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Things Are Working Out

Things Are Working Out
by Jeff Jordan

There's an old joke about the guy that tells his friends that he bought a gym membership a couple of months ago. He admits it didn't seem to help him reach his fitness goals. Then he admits, "I found out you have actually go to the gym to make any progress."

While that might be obvious, what you do when you get it is equally important. My first workout at the Milwaukee YMCA was discouraging, to say the least. My two goals are building endurance and regaining my balance. I going to have to add flexibility to that list.

I had trouble mounting a stationary bike. Just getting up into the seat and getting my feet on the pedals was more effort than I anticipated. The problem was partly balancing, but my ability to move my legs with any kind of certainty was a surprise. Then having to get into the seat of a leg exercise machine turned out to be complicated. There's o question about my need to ease into a regular workout and condition myself with stretching exercises.


Film Fim and More Film
On a brighter note, The Milwaukee Film Festival released a directory of films, their showtimes, and venue locations. Not only do most of us have to pick out films we think are interesting but try to coordinate with friends that we want to share the experience. This is akin to having one too many chainsaws in the juggling act.

Sucess with purchasing tickets became more elusive, then one might anticipate. It's a problem with web design becoming more like adding four rooms to a cabin. No matter how careful you are with concept and design, it's not going to look as good as you thought it would, and the traffic patterns will suck.

Apparently, you can't buy tickets from the Milwaukee Film Festival (MFF) online. At least I couldn't figure out how to do it. Now I don't want to brag (well, maybe I do), but I have purchased hundreds of dollars worth of goods online in the task of settling into my new apartment. In mere minutes from the time I decided on which set of dishes I wanted and placed my order, I was looking at a message from Amazon telling me it was on its way. It's been almost 24 hours, and Milwaukee Film Festival has not returned my voice mail plea for help.

Before trying to buy tickets My friend Harry Mosely and I were attempting to locate the outlets MFF used to distribute their catalog of movies. I called and got a young lady on the phone. She couldn't do it. The information is there but not in a place you might intuitively look. The problem is people who set up the links and think that if they know how it works, everyone will.

I will now take off my Andy Rooney bitch at progress hat and become kindly old Poppa Jeff again. Have a good week.

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