I have managed to overcome both of my most recent obstacles.
First -- the gym. I went last night. I went into the gym, boldly got a towel, intrepidly wandered to the "cardio" area, and bravely rode a stationary bike for 20 minutes. Then I courageously took a shower and walked around Manhattan aimlessly for a few hours before heading home.
The best part about the bikes? You can watch TV on them. Or surf the web. I had no headphones with me, being unaware of the advantages of bringing headphones to the gym, so I silently watched an episode of The Simpsons and laughed along with dialogue I already knew anyway. In an astounding instance of synchronicity, the overhead music system was playing that dance tune where there's a lady who shrieks, "I've got the POWER! (duh-nuh-duh-duh-duh-nuh)" at the same moment that Bart Simpson yells out "I have the power!" and faith-heals a bucket off of Homer's head.
Second solution -- Remember the couple who was stalking me? I have stymied their efforts. For lunch today I repeated my venture into the gym. I rode a bike for lunch. And incidentally, I read several diaries while I did so, thanks to the tremendous power of web-powered bicycles. There is no way the scary couple could know that I will be riding a bike for lunch -- and besides, the guy would have to change in the locker room, which means that I would get to see all of the secret recording equipment duct-taped to his chest, and the gig would be, in a word, up.