Bugs Are Confused

It's over 80F today and NYS isn't known for balmy temps past the Autumnal Equinox. My grandmother would've called this an Indian Summer. Still, leaves are falling out of the trees like rain, and bugs are confused. Stink bugs amassing on screen doors, looking for places to over-winter. Bees are furiously busy even before the sun gets very high. This afternoon, my son notes that both honeybees and bumblebees are buzzing side-by-side in the crop of roadside flowers. At home, we're suffering from an infestation of Indian Meal Moths, aka Pantry Moths. Ugh.

Every day I squash a good half dozen tiny little powdery bodies that I find on my kitchen cabinets, ceiling, dishes. I've tossed out boxes of crackers, cookies, flour, corn meal, dried split peas and pumpkin seeds. I suspect they've discovered the big bag of white rice sitting at the other end of the kitchen, and wonder if I should just pour it all out in some baking pans and roast the buggers along with the rice (30 min at 120° is suppose to do the trick). I read that accidentally consuming the moths and/or larvae aren't harmful so that's reassuring.

However, I have ordered some pantry moth traps from Amazon. Because enough is enough! They work like other insect traps, i.e., using pheromones to attract the male insect and glue to trap them. Theoretically, this takes all the males out of commission and if the remaining females don't resort to parthenogenesis, extinction! But I'd be happier if the traps attracted both the males and the females. Sometimes I yell at all the spiders that live in my house, and ask them what exactly they're subsisting on since it's not mosquitoes (got bit 3 times INSIDE my house), gnats, stink bugs or pantry moths... Ugh.

I get to the gym mid-morning and it's crowded. Ugh. Still, I can get on the cross-trainer, probably because no one else wants to use a machine that has an issue with its glide tract. I'm drenched after 35 minutes and use my hoodie to blot my head. Pull ups aren't great. I get my 26, but the bottom inside elbow is a little sore. Yep, golfer's elbow. I have such delicate, shallow joints and they are my weak links to an otherwise strong-as-heck body.

20 lb solid BB

It's Universal Chest Day, aka Monday, so I just do some push ups and then I'm at the Smith. No flat benching today. Just inclined benching. For reps. Then the same shoulder routine as last time: front barbell raises super-set with upright tows; dumbbell laterals super-set with reverse inclined flyes. All the breaker benches are busy so I finish with V-bar tricep press downs.

I thought about doing Rip Skulls primarily because my bluetooth horse collar earbuds died today and I had to resort to wired ear buds. I always keep a couple of pairs of wired earbuds in my gym bag. Just like I keep an extra pair of socks, and a package of moleskin and scissors to cut them with. Just in case... So no horse collar rolling up into my jaw, but no benches either. A good day for V-bar press downs. I had to fish my wires down my back so they wouldn't tangle up in front of me. Nothing worse than catching your wires with your own hand and yanking your own earbud out!

I see some vaguely familiar faces — regulars who haven't come around in some years. There's also The Mayor, who literally chats with a good dozen different people. I wish there was some "eye candy" at my gym, but most of the gym folk here are broken, or kids. Oh well... good thing I have good tunes to keep me going.

Tomorrow's going to be a crazy busy day. I'll be back on Wednesday.

Monday

35 x-trainer
Calories 166
Miles 4.49
Average Heart Rate 148

HGPU 26
Push Ups 60

Smith Inclined Bench
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 13
80 x 12
60 x 25
50 x 25

BB Front Raise s/s Upright Rows
20lbs x 15/15reps x 3 sets

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

V-bar Press Down
20lbs x 15
30 x 15
40 x 12 x 3