I went to the gym but decided to baby the shoulder. Unfortunately, there's not a lot things you can do without utilizing your shoulders. After cardio (slightly better than last time but still pretty awful), I skipped pull-ups cuz that was much, much too painful to try again and decided on a super lightweight cable row. It was literally just two bricks on the stack, totaling a measly 30 lbs. The close grip handle was heavy (there's a lighter pair floating around but I didn't want to waste time searching for it) but slowly rowing the cable back was easy. At least for the first ten reps. Then it got harder, but only because that pesky right shoulder started to complain.
I took breaks and hoped that the shoulder would relax after warm up reps. Mostly, that worked, with the joint complaining near the 20 rep mark for the remaining sets. It wasn't anything of a challenge for the rest of me: back, biceps, well maybe forearms but only because I have a problem with gripping for too long: my fingers spasm and yeah, I guess Raynaud's takes over at that point.
The weather has been dry and sunny and a bit cold in the evenings. I finally had to call a new fuel oil company and fill my oil tank cuz winter's coming, and no one expects prices to drop. Meanwhile, the fall foliage has been stunning, and the milkweed pods are starting to burst open and let float away those downy seed carriers.
Meanwhile, I saw a very intense movie yesterday with a friend from the dog park. We were the only two people watching the matinee show of The Heart of the Beast. But first, I had to check the reviews to make sure the dog doesn't die cuz I hate those. It's such a well-known preference among dog people that the movie itself starts with the dog standing in the road and then flashes back a week, removing all doubt that the dog, Odin, does indeed survive. Because the human, Brad Pitt, does not, we are gripping our seats wondering when that event happens. And there's a lot of catastrophic events. It feels almost mythical, like a hero's travel through the underworld to reach the Elysian Fields...
It's beautifully shot with New Zealand standing in for Alaska. Those of us familiar with survival skills whether through Scouting or other adventures will recognize a lot of the techniques and equipment used throughout. (My friend had to ask me about the fire starter kit and those fluffy white things. Yeah, those are cotton balls and you squirt some vaseline on it and it helps start your damp kindling.) This is a movie that sticks with you long after you've watched it. I can't recommend it enough, but fair warning, it's really not for little kids even if some say it's a "family film". It's not Mary Poppins. But it's well worth seeing, especially on the big screen.
