So, cool fact I didn't realize about the apartment! There was a hook in the ceiling for bikes, sad part? My bike's tire was too fat for the hook… talk about despair!
"We could get a bigger hook…" Wrath offered as we lay on the floor staring at the hook.
In my futile attempts to get it on, I'd let the front tire hit my head twice… The bike wasn't exactly heavy, but trying to lift it with one hand, then direct the front tire with the other was a skill I lacked.
Greed was staring at the new scratch along the wall… yeah… my fault.
"Let's eat! Thinking is hard on an empty stomach! Food! Food! Food!" Gluttony wailed as he threw a tantrum beside us.
"I agree. Food." I left the bike against the wall then went off to scavenge. Potatoes, eggs, canned veggie mix. I wasn't exactly satisfied after I finished my portion… cooking enough for two was hard… but I didn't want to cook again. I glanced around in the fridge.
Gluttony was sitting on my shoulder, "Maybe just a snack… do we have crackers?" I searched the cupboards. No crackers.
"Oh! Seaweed is a good snack! Very filling!" I winced as Gluttony screamed directly into my ear.
I glanced at the square package… I'd never actually eaten seaweed. That I knew of.
"We can snack while we finish that anime from yesterday! I gotta know what happens!!!!" Gluttony whined as he tugged on my shirt. I shrugged, well, today I would find out if I liked seaweed.
"Let me shower, no script practice tonight, it's already pretty late." I added glancing at the time, already after 8.
After I was freshly showered I sat on the bed, using the towel to dry my hair as I pulled up the next episode on my computer.
"Are we going to ride the bike to work tomorrow?" Wrath asked as he settled in. Each sin had a small bowl of tiny seaweed squares. Sloth had fallen asleep, Gluttony was sneakily stealing his squares. Hard to be sneaky with crunch that loud.
I hesitated, "Not tomorrow, let me ask where I can leave the bike first." The neighborhood was still sketchy. "Ugh, I didn't grab a bike lock either…"
Greed sighed, "I think I'd actually cry if the bike was stolen." I agreed. Especially since the bike and other items had pretty much maxed out my card again.
I shouldn't have, but we binge watched the rest of the first season. Still hadn't found the right boss music for Larry, but my search would continue!
The director, Erika, said I could leave my bike in the referrals room during the day, two others biked to work so there was an empty room for them! Score! Though not on rainy days, she didn't want tracks of water from the break room to referrals. Fair.
Wrath was way more excited about biking than I thought was necessary. Mostly because he was incredibly distracting. Be excited, but he was running around the phone room while I was trying to work.
"Do you see something Max?" Donna asked nearly freeing my soul from my body!
"Huh? What?" I asked before I really understood the question, "Oh, uh, no, just… not enough coffee." I said as I stifled a yawn.
"I hear that, sister clinic is down so we are pulling double duty." Donna sighed as she glanced at the growing list of voice mails. We were over 2,000 already.
"Where's Alex and Jordan? Thought they were in today?" I asked as I too glanced at the voice mails.
"Helping at the women's clinic until their systems are back up. They're doing paper charts." Donna said as she accepted another call.
"Good afternoon, this is Donna…" She went into call mode. She'd been going none stop since I arrived.
I sighed, overtime would be nice.
"Doesn't hurt to ask, just say you can stay back to help with voice mails." Envy encouraged as she eyed the growing number.
I bit my lip, I'd barely been here a few weeks. Not even a whole month yet… still… didn't hurt to ask.
"It's also a good show of initiative, every little bit helps." Pride added. "We can ask Donna in teams first, then go ask Erika. If Donna thinks you can handle voice mails, that would be some favor in your corner."
My stomach did a little flip as I pulled up Donna's direct chat. Hey, do you think I could stay late and help with voicemails? Just to get the numbers down?
I saw the chat bubble flicker as she typed, she was in a call so I tried not to be impatient. I kept making phone notes for the voice mails as I waited.
Sorry Max, while you're on probation, no overtime. And with Erika gone for the day, we can't change your hours. Donna replied.
I tried not to be disappointed, really, what had I been expecting?
No worries! Just thought I'd offer!
"Don't be discouraged Max, for now, we stick to the basics, let's knock these voice mails out!" Envy said patting my hand. I took a deep breath, then dove back in. Gotta earn the brownie points.
I was almost relieved when I was free. The voicemails were now over 2300, Donna had logged over 200 calls today, and the phone room was still down three people. Escape!!!!
Poor Donna, she was staying an extra two hours just to help out with calls. Luckily, I was free until Sunday! Crazy how fast the week flew by.
"Oh! Lake party!!!!! Can't wait! BBQ time here we come!!!" Gluttony cheered as we settled in for the bus ride home.
Well shoot, forgot about that. I sent a text to Jack, Hey, can I bring anything to the lake party Saturday? This way I could go shopping tomorrow. I wasn't surprised when I didn't get an immediate answer.
"We should take the bike out tonight, if you need to return it, has to be tomorrow." Greed reminded as he fixed his glasses. I didn't wear glasses… be he seemed to adjust them a lot.
I made a mental note to ask if we could get him a new pair… when I had money. Then again… who made doll sized prescription glasses?
"LETS GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Wrath bellowed, I jumped in my seat, glancing around. A passenger behind us raised a brow, then scooted father away.
"Don't scare me like that." I hissed as I ducked my head. Ugh! Hopefully I wouldn't have to get on the bus again anytime soon.
We ate a light snack, drank water, then I changed.
"Hey! First rule to working out!" Wrath admonished as I was grabbing the helmet. I hesitated.
"Oh, stretching? For a bike ride?" I asked in disbelief. It's not like we were going on a mountain trail, I was just going to ride around the neighborhood for a few laps.
"Yes Max, for any exercise, warm up and cools downs are important. Cramps suck, sure, but those are just short term. Not warming up increases risk of injury, bad performance, and increased soreness." Wrath explained.
"Max, starting to work out is a huge change in routine for anyone, but on a bike? Going a couple miles an hour? One good fall because you stiffen up could set you back months." Wrath said as he crossed his arms.
I sighed, I… was prone to falling. "Okay, okay. Uh, here?" I asked glancing around the apartment.
"Yeah, so warm ups for bike riding will be dynamic stretching, not prolonged. Cause we'll be on the move, we want the blood pumping first. They also help loosen up joints after a long day on a computer." Wrath explained excitedly.
I nodded as I stepped into the middle of the room.
"So, we're going to start off swinging our legs, might want to brace a hand against the wall for this. Yep, front to back. Okay, yeah, keep your fore firm, and shoulders back. Don't stiffen up, relax your shoulders, just keep them back. Perfect." Wrath said as I copied his movements.
We did so for 30 seconds, then swapped legs. Then we did lateral leg swings. A bit tougher.
"Okay, now, your ankles are going to moving a lot, repetitively, so we are going to make little circles. Yeah, we can sit for this one." Wrath said, then he rested one ankle over his knee, using his hands to make slow steady circles.
"Think of it like… cranking a jack in the box, just slower, steady. When we get the motion down we can do this standing. Help work your core and balance." Wrath added.
I nodded along. Next I was walking one step on my heels, then next step on my toes around the room. I felt my calves ask what the heck I was doing to them. I wanted to ask the same.
"Okay, so calves, and thighs will be carrying all the weight, so we're going to stretch them, first we pull one knee to our chest, hold, then go into a lunge, knee touching the ground." Wrath demonstrated.
I hesitated, oof, my balance… might not be up for this one yet. I was a bit wobbly as I lifted my knee to my chest.
"Slow is steady Max, try not to stomp down as you release your knee, controlled." Wrath reminded as we did wobbly lunges back and forth.
"Okay, last one, since this is going to be a leisurely ride. Squats. Try and keep your knees at that 90 degrees for a solid ten seconds, then up." Wrath encouraged.
After a set of squats, I was ready… to take a nap! I wiped the sweat from my head as I took a few more sips of water.
"We are READY!!!!!" Wrath cheered as he hopped onto the handle bars. I pulled everything on, then… we were off.