Time vs. money

Being an airline employee, I have the truly great benefit of being able to fly pretty much anywhere I want to. Which, given the current state of gas prices, (combined with my extreme cheapness), means I'm willing to fly from Phoenix to Tucson and back.

That I even have this option is fantastic...but it does have it's drawbacks. As I wrote this I was sitting in a broken airplane on the tarmac in Tucson, waiting to find out if the "fault code" that our #2 engine was giving the pilots was something that could be more or less ignored until we got to Phoenix. Yeah, that idea scares me as much as it would any of you, believe me. But, given that I was flying as a guest on another airline, I don't feel like I have the right to bitch.

Well, it turned out that the broken engine on the plane was more of an issue than was originally thought. Moments after I wrote the last paragraph, all of the passengers on said aircraft were uncerimoniously herded back out into the main terminal, where our fate would be determined by one of the customer service folk...who were suddenly inundated with an angry mob who had places to be.

And it's here that I started to contemplate the true nature of my situation. To save money, I had decided to fly to Tucson and back...but it wound up costing me far more in time. So I began to wonder...which, ultimately, is more important? Time or money?

In flying, I saved a good $40 in gas...but spent a good 4 or 5 hours round trip more than I otherwise might have. Now, it was my day off...and I didn't have a lot on my plate...but would the extra few hours spent with my family and friends have been worth that $40? Not to mention the saved frustration of dealing with airplane delays? After all, if time is money, then what's money worth?

Or, more to the point, what are those extra hours and frustration in dealing with the usual hassles of flying (security, etc) worth in a monetary value? So I guess my question is this...would you have flown (provided it was free, but possibly riddled with hassles) or driven (and spent the $40)?

Reason # 4,568 that I'm an Athiest...

...is that religious people just don't seem to know when NOT to try a sales pitch.

This morning I had cause to set foot inside a church for probably the first time in nearly 4 or so years. And I'm not a religious bigot, I swear I'm not...but every time I'm in the presence of devoutly religious people I seem to grow less and less tolerant of some of their behavioral traits.

I was in said church for a wake. For the first half of it, it was a very pleasant remembrance of my wonderful grandmother who passed last month. Some very moving words were said about her by her son (my dad) and a few others....and memories were shared.

Then the priest stepped in for his portion, and it somehow turned from a fond farewell to Nancy...to the Catholic version of Amway. Yes, he said his kind words about her and her family...but then started to meander into unwelcome territory.

He managed to fit in a few delightful messages about how the best way to serve god was to get married and have kids....and how the Jews have the wrong idea when it comes to having closeness to god.

There's nothing like a little subtle heterosexism and antisemitism to dress up a funeral.

Oh well, at least the corned beef and cabbage lunch we had after was nice...though I promised myself that for the sake of those around me I will NEVER have cabbage again. Just ask anyone who was near me at the gym today why.

Who do I have to blow to see some beefcake at the gym?

Ok...not literally.

I go to the gym for a good number of entirely pure and innocent reasons:

-I like to feel like I'm healthy, and like the idea of having a hobby that helps to promote said health.
-I like to feel as though I'm strong, and I actually need said strength for the more physical aspects of my job.
-I like to not be entirely sickened when I look at myself in the mirror naked.

And there's one I'll admit isn't quite as pure or innocent:

-I like to look at the really big beefy guys...for motivation to work harder...ok, and for the occasional masturbatory fantasy later. (I know I'm not the only one...right?)

But lately I'm finding a real lack of "motivation" at the gym. Ever since they opened the new LA Fitness on 1st, the number of big, hot beef monsters has dwindled significantly. Now, keep in mind that I don't need to have nice things to look at to be able to work out...but it does help from time to time!

So, tonight, I headed over to the Gold's Gym on Oracle, thinking there would be at least a little more to look at than Bally's. Since my gym seems to be populated by octogenarians and housewives, I figured how could there NOT be better eye candy?

Boy was I wrong. Not only was it not better...it was actually a little worse. So I guess it's down to relying on BMB for my motivation...and that other stuff.

*Sigh*

So my question is this...am I just being a perv with nothing better to do, or do those of you who work out sometimes find yourself doing something extra (going at a specific time of day, going to a different location, going to a different gym) to see nice things around when you're working out?

Or should I just quit bitching and concentrate on my workouts?