Dream Journal: Intriguing regrets?

Vivid dream last night with lots of current real-life details but no flavor of a “meaningful” or anxiety dream. A sense of mischief inspires me to note that the person described herein as “Ms X” is an actual person who, in fact, happens to be on my LJ friends list, although I have no particular reason to suspect that the opinions expressed by Ms X in my dream correspond to actual opinions held by that person.

The setting of the dream was this coming Saturday: I had spent the morning at the Slow Food Nation festival in SF and was about to head off to a party at some friends (both actual real-life events on my schedule). But for some reason, in between those events, I was talking to Ms X. Seemingly out of nowhere, Ms X noted that she was jealous of how much time I spend on my journal talking about Ms Y. I retorted that I was surprised she hadn’t mentioned how much time I spend talking about Ms Z, where there might be a better cause for jealousy (note that Ms Y and Ms Z are also actual people who happen to be on my LJ friends list) but that I was frankly rather surprised that jealousy came into the matter at all since Ms X had had ample opportunity to engage my affections (and, in fact, was aware that I was attracted to her) but instead seemed to delight in paying romantic attention to other people in my presence, which I had taken as a pretty explicit message of disinterest. There followed a somewhat detailed analysis of our history of interactions, but without any resolution regarding possible future involvement.

An odd dream, but in an odd way a rather pleasant dream despite the flavor of annoyed frustration I felt. (Look: if anyone out there actually does harbor a secret longing for my romantic interest, just say so. The statistical odds are too stacked against me for me to take game-playing at anything but face value.)

Shopping for a New Gym

The owner of the gym I go to mentioned the other day that he'll be closing in a month or so. Some sort of issue with the lease -- he's going to try to find another space, but nothing is certain. I've decided that whatever happens on that end, I'm going to take the cue to change my membership to a different gym. One that has hours and facilities that let me work out before work (hmm, I feel the urge to add semantic indexing: "let me work[1] out before work[2]"). I will then have the task of shifting my diurnal rhythms about an hour and a half earlier, but it will be worth it to not have that after-work block of time tied up. (And it will mean that evening socializing or weekend events won't require skipping a workout.) Some initial research indicates that two gyms fit my basic requirement: located roughly between home and work.

Maverick's is located in the shopping mall on the other side of the railroad tracks. It's about 4-5 blocks off my usual bike route to work but easily accessible. Lots of equipment, large space. No bike parking. Provides a corporate discount to Big B employees that brings the membership down to 60% of what I'm currently paying, but has an initial sign-up fee and the reviews on yelp.com suggest that they have a propensity to nickel-and-dime you on "incidentals" like the use of towels and so forth. The reviews also indicate a dissatisfaction with some maintenance and cleaning issues.

Berkeley Ironworks is located half a block off my usual bike route. It specializes as a rock climbing gym but also has extensive general-workout equipment. Extensive bike parking. Provides a corporate discount to Big B employees that brings the membership down to essentially what I'm currently paying. The discount also includes a waiver of the sign-up fee. Towels are free and no complaints at yelp about unexpected extra fees. (The yelp reviews tend to focus on the climbing aspect, so it's hard to compare experiences closely.)

Both have early morning hours; both have more than adequate shower facilities (and both have saunas!). I got more of a "corporate" feel from Mavericks -- a feeling of "we're in this for your money" and a sense that what you paid depended on how good a negotiator you were. I got more of a "we're fellow gym-rats running this for fun" vibe from Ironworks. In terms of "no extra effort to drop by" Ironworks wins hands down. On the one hand, at Ironworks I feel like I'm paying extra for the climbing equipment which I have no strong interest in using on a regular basis. On the other hand, I'd be paying essentially the same as currently but getting a lot more. And since Mavericks has the initiation fee and the towel fee (and what with the Big B rebating half the membership fee for either of them, on top of the discount), Mavericks actually ends up being more expensive in the long run. Hmm, I'd been wavering a little until I did that last calculation. Now my mind is made up. Ironworks it is. I'll stay with the current gym until it closes, simply for old time's sake, but now I know where I'm going afterwards.