virtualberta

Some exciting news: I had written Tom about the link love, and it turns out his friend Lex had given link love to Christine after finding her site through my blog via the link on Tom's page. And, it turns out that Tom knows of TC because TC happens to post frequently on Don's blog. Don is a friend of Tom. What a small world! Truly a web of connections.

In less exciting news, I met with a trainer from California today. Thursday, I was jogging on the treadmill when a trainer, Erica, approached me.

Erica: [speaking Chinese]
Me: huh?
Erica: You know that as part of your membership, you have four free consulations with a trainer?
Me: Yes.
Erica: The first session introduces how to use exercise equipment. Do you know how to use exercise equipment?
Me: Yes. [while thinking, if I didn't know how to use the equipment, why would I be jogging on a treadmill now?]

So, to get rid of Erica and also because I thought there was nothing to lose, I made an appointment to meet with a trainer, Kernis. Kernis performed a fitness assessment on me and asked me about my health and fitness goals. She asked me if I would be interested in having a personal trainer. Sure, I thought. Kernis recommended meeting with her two or three times a week to maximize results. "Okay," I said. "How much?"

I practically fell off of the chair when she told me that three months of personal training would come out to NT$36,225! That's way more than my monthly income! Aha! This is where the catch is! Her manager came over and gave me the hard sell. Personal training is good because you'll be sure you will learn how to use exercise equipment properly, learn which exercises are best at meeting your goals, and learn what makes a good diet, the manager said. I told her I agreed with all of what she said, except that I was certainly in no position to pay over a month's income towards this service, especially when I had greater expense priorities, like rent, food, transportation, etc..

Manager: Do you have a credit card?
Me: Not a Taiwan one.
Manager: Well, I don't either, I use my Hong Kong one.
Me: Okay.
Manager: You can pay by credit card!
Me: Yes, but you still have a credit card bill at the end of the month.
Manager: Just pay the minimum!
Me: I'm not about to pay 17% interest on a credit card bill just to get a personal trainer.

My gosh. They're quite aggressive, those California Fitness people. Actually, I thought that Kernis was quite nice, and after her manager left, she suggested some exercises to focus on and left it at that. Later, as I was jogging on a treadmill, I was approached by another trainer. This time, I quickly told him I had already been approached by his colleague and had my appointment early this afternoon, thank you very much.

This week, California has been giving away one week trial passes, which I have given to Jen and Jeff. I am sensing a marketing campaign over there...