Elliptical Maddness!

             So after much deliberation and thought... Mick and I finally came to the conclusion that we should buy an elliptical machine.  I had grown to love them while living in Oregon and going to the gym, it had always been my favorite machine to use.  Mick wasn't quite so sure, but after we arrived at the store and he tried one out for himself, he got off after thirty seconds and was sold.  Just like me, he appreciated how quiet they are and how gentle they are on the knees. 
            We ended up shopping around of course, going to several different retailers to see who had the best quality machine for the best price etc.  Lately as a family one of our favorite shows to watch with our two oldest girls is Australia's Biggest Loser.  And Mick took notice right away of the company that they get their machines from, and so of course we had to pay "Workout World" a visit.  In the end and after extensive shopping around, by which time Mick knew that we needed a large "fly-wheel" and I new I wanted at least an 18inch stride...(hahaha) We had decided that Workout World had definitely been the most impressive. 
              In the end I must say that Mick and I could not have been more impressed... I do give some huge amounts of credit to my amazing husband and his ability to drive a hard bargain...  So sexy Mick, so sexy.  As he was able to get the manager of the store to drive the price of the machine down significantly as well as have him throw in a free medicine ball and mat for the machine to go on, as well as delivery and set up!  Nawwwwce! 
           And so it was a few days later that the very charming and nice delivery guy showed up (from New Zealand apparently) to set up the machine.  It only took him an hour and a half to get it all up and running...  But hold your horses!  The most impressive part is yet to come....  As he was leaving I had hopped onto the machine to give it a go and right away heard a very unpleasant scraping noise every time the fly wheel turned.  Mick ran out and got the guy to come back. 
           In the end their service was just wonderful....  The guy came back the next day and worked at it for two hours trying to solve the mystery of the odd scraping noise.... and to no avail....  I felt bad for him, and frustrated as well.  When he couldn't figure it out he called the manager and then later that night they both came and tried to solve the problem, when they couldn't they set up an entirely new machine and took out the old one...  It was pretty funny by then because we had all our girls sitting in the living room watching the new "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" as these two guys drilled loudly and made casual conversation with me and Mick about the creativity of Johnny Depp and how we had five daughters!  It turned out to be quite fun, and they let me take a few photos of the whole ordeal.  In the end, Mick and I finally had our new elliptical machine... no scraping noise, quiet and a great workout!  We are very happy.


The Initial Delivery




Yep, two single guys, giving up their Friday night to set up our machine!




Girls in the living room watching "Willy Wonka"