. After several negotiations with the treadmill we got to the truck. Once there, we were presented with another challenge: we had to figure out a way to lift it into the bed of the truck and lay it down. During this time, it had started snowing.
Eventually we managed to get it in the truck bed. Once we got back to OregganO’s we got smarter, and our moving options improved. Meaning, we were able to back the truck up to the porch and just roll the treadmill onto the porch. Getting it through the front door and subsequent interior doors was another story. As it had done at the apartment, the tread kept unfolding, until just before we reach it’s destination when I discovered there was a latch to hold it in place. We got it just outside the room in which it would be housed when we managed to get stuck between the door, the tub , and the sink. It was at this point that we decided having a treadmill is a good workout and we were hungry.
So we left the treadmill where it was and left the bathroom to enjoy some tuna melts. OregganO was telling me about all of the jobs she has lined up over the next few weeks and, at the same time, was filling me in on all of the things that have been happening on television, but not without providing me a little advice first, “You know that little black thing in the corner of your front room? It has a power button. Try turning it on, you’ll be amazed by what you see.” Not one to watch much TV, I just smiled and told her to go on. As she continued to enlighten me with reality and fictional treasures, I started to do some math in my head. “What are you going to do once you start working? That is valuable TV watching time.” “Why do you think I’m overwhelmed right now?” she responded. “I’m not sure when I’m going to watch all of my shows.”
Three Ts: treadmill, tuna, TV. Work, however, does not start with ‘t’, so I’m not sure what she is going to do about that dilemma. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow, another ‘t’, to figure that out.