Got up at 9:00. Yeah, my schedule’s climbing around. I can’t wait to get back on days and not have to worry about not being able to be available to go somewhere. And I hate having to go to bed in the bright sunlight, too!

At 10:00, although barely audible, someone was playing music. Again, it was coming from the back of the house, and again I couldn’t see any lights on at Dan’s or the renters. The trailers are still on Dan’s property too, so I guess he hasn’t left yet. Anyway, just like before, the stereo would have to be either outdoors or directly by an open door or window. The weather is nice enough, too. Not too warm or too cool at this time. It’s always possible that Dan could’ve turned off all his lights and opened his windows before blasting the music. That is the classic behavior of someone that lonely. He could even have the speakers in the window facing outward. I doubt he leaves Arizona just because of the heat. I’m sure he can’t stand the loneliness and that’s why he leaves too, to give himself a break from it and to see his family. It’s hard to have that many friends way out here, so any friends he may have are probably in Indiana and I still can’t figure out why he even bothers living out here. Anyway, we’ve never gone more than 4-6 weeks without hearing music, so once he does finally leave, that’ll be a good test as to whether or not the music was his, cuz you figure he’s got to be gone at least three months.

We’re starting to find at least one spider a day in the house. Thank God this house isn’t as loosely sealed up as Phoenix was or else we’d have a dozen a day. We’re gonna bomb in a couple of weeks or so when it’s hot to stay and when all the insects of the year have been born. That way, we won’t have to worry about three months. They’re probably coming in when we’re going in or out, and they could slip by us easily, cuz these spiders we’re seeing are super-fast.

We talked about getting one or two rats sometime within the next two or three weeks. I know Ratsy will be glad when we do. He’s obviously lonely and bummed out and he was never an explorer like Scuttles was.

Now for the best news since losing my beloved Scuttles - the Bowflex came yesterday!!! Was it missing a piece for coming when it did without us having to lead the UPS driver in? Of course. But fortunately, it was a useless piece; a rubber cap-like cover you put at the end of one of the bars to the leg extension piece. No big deal. Tom put it together while I slept and he said it took him two hours to do it.

Anyway, I love it and already I can’t imagine ever living without it! You can only do so much floor exercise, and treadmills and bikes are close to useless, so what was I to do? Go take walks in the heat with the snakes? You really need resistance! Resistance you can’t get on a floor, a bike or a treadmill. Pumping iron is the key.

It’s amazing how compact it is. It’s only about six feet tall and eight feet long. Each side has five power rods which are the weights. There’s a five, two tens, a thirty, and a fifty. Tom was smart by not bothering to get this pulldown bar you can also get, cuz it would’ve been a complete waste. You can do those same exercises with the cables and pulleys you use to do the bulk of the workout. We’ll only be using the leg extension piece for about one exercise. Everything else can be done with the cables and power rods. You attach the cable to whatever power rods you want to use. The rower is a seat that you pull a pin out on so it moves up and down the track it’s on while you keep your feet on the bar in front of you. I usually row with the 30-pound weights as my warm-up and cool-down, but to do most of the exercises I only use 10-15 pounds because I want to tone and not build. There’s a bench you can use too, either flat or inclined.

I went through and organized the exercises when I was making my own fitness program. Instead of taking the bench on or off every other exercise, I’m doing them in groups. First I’ll do the ones without the bench, then with it flat, then with it inclined, etc.

The only thing I don’t get, and that’s pretty contradictory, is how they say there is no such thing as “spot reduction” when it comes to exercising the backs of the thighs, and not to do the inner thigh exercise if you think it’ll burn fat and make them smaller, cuz all it’ll do is make them stronger. So what they’re saying is that I’ll build muscle there, but will keep the fat and the inches, too? Isn’t that impossible? I thought the more you toned up, the more the muscle you built ate the fat around it.

Anyway, my starting weight is 124 pounds, although I still don’t expect this thing to make such grand changes for me. I mean, that’s what I thought about quitting smoking, and look how wrong I was! Although I am an hourglass, I’m a pretty blown-up one. My tits are 37, my waist is 29, my hips are 38, and my thighs are 22½. Ideally, I’d like to have my tits be 34, my waist 24, my hips 34, and my thighs 18, but I know this is just a dream.

I’m not going to overwhelm myself with having to do the math. They talk about counting heartbeats, measuring skin folds with a caliper to measure fat loss, counting calories, etc., but I’m just going to use common sense. I’m going to keep on eating as sensibly as I always try to do anyway, and do what exercises I feel comfortable doing without straining myself. I want to work out so I feel the muscle working, but not so I feel it an hour after I’ve done the exercise.