In my never-ending battle to keep my workouts interesting, I've signed up to use a new exercise machine at the gym. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce the
Fitvibe.
For those of you who don't know, the Fitvibe is a vibrating machine on which one performs various exercises. According to the fine people at Fitvibe:
Exercising on a high quality vibration plate will improve muscle strength, bone density, blood circulation and will make your body leaner and more flexible. A friend of mine at the gym has been using it, and he let me try it for about 30 seconds. It seemed to be really effective, so I figured "Why not?". I was in the midst of a real workout rut, so I thought this might just "shake" things up a bit.*
Of course, like most things in Switzerland, the Fitvibe doesn't come cheap. Also of course, it's not included in my gym membership. In order to use the machine, I have to dish out 1 CHF per minute - or about 87¢ U.S. per minute. The price itself got my heart pumping faster, which I figured was a good thing as far as exercising goes.
And naturally...
In order to use the machine, I first had to sign up for a training session with an instructor that costs 40 CHF. Fortunately, the trainer waived the session fee when I told her beforehand that I would sign up for a 100 minute package. At that point, she told me that she had done a study and found out that if I use the machine for just eight minutes per week, then it's worth it to shell out 400 CHF for the unlimited time for one year package. "Ummmm... Let's start with the 100 minutes, and then we'll see where I go from there." Sheesh!
So, she set me up with an 8-minute (what a coincidence!) workout. I kind of laughed at first. Eight minutes? Was she kidding???
"No, I'm not keeding...", she said. "
You sood not use zees machine more zan two, maybe sree times per veek. And also, for not too long - ten minutes sood be enough. If you haf cancer or tumors of any kind, it may cause zem to spret eef you do too much. Also, eef you get zee headache, stop using zee maseen immediately!"
ZZZZZZZiiiiiiiiiiiiippp! (sound of record skipping on turntable!)
What? Hmmmmm... This sounds dangerous. I like that.
I proceeded to do the exercises that, as I requested, would focus on my legs, back, and abdomen. And?
I COULDN'T EVEN DO MORE THAN 30 SECONDS ON SOME OF THE EXERCISES.
That's right. My muscles were giving out!
I've been working out at this gym religiously for the last 6.5 years, and this stupid machine made me feel like I was working out for the first time.
Last night, I was a zombie. Mrs. TBF pointed out this morning that the only dinner preparation I did last night was to make the salad - she did the rest, including the clean-up.
Then, I fell into bed about an hour earlier than usual and slept like a freakin' rock!
This morning? Oh... I'm sore. REALLY SORE!!! But... NO headaches!
I think this Fitvibe thing is going to be good.
*comedic legend in my own mind
I just received an e-mail from Gucci with some gift idea's for Mother's Day. Here's one of the suggestions from the fine-a people-a at-a Gucci.
For those of you who don't know, the Fitvibe is a vibrating machine on which one performs various exercises. According to the fine people at Fitvibe: Exercising on a high quality vibration plate will improve muscle strength, bone density, blood circulation and will make your body leaner and more flexible. A friend of mine at the gym has been using it, and he let me try it for about 30 seconds. It seemed to be really effective, so I figured "Why not?". I was in the midst of a real workout rut, so I thought this might just "shake" things up a bit.*
Crystal Light, that is!
On Saturday, we took advantage of the spectacular weather by going to see the tulips at Keukenhof. We looked in our hotel's excursion guide and decided we just did NOT want to go the tour bus route with a bunch of people and be on somebody else's schedule for the 5-hour Keukenhof trip (only about 45 minutes away from our hotel). So, we splurged and hired a driver named Ferrie who took us to the garden via the scenic route (which included a stop for some smoked eel sandwiches - sluuurrrrrrp!), dropped us off at the front entrance, and was waiting there when we came out about an hour later (blame my short attention span). All in all, we were gone for four hours, but we ended up seeing WAY more than we would have had we been cruising down the highway in some tour bus for hour on end.
After seeing Michael and the gang, we stopped for a late-afternoon snack of bitterballen (GREAT!) and drinks at Dam Square with C-S and O-X, followed by an Indonesian dinner. After dinner, we went back to our hotel for a drink, and then we pretty much just crashed. 
On the Thursday before Easter, we celebrated Kirk's triumphant return to Basel with a "Kirkey" dinner - turkey on the grill, stuffing, cranberry chutney... the works! Douglas, Liz, and Claire joined in on the fun, and it was a great way to start off the long holiday weekend.
The next day, I enjoyed my first rooftop breakfast of 2009. Mrs. TBF concocted a breakfast "hobo" made with leftover turkey stuffing. It was AWESOME!!!
The traffic lights have been washed, and the flowers have been watered here in Perfectville. It's 9 a.m., and everything is clean and safe.
Earlier this week, we took delivery of our latest acquisitions: OrchideenblĂĽten and Sechs Grazien. The picture of the paintings is scanned from the exhibit brochure, so I apologize for the graininess.
For the third time in a week, there's an elevator repairman (as viewed through our peephole) working on our building's elevator. 
Our elevator has been repaired. At least, I THINK it's been repaired.
Dear Mrs. TBF:
