orichalcum

So, I may have mentioned my irrational irritation at the unknown person in my building's gym who uses all the same weight training equipment that I do, but is apparently both much shorter and stronger, requiring me to make big adjustments every time. It's totally petty, but you get to be petty sometimes.

I was in the gym last night, which is one of the few things about this building that I'm really really going to miss, and finally encountered Mysterious Guy, as he was using my favorite machine, the low back extension, when I walked in. Short, youngish guy. After he was done, I went over to the low back extension.

I now lift 15 lbs more than he does on it!

In other gym news, if any of you invest in individual stocks, I highly recommend American Girl stock. We share our gym and pool with the Marriott Courtyard, so I overhear a lot of tourists' conversations in the jacuzzi. At least once a weekend, there is a group of mothers and daughters who have come all the way to Chicago, often from several states away, for the sole purpose of going to the American Girl Place store. At the Marriott, as at many other local hotels, they can get the AG package, which includes cookies and milk upon arrival and a separate special American Girl doll bed for your doll, which gets tucked down and a fresh cookie placed on it each night, just like the regular beds. This costs $200/night minimum, and that's before they even go to the store, where the tea is $60, the dolls start at $100, and the clothes and books and accessories, well, add up.

It's a phenomenon. The three-story store here is closing to open up as a 4-story store across the street on Michigan Ave, the Mag Mile, itself.

Also, in the category of overheard jacuzzi conversations, it's deeply weird to hear a 19-year-old giving marriage advice to a pair of 16-year-old girls, including the line "The best thing about marriage is the incredible commitment you make to each other - and the sex five times a week."