Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Death by Treadmill!


So this week has been chaotic and I really don't know where to begin. I think tonight I would like to just let out a little steam. A year and a half ago we moved into our apartment complex here in VA Beach. We choose this apartment complex because its safe and clean, offers many amenities such as the gym and pool, and is next to everything. We thought we would be very comfortable living here for 2 years while my husband was stationed in VA Beach. The first year we went through some small maintenance problems such as the wash and dryer not working properly and the drains being very very clogged. But, maintenance came out and fixed the problems fairly quick.
Now on to my biggest problem here. The gym! I had started using the gym on and off last May and since then it has been nothing but problems they aren't fixing in the gym. The main one being the treadmills. There are three treadmills in the gym and you would think that would be enough for anyone to use and not have to wait if someone else is using a treadmill. Well, it would be if they worked. Only one works and the other two are broken. One has been broken at-least as long as we've been using the gym, over a year ago, and the other one has been broken since at-least December. The bikes handle bars are falling apart and they are actually holding the parts together with scotch tape! Not even duck tape, but scotch tape! There is supposed to be some sort of sanitizer in the gym to spray down the equipment but they rarely offer the one bottle they do have and they never stock on the paper towels. They do offer a sauna which is nice but it is carved with graffiti.
Then there is the subject of the pool. This is a sad sad story. Last summer it was opened maybe a total of 3 weeks in the 4 months of hot summer we have here. It was always closed for maintenance or just because. I think the just because is they are lazy and cant find anyone to go out and clean it. About a month ago I was running on the treadmill and I looked out the window and noticed 3 baby ducks swimming in the pool. They were super cute but it looked like they were trapped. Because the office decided they were going to drain the pool down to 3 inches for the winter and spring and not fill it back up when it got hot again here, the baby ducks were stuck. The mommy duck was standing outside the pool quacking and walking back and forth and quacking some more. Being a mommy I felt for her but I thought, “hey, the staff will come in in the morning and fix this and help the duckies out”. I was wrong, again. I went back the next day and this time there was only one baby duck left, the mommy duck quacking frantically, and a vulcher eating one of the duckies that disappeared from the pool. Well, having the mommy instinct and feeling horrible for the mommy duck I ran to my car and grabbed the only box I could find, which coincidentally was a KFC box, and I hopped the fence to try to rescue this chick. The mommy duck wouldn't let me get near the baby, so sadly I wasn't able to rescue it.
About three weeks ago I went to the gym to run and I started my treadmill up and set my stuff down and went to the bathroom to get a paper towel to wipe down the previous machine I was using and when I came back some girl was on the treadmill walking. WTF! I was livid, so I marched into the office and asked the staff when they were going to fix the other two treadmills that have been broken over a year. They informed me that the parts were on their way and they would be fixed soon. Guess what? I went back tonight and they are still not fixed and the same thing happened to me again tonight. Set my stuff down, went to the water fountain to fill up my bottle, came back and some woman was on it. Its amazing how the gym is empty until you need a machine... then people actually show up. This is getting so frustrating. I know what you are think...why not run on the street? Well, I feel there are two types of people, those who run on treadmills and those who run on the street and for them to do the opposite is almost impossible. I am a treadmill runner and I find it impossible to run on the street.
Anyway, I am going to call the corporate office and speak to them about the rudeness of the office manager and why they cant actually offer the amenities they offer in the brochure.

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