Chapter 101

We were up early. Patti was going to make her first solo driving trip to the college this morning. I wanted her to have plenty of time so she would not have to speed. Wendy was going to come in this morning and work until noon and then Kim noon till closing. Jenny and I were going to work from 7 AM until 10 pm. Vicky, Marcy and Ching Lee were going to split the day up between them so we would have an additional person there to help. We planned to do the same thing Saturday and Sunday depending on how busy the place was.

Shelia and her boxer pals were starting their training class at three. We kicked the heat up from its overnight setting of 60 to the daytime setting of 68. We left the tanning booth, waiting room and office warmer over night than the gym. It only took the big heaters a few minutes the thermostats were shutting them down.

Marcy had left us detailed instructions for opening up. The book we had initially started had been updated almost daily. The computers turned on, coffee made and water for hot chocolate. The money went into the cash register from a prepared money bag. The checks were carried to the bank every couple of days. The credit and debit card transactions were processed every night at closing. The cash was being held to pay the part time girls until they went back to college. If things had not slowed down some by then we may have to hire another part time girl.

Wendy had already asked if she could work full time. She was going to wait to start college after her mom and dad received more permanent assignments. Changing schools every year was bad enough. She didn't want to do college that way. Her part time job at the flower shop had all but dried up. Their kids had come home from college and were making all deliveries during the busiest time of the year. Jenny and I were going to try to talk her into going to KCC next year. She could ride up with Patti or me. Misty would graduate in June and I would be able to use my sponsorship for her now that I knew about it. It would be a good discount to encourage her to go to college.

The tanning was steady and at times a wait. Both Marathoners were in use. Both were scheduled for four hour segments this morning ad again this afternoon.

Mom was going to call for a fruit and juice order to bring before lunch time and bring it when she came. Sysco food systems delivered everything else from bath room tissue to paper towels and cleaning supplies. We were running towels through the washer and drier continuously in the afternoons.

I was manning the office most of the time. The Christmas tanning gift packages were selling like crazy. Buy a10 coupon book for the price 8 tans and they came with a gift envelope. Marcy might need to order more today. The radio adds had started running last night and it showed today in the sale of memberships and the specials. I never thought we would get much business from the western shore but eight out of ten sales were coming from there today.

At 11 I called Mom to come in if she could we were starting to have waiting lines. Mom had barely settled in when two ladies in EMT uniforms came in wanting to speak to the owner or manager. I introduced myself as one of the owners and asked what I could do for them.

"I'm Abby James and this is Kristen Block. We heard that you might be interested in some one that could help you do more advanced physical assessments for your new members." Abby said.

"Yes we are. We are currently doing a weigh in, body fat check and body measurement. I think we need to be checking blood pressure and listening to heart and lungs and possibly offer free blood sugar test before we design an individual aggressive personal fitness work out program" I said. "We have a several tread mills that will give heart rate but it might be beneficial to have more. What did you have in mind?"

"There are three of us Me, Kristin and Carla James who work for the county EMS system. We work all the different shifts and you can tell spend a lot of time sitting with no exercise. We were wondering if we could do some kind of exchange where we helped with the health assessments for gym and tanning time. We have the BP cuffs, stethoscopes and EKG if it were needed," Abby said.

"Let me call Marcy who is our treasurer. She controls all the money," I said.

I made the call. Marcy would be over in 20 minutes. While they waited I gave them a tour of the gym while Mom was working the front office.

Marcy and I met with them in the class room. After everything was explained what we wanted and what they expected we had a good agreement that in the end with no money changing hands. One of them would be working all day Saturday and Sunday and Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. We would schedule all assessments during those times. In exchange for that they would get use of the exercise equipment, two tanning sessions a week each but no Marathon or massage unless they paid for it. We would work up an individual exercise program for each of them. Marcy left to go help Mom.

I handed Kirstin the form that we used and told Abby to strip to bra and panties. I helped Abby while she did the weight, height and took the body fat and other measurements that used and explained why. They swapped places and I watched as Abby repeated the checks and measurements on Kirstin. I then asked if the brought workout gear.

"It is in the car," Abby said. "Go get it and let's see what you got," I replied. I spent the next two hours working out a program for them. As an EMT they need to build and maintain upper and lower body strength. The goal for them was to reduce the secretary's ass they had developed and the abdominal fat and replace it with muscle in the upper body and legs. As odd as it seems fat weighs more by volume than muscle. Adding muscle would improve appearance and reduce weight. The draw back is that starting a weight and exercise program later in life causes the breast fat to shrink and adds a lot sag to the breast where if the program was started in the early teens the breast didn't develop all the fat and the girl usually just ended up with a smaller cup size with out the sag.