Health Club - A Good Investment

Well, I wasn't too sure about joining Esporta, or any other Health Club for that matter - because I thought I would find it too different and boring when compared to playing squash. The problem was that I didn't always get the opportunity to play as often as I would have liked and this meant missing entire weeks without a game. So about 5 weeks ago I joined Esporta and temporarily dropped out of the squash league- and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Weight loss isn't as great as I thought it might have been - however I am now around 14st 7lbs which is almost a stone lighter than I was, but also my body fat %age has dropped considerably which seems to indicate conversion of some of that fat into muscle - still some way to go, but a good start none the less.

The idea of personal training sessions was a good one and as these were free I thought I would make the most of them. The trainer has developed a programme which I am using and slowly improving on but I have already discovered my likes and dislikes with regard to the equipment. I don't like the treadmill but do like the cross trainer and rowing machine and for both I am managing 3.7kms over 15 mins at a respectible level 10. On the weights I tend to use a selection of most of the equipment available (6 items in a set) and have just changed the regime to using a higher weight with 3 sets of 12 repetitions, which seem to work for me. This lot takes me around an hour and 15 mins to complete and I try to do this 3-4 times per week.

Carol is revising hard for her exams and we both have our sights set on the Paris weekend in just a few weeks time. Still having problems with my Broadband connection very erratic speeds and nothing close to the performance that I expected it would give. Just waiting until the end of the training period so that I can complain to BT about it.

Hope to start sailing soon again and this is tentatively booked for the 6th May. I have contacted my crew member and weather permitting - it's a date. My recent holiday was good - nothing too exciting but allowed me to get a few jobs done at my own pace and have some time to myself - I think the Dog enjoyed me being around as he got lots of fuss and attention that week.

Regards

Barry

Looking Forward to the Better Weather & The Domino Effect

Well since the clocks went forward a few weeks ago its certainly better out there. Later, lighter nights mean that at least I'm not travelling home in the dark now - which is nice.

Carol is still working away on her revision for the exams next month and at the time I write this I am looking forward to a weeks holiday up until Easter - Yippee!! The time will be shared between walking, painting and going to the Gym - oh and not having to get up at silly times ofthe day to go to work.

Ever heard of the Domino effect? Well I have just experienced the photographic equivalent of this - let me expalin...

Holidays give you the opportunity to purchase items that otherwise would take some justification (the point of this will become clear I promise) - what that means is that you can consider nice toys to take with you that because of the "once in a lifetime opportunity" or the remoteness of the location that the holiday presents and this identifies the items you simply must have. Well it started with me being tempted by the 20D equivalent of the battery grip that Andy bought for his 350D. Found a deal on the internet and decided to take the plunge after trying one out in Jessops - the grip iteself was very comfortable to use and really helps with holding the camera steady in portrait shots. It needed some additional batteries but those were easily sorted.

As I say it's great but it does make the camera more bulky than without the grip and so, oh bugger, it won't fit into my camera bag. A chat with Boff and the suggestion that I have a Lowepro Mini Trekker rucksack which I sourced and bought from EBay.It's a great bag and has plenty of room for all my bits and bobs.

All was well but I had been thinking of a UWA lens for the Canon and I had in mind the Sigma 10-20mm. I thought it might make a good Birthday present but due to circumstances beyond my control I wasn't born until July. However with a weekend in Paris( 12th May - 15th May) booked for when Carol finishes her exams it seemed the perfect excuse to buy it now and try it out before the big holiday- so i did.

Fortunately the bag is still future proofed and I can't think of any accessories that I will need in the future. So at the moment the last Domino has fallen.

On the computer front, now just waiting for the upgrade to my Broadband connection due early next week.