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Old 08-25-2018, 04:57 AM   #4015
Mopsie
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[quote=nycfem;1223086]

I went to the gym after the opthamologist so my eyes were dilated. My gym has a welcoming robot that lets you in only if it recognizes your eyes with its sensor. Interestingly having my eyes dilated caused the robot not to recognize me. That's never happened before but every time I tried, it said, "I have detected your irises but I do not recognize them." I had to knock on the door until a member opened it. The member who opened it was Gayle, the old Ricki Lake producer. She said she worried I was a burglar but decided to open it after a few rounds of my knocking. She's someone I'm not so crazy about but I guess I should be since she is the one who let me inside.
QUOTE]

When I was reading the above section I was hearing Mission Impossible music. That sounds really cool - I want to use spy ware to get into my gym! There is a spy museum in DC that I haven't been to yet - but it's on my list. I live in a relatively small town, however, there is still some crime. My gym is open 24 hours during the week and I wondered about the safety for the staff that have to work around the clock to check members in. I wouldn't want to be there at 2 in the morning when it's just a big glass door that opens like doors at Walmart. Hmmm... maybe there's something else that goes on late at night - I've not been there late at night yet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nycfem View Post
Today I was about to go to the gym and a good friend, an old colleague, texted me to ask if I had time to talk about something personal. She actually wrote "persona," so somehow it took me about 10 minutes to realize she had meant to write "personal" and that I should contact her (The text read: "Can you talk? Persona."). So instead of go to the gym, I made a quick decision to walk in the park. It was 5:30 in the evening and I walked for two hours, catching right before sunset- a beautiful time to walk. I live half a block from a huge endless beautiful park (Riverside), and the weather was perfect, so it was a very nice choice.

She talked to me for about an hour and a half about her abusive relationship, and I know her partner well and am well aware that it is an abusive relationship- physically, emotionally, and verbally. I try not to alienate friends when they are in abusive relationships, since it gets to the point that no one else can handle listening to them, and everyone needs an ear. She got it all out and then did ask for advice, which is the only time I like to give advice, when someone is ready for it. I worked on hashing out a safe plan for getting away and also validated her feelings. So it was deep. We usually talk extremely casually, often because the partner is there, and we don't want to trigger the partner- the whole control, suspicion, walking on eggshells thing.

I feel so relieved that I made the call and didn't just ignore the text and go to the gym. I wouldn't put that past myself, not realizing how serious a situation is. Instead I veered toward the park and called her and said, "I have all the time in the world to talk to you." She got teary and said she didn't know what she'd do without it. It was an intense reminder that if a friend reaches out, it's important to make room for it, that they may not have anyone else who can listen to disturbing details that they need to discuss so that they can get validation and feedback on what to do.

Anyway... it smelled so good in the park. There is nothing like nature.
I'm so glad that you took the call and that she knew you were someone she could talk to. I hope she gets out of that unsafe relationship. Its so hard to watch something like that and do nothing but if the person is not ready to leave then no offer of help will help. Sending good juju for your friend.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemme View Post


As for me and exercise, I did some manual labor today and I walked around Wally World for a while tonight.
I tell ya what - walking around Wally World can be a marathon depending on how long you are there! And an obstacle course if its crowded!
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