Remember the new gym I wrote about last week? The one I was told existed but I hadn’t had chance to find? Today, Trine and I found it! Now I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking I’m about to enthral and dazzle you with a tale of how spectacularly hi-tech this gym is, how I’m about to divulge to you the amazement we felt in finding it had a boxing ring and a swimming pool, yoga mats and a top-of-the-range Bose sound system. Well, before you get too excited…don’t. I’m sorry to disappoint you folks, but the ‘new gym’ isn’t really that hi-tech at all. It’s just as it was described to me – a new gym. Yes, it’s slightly bigger than the other one and a lot of money has obviously gone into paying for it; yes the equipment is less out-dated and smells ‘new’; yes it has more free weights; and yes the floor is padded and it feels less like a shipping container and more like an actual studio, but apart from these minor details, it isn’t that much different to the ‘old gym’. I mean, it’s decent, hell yeah it’s decent, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say I creamed my pants the minute I set eyes on it.
The ‘new gym’ is closer to my donga than the ‘old gym’ which is way more convenient, but in fairness, I reckon I prefer the original; it’s got that run-down, gritty, used feel to it and it smells more like a ‘real gym’ too. On the other hand though, now I know there’s an alternative, I actually feel like I’m spoiled for choice, so much so that I may even switch things up a little and use the ‘old gym’ one day and the ‘new gym’ another day; you know what they say – variety is the spice of life. How exciting!
Monday passed in an unusually quiet manner; I’d been headily informed that due to the weekly shift change (let me explain this a little: day shift workers finish their last shift on a Monday at 6pm and don’t start their nights until Tuesday at 6pm, leaving them Monday evening to get wasted and the whole of Tuesday to recover) Mondays are the Marvel Loch Hotel’s ‘Party Night’, and I could expect raucous behaviour, loud music, lock-ins, drunken banter and gallons of piss exchanges across the bar (piss is an Aussie term for beer by the way, not urine. As is grog…confusing, ey?), but for some strange reason known to no man, this Monday was as dead as the Skippy I found over the weekend. Now, I’m not blaming myself here, I wouldn’t want to lay sole claim to that accolade, but I felt a little disappointed there’d not been a decent turn out. Sure, I’ve got another seven or so weeks to experience a full on Monday ‘Party Night’ in booming Marvel Loch but I was pretty geared up for a busy session this evening.
As it turned out though, we still stayed open late, and the few boys that were actually drinking copious amounts of piss were hilarious – think arm wrestling competitions, terrible juke-box selections, spewing on the patio, and all the other riveting things you can imagine happen in a desolate country pub when the patrons have nothing else to occupy their evenings with other than sleeping or partaking in the occasional crafty wank. And once we’d booted them out, they continued into the night, to start a pit-fire somewhere and probably carry on their antics. I can only imagine what they got up to…
Oh, before I sign off, there is one more thing I forgot to mention – thanks to my lovely Scottish co-worker pulling a few strings and fluttering his eyelashes, I managed to get hold of a TV! Outside world, I’m back with ya! In a place where there isn’t really much else to do during the day apart from go for walks and use the gym, you’d be justified in thinking that this was great news…until that is, you spend a day watching Australian Television…there’s only so much Dr.Phil and Matlock one person can take; and Friends and M*SH re-runs? Over it, mate. So, in thinking about it, although I am extremely grateful to have the option at my disposal, apart from getting my daily News fix, I’m not too sure how much use I’ll actually get out of the thing. Like I said, so far I’ve managed to fill my days pretty contently; almost to the point where I’m struggling to find the time to read, blog, and fit the gym in (ooft, aren’t I a busy girl). That said though, give it three weeks and I’ll probably be addicted to The Block, will have found solace in Australian Survivor, and Dream Car Garage will be my new favourite show. Lord help me.
Chasing Amy-Lou 