Some stops, Going Retro

Last night after work I made a couple pit stops on my way home from work.  First was to grab supplies for a Prius oil change, the maintenance light came on with over 1500 miles to go on the trip.  I used full synthetic oil for the last change which holds up much longer so I am not that concerned but I do need to try to get it changed tonight.  I am also thinking the car may be ready for a shock/strut replacement after 165,000 miles.  I noticed on the trip the ride is getting on the harsh side.  Since I did the shock/strut job on the Tacoma I think I could do the same on the Prius without much fuss.

The other stop was to check out the race course for the race I am timing Saturday.  With the new race equipment I need to have a good idea of how wide the start line is going to be so I bring the necessary amount of 1 meter wide mats.  I also need to get an idea of how far it is between the start line and the finish line since I need to haul ass between those two points on race day.  This is especially critical with 5K’s since the first finisher crosses the line anywhere between 15-18 minutes from the start gun.

Over the weekend I got a surprise email from RetroFitness, the old gym I went to for over 5 years before I jumped ship for the Wellness Center.  Well technically by that time the gym was actually rebranded as Royal Fitness after they dropped the RetroFitness franchise.

Around 6 months ago Royal Fitness shut their doors.  I heard they had not paid their rent for months and they were looking to sell the gym to new ownership. Well that sale never happened and the gym remained closed with it’s lights out but all equipment still intact ever since.

So the email said the new gym is once again open under “new ownership” and the Royal Fitness name is now flipped back to RetroFitness.  Although Planet Fitness has been a serviceable gym and is very close to my office, I liked the equipment and spaces available to me at Retro more.  When I quit the gym it was not because of equipment, it was other factors like staff and upkeep.  I didn’t enjoy staff being more interested in checking their smartphones more than acknowledging customers or their tendency to play really obnoxious music at decibel levels that approached concert level.  They also did a poor job of keeping the place clean, cobwebs and dust were as prevalent as weights by the end.

So when my gym buddy told me he saw the same guy that managed the gym (not owned) under the Royal Fitness name was back as the relaunch Retro gym it did not thrill me.  I like the guy personally as he is friendly and one of the few that treated clients nicely.  However he was also the one that allowed his employees to be slugs so in the big picture I would much prefer a new face in there running the show.  Even so, I plan to stop by after work this week to take a look and see if there is enough change there to warrant me coming back.