Dichroic Reflections

exploding antiperspirant

This morning, I got to the locker room at to work only to find that my antiperspirant had once again exploded. Fortunately this time there was hardly any left, so it didn’t get all over everything else in the locker bag. I managed to scrounge enough of it to use today (a necessity in the Arizona heat) and I have a spare at home but this is getting ridiculous.

I think this tends to happen when I leave my gym bag in the car on days I don’t get covered parking. We have some at work, and I always get in early enough to get a spot, but if I have an off-site meeting I generally have to park in the sun when I get back. Leaving my gym bag in the truck when it’s parked in Arizona sun, even with a sunshade on the windshield and the windows cracked open, seems to be the culprit in the Case of the Exploding Antiperspirant. It bothers me a bit that my antiperspirant explodes when subjected to real heat; it doesn’t instill confidence that it would function properly if I really, really needed it.

So it’s time to explore alternatives. One, obviously, is to bring the gym bag into my office. The problems with this are a) it’s heavy (yes, I know that’s a lot like driving to the gym because you’re too lazy to walk) and b) gym odor adds nothing to an office environment. Also, I’m in a cubicle these days, so there’s nowhere inconspicuous to put things.

I did ascertain that it’s ok for me to leave stuff in the shower locker at work, with a lock on it ... not that I cared if anyone approved, just that I didn’t want to come in one morning and find the lock cut off and me without the means to take a shower. That would work, since on gym days, I shower at home. However, on days when for some reason we don’t row (e.g. lightning) I go to the other gym, the one nearer rowing and farther from my house. If I left my shower stuff at work, I’d have to go use the work shower instead of the gym one. The one at work is in another building ten minutes drive from the one I actually work in. Also, it has water pressure so painfully strong that I appreciate the chance to shower somewhere else whenever possible. (Really: I have to rinse off with fingers covering any sensitive spots, and deflect the water up onto my face instead of just going under the shower head.) Maybe I should just use the gym near home on days we unexpectedly don’t row, so I can shower at home, and resign myself to the extra driving and extra lateness getting into work.

See what I put up with for my sport? I bet you never thought showering after a workout could be so complicated. And I haven’t even discussed the challenges of post-workout desk-bound breakfasts yet.