I had one full day in Brisbane to spend with my mate, Rockin’ Robbie Robbiepops, (yep, that’s really his nickname… don’t ask), and was quite looking forward to mooching about his place, having a few drinks, and enjoying some long conversations.
We waved farewell to his dear wife as she trundled off to work that morning, then jumped into the family hot rod and headed into town for some supplies. First stop was Browns Plains Plaza, a busy mall in the ever expanding heart of the South West of Brisbane. Rob met with his financial advisor and tried to discuss some retirement options (he’s no spring chicken), while the advisor and I paid out on his shocking dress sense, hairstyle, and anything else he did or said. We had a lot of laughs, although Rob didn’t seem to be enjoying himself very much towards the end of the session. It slowly dawned on us that this was a big event in his life, and he was reluctant to step through the door. “What will I do with myself?” he kept asking. I didn’t know, the financial advisor didn’t know, and Rob didn’t know. Perplexing.
Of course we all dream about retirement, but the fact is, what do you do when you get there? If you don’t have a hobby, a calling, a desire to do ‘something’, then all you’re doing is sitting around waiting for God to shoot you. Not a happy prospect.
We left the shopping centre in a thoughtful frame of mind, and didn’t talk too much as we made our way through a traffic maelstrom to the Mt. Gravatt shopping centre. Parking was atrocious, but Rob managed to crack a lotto win and got a park within 5 kilometres of the front entrance.
We shouldered our way into the very heart of the centre, and there found a book shop. Not just any bookshop, but a Big Bookshop. Coming from a small city without any sort of bookshop, I immediately started salivating and rushing about like a kid in a toy store. How good was this place! There were even loads of people treating the place like a library, actually sitting in comfy lounges reading brand new books, and I thought that I could happily wile away countless hours in here each week while my family shopped to their hearts content.
We made our way to my favourite section, Self Help / Motivation and saw 4 huge walls stacked with books. Rob had a quick sniff around, then wandered off while I rummaged through the various titles. After an hour of reading, scanning, and page surfing, I picked out two likely candidates then made my way to the fitness section. I found Bill Phillips book ‘Body for Life’, and opened the front cover. Those photos… those unbelievable photos. Rob re-appeared and I showed him, his eyebrows raised slightly, and he muttered, “Bullshit.” I showed him the photos in the back cover, and told him a little about the programme, and how it has worked for people here in Oz, he nodded his head slowly, deep in thought, turned the book over and checked the price on the back cover then carefully put it back on the shelf with a low chuckle. I shrugged my shoulders, and said, “I can wait til I find a 2nd hand one I suppose.”
After paying for my other books, and with a long regretful look at this book lovers paradise, we shoulder charged our way back to the carpark, risked life and limb reaching Robs’ truck, and made our way home via a small grocery store and bottle shop.
It was lunch time, so we fueled up on sandwiches, fruit, and alcoholic beverages. Rob seemed to be thinking deeply about something, so I didn’t push him. He’d talk when he was ready. Instead we read papers, chatted about some recent events, and I elevated his blood pressure by casually mentioning some differences in political ideology we have. Then we watched a couple of movies, one of which was Snatch, featuring Brad Pitt. Now neither of us is a Brad Pitt fan, but this pommy movie really showed off his talent as a bit of a comedian. What was also impressive was how fit he looked. I casually mentioned to Rob that that was the sort of physique I was aiming for. Not overly muscled, just well defined, toned, slim, etc. He agreed it was a good target to aim for.
We had a couple more drinks as the sun lowered. It was late afternoon, the bush looked great, the area had had a little rain so his property was covered in green grass, excellent. Just as the sun started to set I pulled on my exercise clothes, and started walking around his block. It was very nice. Wallabies, casually munching grass without concern, watched as I strolled past them.
It was a perfect Qld afternoon, not too warm, not too cool. I broke into a jog, and genuinely enjoyed the experience as I lumbered about, up and down between the fences. I got so keen I even whipped off my t-shirt, much to the shock of the neighbours who covered their childrens eyes and ushered them inside…
AmandaB from the Craig Harper Forum had given me a list of exercises, and I ripped through them. It was much harder than I thought, but I felt great doing them! I made a mental point to thank her when I got home and logged on.
Afterwards, with my shirt slung over one shoulder, and covered in a thin sheen of sweat I returned to the back deck of Robs’ house where he was hovering over the bbq. “Feels good doesn’t it?” he said. I smiled and nodded, “Yip.”
“Go and have a shower, I’ll get the drinks,” he said. I was back in minutes, sipping on a beer while we watched the dying rays of the sun light up the topmost branches in the huge gum trees nearby.
“Did you know I once won the YMCA’s Mr. Fitness competition, back in 1983?” Rob asked.
I nodded, “You’ve mentioned it before. Actually it was part of the reason I went back to the gym. I remember thinking if Rob could do it at 40, so could I.”
He grinned, “Actually, I think I was 42, and mate, I was fit! I beat blokes half my age, whipped them! Geez it felt good!”
I smiled, “Fair while ago.”
He shook his head and we sat for a while in silence.
“You remember the photos of the old blokes in that book today?” I asked.
“Yeah?”
“Well, I reckon you could do that you know. You could go back to the gym again, get fit.”
He was thinking about it. He mentioned a few injuries he was carrying, and I shrugged, “Get them fixed, work it out mate. C’mon, you’ve done it before, you can do it again. Anyway, what sort of training were you doing when you were Mr. Fitness?”
He smiled as he said, “Aerobics. Mate, I was surrounded by good looking, superfit girls, and I didn’t care how many macho weightlifters called me a pussy, I loved the workout I got in those classes! I showed them in the comp, the big muscled blokes couldn’t keep up. Geez that aerobics gets you fit fast. Just about killed me at first though.”
At that moment we heard the sound of his wife’s car arriving out the front, and we rushed to greet her like two small puppies wagging their tails! She was genuinely pleased to see us, she always is, and that is why she will always have top billing on our Xmas card lists.
We ate tea, chatted about our day, discussed retirement, and Gb getting fit. I asked Rob if he’d like to come with me the next day, journey for a few days in NSW. I’d asked him a few weeks beforehand and he was keen, but work commitments were pressing in on him. I asked him to call in sick and come away for a little drive. He has an intimate knowledge of NSW and would be great company on tour. He shook his head sadly, and I said, “If only you were retired…” he didn’t look very happy.
We had a few more drinks, and hit the sack. Tomorrow I’d be setting sail over the border, and was pretty excited at the prospect. There were roads I hadn’t been on in years, as well as visiting places I’d never seen before. I was smiling as my head hit the pillow. It was a good day, and tomorrow was looking pretty good too.
I can clearly remember my last thought as I drifted off to sleep, ‘Aerobics… how hard could it be?”
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