Quality time with Jimmy...

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I woke up with some stiffness in my back, but not nearly what I’d gone to sleep with the night before. I headed for work with fingers crossed that the pain was the one day wonder it was normally. Jimmy was back in town from Florida and was threatening to take me out to lunch. He’s the worst gambler in the world…we’ve bet mostly on track races over the years…and he’s never once won. We always bet lunch and he now owes me 87. I told him I’d wipe the slate clean if he’d take me to Slyman’s. He’s a blog reader, so he knows about the place, but has never been and didn’t really know what to expect. Like so many things with Jimmy, I needed to school him.

“Why do we have to wait in this line?” – he complained as we stood in the door upon arriving.

“It’s just what you do. It’s the best corned beef sandwich in the city and everybody wants one. There’s always a line, but it moves fast. Now quit your whining or someone will know you’re new,” I said.

He was actually being pretty good. If you’ve read about Jimmy on camping excursions, you know what a whiner he can be. He’s been off to grad school in Florida and has been teaching undergrads as part of the process. Poor kids. Anyway, he cleaned up his act…shaving his scraggily facial hair he thought was a beard , cutting his moppy hair, and putting on clothes that actually made some fashion sense. He was even wearing dress shoes.

We ordered our sandwiches and when they arrived, he reached for the catsup and aimed it for his sandwich. The couple at table next to us…there pretty close in Slyman’s…gasped in horror as I reached for his hand and said, “have you lost your mind? You can’t put catsup on that amazing sandwich! Horseradish or mustard or both…but catsup… well…you just can’t!”

He ignored me and started squirting it all over that beautiful corned beef. Our waitress saw him and went to get a picture. He’d be posted and never allowed in again…and I’d be guilty by association. I excused myself quickly to go to the bathroom to avoid the picture…and the shame.

After the amazing lunch, I dropped Jimmy off and headed for home and a bike ride. I put in my normal 60 minutes and with no back pain. Later that evening, Holly called me to meet her and maybe grab a bite to eat. She was shopping and wanted to tell me about all that she’d gotten. I was cool with that, but concerned about eating anything else that day. I met her at some wings place at Golden Gate Shopping Center and ordered a half pound burger. To lessen the caloric impact, I ordered a side of cold slaw…passing on the fries. It mattered little. I’d probably consumed a couple of thousand calories of meat that day…a nice start to the rest of the holiday calories I’d be facing shortly.

Bike duration: 60 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130
Calories burned during workout: 900