i was pleasantly surprised by the responses to my post about the now world-famous and widely practiced Kristin's Diet Coke Dilemma Workout. despite one or two warnings about the so-called harmful effects of this luscious nectar, most all of you agreed that diet coke is your personal liquid crack, and you were excited that this beautiful beverage not only could lead to the ultimate healthy lifestyle through its mysterious negative calories, but it could also inspire the addition of a little cardio-fitness to your daily routine.

despite all the wonderful feedback, i'm sad to say that i have been forced to abandon the Diet Coke Workout due to both a lack of funds and the current and disastrous lack of diet cokes available in the dale hall machines.

so i joined a gym.

yes, really.

my first day didn't go so well. i showed up around dinner time, which apparently is peak workout time at norman's health club. i headed immediately for the back of the cardio area and quickly jumped upon the one available piece of equipment, which was a third string rickety health club discard of a cross country machine squeezed between two elderly gentlemen who were pedaling furiously on their state of the art monstrosities. furthermore, i forgot all of the essentials - most importantly, headphones to plug into the curious multimedia stations attached to each machine. after what seemed like eons of listening to the endless whirl of the stationary bikes, i headed home, disappointed and disheartened.

day two of my workout was, however, revolutionary. this time, i wised up to the fact that old people and sorority girls do not get up before 10:30, and so i arrived at the gym promptly at 8:30 am. now having my choice of machines, i chose the newest and most high-tech looking of the bunch. i cautiously plugged my headphones into the multimedia stations, and lo.

i experienced work-out perfection.

not only do these machines provide radio, as i originally suspected, they also have tv. free cable tv.

before i could get started, an attractive boy occupied the machine to my right. feeling pressured to impress him with my media selection, i turned on mtv's direct effect. ten minutes later, after he abandoned his machine, i switched over to the golden girls. it was then that i realized the golden girls were the workout distraction i had long been searching for. my workout time flew by without so much as a glance at the clock. after thirty minutes and a few curious looks from others as to why i was cracking up at my tiny tv screen, i marched confidently and happily out of the gym to my car.

forget diet coke. blanche, rose, dorthea, and sofia make working out fun!

(this in no way is meant to downplay my unadulterated love for diet coke. diet coke, i love thee so!)