Sunday, November 12, 2006

Not Swimming and Wal-Mart Drugs

This entry is like a corn maze. I didn't know where I was going until I got to the end.

On a day like yesterday or today, Sunday, in November, I would usually be playing a racket sport somewhere. For hours. Tennis indoors, or platform tennis outdoors. Now I'm too crippled to play anymore. And it has no longer been weeks or months since I had a racket in my hand, but three years. Not being able to burn off the excess competitive juices has taken its toll.  On my fat ass for sure.  But mostly on my mental state. I'm not a person who likes to sit around for long, but now I have no choice. And I feel like a caged animal. Just ask people around me.

I tried swimming. Not once, but twice, even a third time. BLECH. That water is freaking cold. Even inside. Except during the dog days of summer. And it's a solitary sport -- lap after lap after lap. I tried competing against myself and it wasn't the same as competing against someone I could pretend to hate for a set or two. I mean, when it was just me, I was reduced to wondering how many seconds, okay minutes, could I take off a single lap -- did I mention I'm not very fast?

I even bought all the equipment the lap people wear:. a snorkel so you don't have to turn your head to breathe.  Goggles so my eyes won't turn red. A swim cap so my hair doesn't turn green.  And three Speedos so I can have a dry one to wear while the wet ones are airing out.  Did I mention earplugs?  I didn't get a waterproof iPod or any of the other gadgets -- they'd just weigh me down. It occurred to me that water polo would be fun, but they don't have leagues for women in their sixties.

We have two outdoor swimming extravaganzas in my town and an entire store devoted to the sport, but, despite my best efforts to embrace the opportunity that being crippled has afforded me, swimming is not for me. It's for people who like dry flaky skin, smelling vaguely like chlorine, and permanently bad hair.

Which brings me to Wal-Mart, because not being able to play my sports reminds me that I have to take prescriptions too, which I usually get at Walgreen's.

A long time ago I decided not to shop at Wal-Mart because they seem to be making it impossible for mom and pop stores to exist.  And mom and pop stores are what this country was built on.  So I refused to shop there.  I really do try to patronize my local shops first, from the book places to the restaurants, to the dress stores, even the coffee places, too -- their hot chocolate is better than Starbuck's boiled milk stuff. 

However, when Wal-Mart started offering huge discounts on prescription drugs, I peeked at their prices. The stuff I take costs about thirty dollars a month at Walgreen's. At Wal-Mart, it costs four bucks.  Walgreen's, in an attempt to be competitive, offers a free membership to AARP and a ten dollar card which you get for buying ten dollars worth of Walgreen's branded stuff. Woo-hoo.

Walgreen's is closer. That's about it.  But since I'm not spending money on court fees, membership fees, new equipment or the latest clothing, which used to add up to much more than thirty dollars a month when I was playing, I could still go to Walgreen's and not succumb to Wal-Mart.

I'll think about that today on my way downtown. To work. And not play. 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

What YOU need is a good horse to ride!  Although I will admit that for some reason, if I ride more than two hours, my left knee is in incredible pain.  I compensate for this by hanging my feet free, out of the stirrups, when the pain starts.  That helps.

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised you have weight issues. I always thought your journal was energetic enough to qualify for some type of contact sport.

Mosie: You're not fooling anyone. We all know why women take their feet out of the stirrups.

Anonymous said...

I have a DVD of armchair exercises, want to borrow it?  In all seriousness, how bout the rowing machine?  Have to locate one first of course, but it does not involve being on your feet, burns lots of calories, and you can pretend you are on the Seine.  Au Revoir!
Comment from cberes1 - 11/12/06 4:41 PM

Anonymous said...

I like your friend's suggestion of the rowing machine. Did you know they have leagues and races and stuff? No crap - for real!

I envy you the lowered Rx prices available at Wally World in your demesnes -- not available here. Hell, even my "co-pay" for the wife and I is over a grand a month. In winter, it's a choice between drugs and heat... (you know you don't get to be my size by not eating -- it wasn't even a distant third on the list, heheh).

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the suggestions everybody. As a twenty-five year gym rat, I probably should have mentioned that the only reason I tried swimming finally was that everything else was no longer an option. I coudn't even do stretching anymore. Same with putting legs in stirrups.  

Mrs. L

Anonymous said...

Jell-o Wrestling?  Oh, it IS TOO a competitive sport!  I think that you would be great at it!  Just a suggestion.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mary.  I'm boiling the water this very minute.    Mrs. L

Anonymous said...

My folks get their meds from Canada since they retire last year & love it.

Anonymous said...

What about just walking?  Walking is good.

And at this time of year, think of all the extra calories you'd burn just trying to stay warm.
Anna