Sha Stokes the Fire

Cardio Abs (Wednesday)
23 of 23 minutes. This is usually my day off, but I felt good and decided to do Cardio Abs. Fun workout, but it gets more fun once the floor exercises begin. Tried to do pull ups but hurt a muscle on the second pull up. Will try again tomorrow.

Cardio Power and Resistance (Thursday)
31 of 39 minutes with long breaks. I almost made it to the end. This is the most vicious of all the workouts. It takes everything out of me, and then asks me to work harder when I have no energy left. By the end, my legs were like spaghetti and I was sweating like a slut. Drank 3 bottles of water and I’m still thirsty. Did 10 full pull ups before I started.

No Workout (Today)
A great week of workouts and I’m looking forward to next week. Might do Cardio Abs this weekend.


On Wednesday I went home right after work and slept. Sha called and wanted me to ride along with him for an hour or two. I figured this would give me a chance to get a quick update as to how business is going for him, and would also get me out of the basement for a while.

We went around checking up on his handymen and they were up to the usual bullshit. I swear, nothing changes with them. As we drove around we saw a property up for sale that had a realtor’s sign on it. It’s a three-family that has been on the market for years. He said I should call the number but I said no. Then he goes, “Damn man, do you ever plan on getting more than two fucking properties??” I pretended to let his comment roll off my shoulders but I was pissed. This secret competition I have between he and I got kicked up to a new level. I mean, it’s not easy saving up money from security work to buy a property. I’m sure I’d have a much easier time of it if I get help from my family like Sha does.

Sha has borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from his family members to buy properties. He has, for example, a commercial property in the Italian area of Smalltown where he wanted to gut the entire place and build high-end apartments. He had to take out a loan with the Preservation Committee and there were times when he could barely pay the mortgage. His mom and aunt had to chip in thousands of dollars just to keep the construction going. His family owns a statue-making place somewhere in Brooklyn so they have some money. He has a lot of properties in the name of a family member because his name is filled with pre-foreclosures and bad credit. The point I’m trying to make is that I get no help from anyone. The nerve of him to make comments about anything that I do? I do have to admit, however, that his comment was a very good thing, as it made me focus even more on my real estate business.

I’m not going to let him know what I’m up to until I’m at the point where I have hired a secretary. I won’t let him know when I retire. I won’t let him know when I buy a property. I’ll let him think I only have two properties and that I’m going nowhere. Besides, the bigger of a loser he thinks I am, the less he will feel the need to ask me for money. By the time this competition is over, I’ll be waking up late in the afternoon taking care of my properties while he will continue scrounging around for security work taking weekend “vacations”. This is not as friendly of a competition as it used to be. I want to win, but now I also want him to lose.