There, sitting on my front porch last week was one very large, heavy box. In the aforementioned box was a piece of exercise equipment...a treadmill. My wife and I have wanted to get a treadmill for the last couple of years but just kept putting it off until we saw one available through a big “club store” which shall remain nameless but begins with the letter “C”.

I was going to surprise my wife and have it all assembled when she got home this afternoon, but imagine my dismay when after I had just begun to assemble the behemoth, having attached just one part, I noticed that the matching “hole”  on the opposite side of the base was missing. This is an important hole as the entire machine rests upon what attaches to the hole. I called one of my sons in to see if it the hole was actually missing or if it was just me. He confirmed the hole was indeed not drilled where it should be. Not wanting to void any warranty on the beast I must now wait until Monday to call the manufacturer’s customer support line.

As I have already stated, this thing weighs a ton and the thought of dragging/lifting it down the hallway into the car and schlepping it to the big club store that begins with the letter “C” (and ends with “ostco”) during the busiest shopping time of the year has very little appeal. So, not wanting to void any warranty by drilling holes in the beast I must now wait until Monday to call the manufacturer’s customer support line. Included with the assembly instructions was a small piece of paper that has a picture of a stop sign at the top and says,” If you have any questions, or parts are damaged or missing. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN THIS PRODUCT TO THE STORE.” This is followed by a toll free customer care number.

So, until such time as I can get this thing up and running at least I’m getting a good workout. It’s called an exercise in frustration.

 Exercise your right to a New Year of laughter!..The new Rubes 2010 Daily desk calendar is here at:  www.rubescartoons.com ! (It’s also available at all of your favorite online and neighborhood bookstores!)