Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?

We’ve just arrived home from an evening out socialising with my old (literally and figuratively – lol) friend Randy.  I hadn’t seen him for many months, until today where I caught up with him at his store, and then again this evening as the three of us decided to go bowling socially.  Socially and some practice for the three of us as we all play on leagues.

Well…  I mentioned the other night that I bowled CRAP.  By comparison to this evening, Monday was sheer professional brilliance.  I barely made 50% of my average this evening.  While Mark on the other hand… well he was astoundingly brilliant.  A shock to us, and to him.

In 8 years of us being a couple, Mark has never beaten me at bowling.  We are a little (ok a lot) competitive, but it’s all in good fun.  But tonight Mark was scoring exceptionally well, now all he has to do is transfer tonight’s technique to Monday evening’s when we bowl in competition.

For the record, he beat me in the first 2 games, quite substantially too.  I’m going to blame the ball, the alley has crap balls, and I couldn’t find one that fit my hand, also the guy on the next lane kept using it, I’ve also twisted my knee, but truth be told, he was just the better bowler on the evening.  So *applause* for Mark.  Keep it up, it’s about time.

As for me, I lost in the first 2 games, and finally started coming back in the third only to bowl a strike and have the alley turn off on us, as we simultaneously reached the end of our prepaid time just as I knocked down all the pins.  Dammit.  The one time I was actually going to have the highest score.  But it wasn’t meant to be.

Congratulations Mark, keep it up, and don’t peak before Monday.

Function over form

Well today’s been an interesting day.  I’ve caught up with a friend that I’ve not seen since before Christmas, and been in to Seattle to buy some new shoes for the gym.

I figured I’d try Athlete’s Foot as back in Australia they assess your feet and assist to you to pick the perfect pair of shoes…  So much for that theory.  I looked up the store on the corporate website, drove into Seattle to visit it, only to find it doesn’t even exist.

It seems that all stores have been closed down across Washington, and that the Seattle one isn’t due to open until next month.  So much for that idea.  It would have been nice had the corporate website actually had that information.  It was only by phoning the corporate head office in another state that I found out I was only approximately 6 weeks early for the store to be open.  Sorry, but I need shoes sooner than that.

Fortunately I was parked outside the Adidas store.  I’ve been to brand name sporting stores before, but generally it’s been my experience to go to a general sporting store and find all the labels together giving you access to a huge range.  This isn’t necessary the case as I’ve seen it here.  A couple of months ago Mark and I were both looking for gym shorts, so visited the Puma store.  A complete waste of time.  The store was completely devoted to fashion that was non-gym appropriate.  Sporty casual, but practical for working out?  Not likely.

So the Adidas store was a pleasant surprise to find that every item inside was sporting related, and housed in a very swank/swish environment.

Not that I had much time to enjoy it.  I was a man on a mission.  I needed shoes for the gym.

I followed the store signs downstairs to locate the shoes.  Which to my delight were all displayed in the order of their sporting relevance.  Eg:  Running, Training, Basketball etc.

A store assistant asked if I needed help, I said yes, gave her my requirements, she made two suggestions, I opted for the better of the two, tried on a couple of sizes, made a selection and was finished in under 5 minutes.  Love it!

The assistant was very helpful, and even told me where a mirror was to see if the shoes looked good, she was a little taken aback, but soon laughed when I told her I didn’t care what they looked like, as long as they fit and did what they claimed to.   Joggers as a fashion item?  Bizarre.  Incidentally they do look good, but if they didn’t it wouldn’t have mattered one iota, they’re only for use at the gym, where I’m usually a heaving sweaty mess anyway.  What my gym shoes look like are the least of my issues.

So I have new shoes, I’ve been all over Seattle today, and now I’m home.  Inside in the warmth and away from the cold wind and rain.

Tomorrow I’ll christen them at their first training session.  Let’s hope they’re as comfortable half an hour into a training session as they were when I tried them on.

We’ll soon find out…