Random thoughts Friday

I've been meaning to get to blogger all week and one thing or another has prevented me. So, we have many random thoughts for today's post. This will probably be long, so I apologize upfront.

Dietitian woes
As you know, I had hired a dietitian to help me get my cholesterol under control. I have to admit to being squeamish about her upfront. She was arrogant, slightly condescending, against milk (and I'm sure against bacon - Nicole would have hated her for that) and expensive. I couldn't pin her down for what I'd actually be receiving for my fee, but I thought I was paying a $199 engagement fee (includes pedometer, 15-minute exercise video, food log and fancy diet plate - what else it includes is beyond me) and then $99 a month for 3 months (monthly fee is for 2 45-minute nutrition discussions with her per month). I must have lost my mind, because I agreed to it and worse, told her to charge me the whole fee upfront.

Then, after tracking my food log and sending it, I tried to schedule an appointment. Her assistant was incompetent and made the whole appointment setting process frustrating for me. She finally got me in for November 4. I got a separate e-mail from the dietitian saying that she was looking forward to seeing me and that she had ordered the supplements that she's sure I'll love. What?! I never asked for supplements. My response was "Why do I have to take supplements?" She gave me some BS sounding answer, but I let it go thinking we could talk about it in person.

Then, I get my bill. Yowza, I was charged nearly $1000!! Apparently, her monthly fee is $199 a month, not $99 a month. The $ is covering the 1 on the contract and she never gave me a receipt after the first meeting. I never would have signed on for that price. That is just too crazy for me! And, there was a charge for supplements on my card. Now, I never authorized her purchasing them, didn't think I wanted them and she charged them to my card. Yikes, what gave her the right?!

I challenged the fees and told her I didn't want to have anything else to do with her, so please refund my money. She told me she could return the supplements, but I had to attend the sessions before saying I wanted my money back. What kind of sense does that make? I don't want to see her ever again. So, I called my lawyer friend. She's taking it over from here. I formally disputed all of the charges on my credit card. I'm sorry it couldn't be resolved amicably, but that wasn't my choice.

As you can tell, I'm all fired up about this. I hate being taken advantage of. Thank goodness for my friend helping me out with all the right avenues to take to resolve this. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Highlander
I watched this gem on the trainer yesterday. It was playing on our home computer, which has nice speakers that unfortunately are just a tad small. Between the fan, fluid trainer and Christopher Lambert's raspy voice, I barely heard the dialogue. Luckily, it is more of an action movie than one that needs total concentration.

If you've never seen it, I would recommend it. Sure, it has cheesy 80s outfits and Christopher Lambert is not the best actor, but the plot is kind of cool. There are these immortal guys who can only die if their head is cut off. The cutter receives the "power" from the chopped guy. This continues until there is only one (a recurring saying in the movie).

It got me thinking about things. Being immortal would be cool, but I'd never go for it if my husband wasn't immortal too. Who wants to stay young if the one you love has to grow old and die without you? I'd rather be in it with him. And, if you knew you were immortal and you knew no one was going to attempt to cut off your head, would you get fat, because you knew you wouldn't die of heart disease? Would you get bored? How would you stay motivated towards a goal? I don't know. I think it is probably better being mortal, because you just appreciate everything so much better.

In the movie, they were able to get away with chopping off heads and exploding cars, glass, etc. by the after effects lightning, but they didn't go to jail. I watch enough CSI to believe that they'd all be in jail if they had tried that with today's forensic science. Of course, CSI is just a fictional show too, but I'd have to believe that there would be video surveillance, blood evidence, etc.

I know, I analyze way too much and I may sound a little kooky. I blame it on the 90 minute trainer ride. That's enough to make any mind go a little batty. : )

Great swims this week
I swam with my buddies, Sam J. and Suzi on Wednesday at my new club. Sam followed Angela's assigned workout with me, while Suzi did her own thing. It was a good workout and great to see my girls.

Today, I swam at CSU. I got my own lane today, so no pressure from the fast people! I did still push myself and I swam a respectable, tiring 2700 yard workout in 65 minutes. Last year, I would have gotten out in the same time, but having only gone 2000 yards. There is improvement! Yes! It was also great to see Jodi as always too. She looked great in the lane next to me. It's amazing how fast she is getting.

Reunion
My pal, Nicole, is coming here for the weekend from Texas and a group of us are meeting her for a run tomorrow morning. My run Wednesday night was awful (shin so tight I could barely move my foot up and down and renewed IT band pain), but it was on concrete and not with my girls. We are running the Brecksville Carriage Trail, which will be tough, but softer on the legs. I also saw my ART guy today, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I got to get this under control before my IM training gets too behind.

But, regardless, it will be fabulous to see Nicole. I miss her. Luckily, we work for the same firm and have training next month in Dallas together. Hopefully, we can keep the contact up. I love her too much to let her drift away. And, if I'd never met her, I'd never have gotten into this running thing that led to my triathlon obsession.

Until later
I'm sitting in a Starbuck's right now. I had my ART appointment at 12:30, so I decided to "work from home" after. I came here in an attempt to be productive. As you can see, the most I've accomplished is updating my blog and disputed my dietitian charges, but that is kind of productive, right? Anyway, must get to the work. Hope you all have a great weekend and thanks for reading!