My legs are sore from leg bends two days ago. Tonight I just did some cycling and upper body stuff. I feel pretty good. But I've only got one more week 'til the free membership runs out and I better steel myself for the heavy sales pitch. But I've got one that's fool-proof: "I can't afford it." I mean, how can they argue with that? Yeah, I know I kinda sounded interested when I signed on, but if I counter with, "I just figured out my budget and I can't afford it," how can they challenge me on that?

That happened when I went to the free trainer appointment and afterwards they tried to sell me the service and I just answered, "Sorry I'm not interested." And they asked, "Why not?" and I replied, "Because of the money" and they replied, "Well, we can break down the monthly payment of $320 into four weekly payments of $80 and would that help?" and I replied, "No, it doesn't." They said okay and that was it.

Okay, on that point, how can that help? It's still the same amount of money in the end. They're targeting people that take their paycheck and spend spend spend until they run out, I guess.

So I realize that though LA Fitness looks great from the outside, it's still flawed in many ways. For one, some of the machines have worn or torn seat pads, and some of the machines don't have pins for the weights. And I'm guessing that since the days of 24-Hour Fitness during high school, a lot of gyms nowadays have indoor heated pools, yoga classes, and raquetball courts. Though I did compare the prices, and while they are on the high end, their prices are comprable to 24-Hour Fitness and other gyms.

Well, as I have plunked down yet more money to fix yet another problem on my aging car, the only gym I can afford is the treadmill-and-soup-can-weights plan at home. Hey, you'd be surprised how much you can do with just those. Now if only I can force myself to get off my duff to actually use them.

BTW, thanks for the comments! It seems the only way I get them is if I specifically ask a question. Anybody wanna know about how the LA SIGGRAPH meeting went?