Priceless Uncollecteds

So sick.

It’s probably a cold, but it’s the WORST cold EVER.

And then a friend/colleague asked me to help him with a grant proposal.  Two hours reading and editing, three hours face to face, and there went the afternoon.  As I was reading and editing on my own I told myself this would save me time when we met.  I headed over to the meeting planning on cutting it off after an hour. I should have known better - I just can’t do a half assed job when someone asks for help.  Just can’t do it.  

So now it’s 6h40 on Friday night, and I am feeling vaguely sorry for myself that I still need to complete this piece of work.  I’m sure if I didn’t have work in front of me, I wouldn't be feeling sleepy, but I am. Anyway, other than writing a tumblr post to procrastinate further, I guess the only thing to do is do it...

Well yes, indeed, the outdoor pool did close yesterday.  So I made sure to get there nice and early this morning (but not too early, because then the swim team is there) to take advantage of a less-crowded time. Except it was still kiiinda’ crowded, so I stood there scouting out which lane looked the most hospitable - how many snorkeling old men in that long course lane, how many angrily splashing thrashers in that short course lane - and while I stood there, I was spotted.  Yes, I was spotted and pulled into a 45 minute conversation on the pool deck. And don’t get me wrong, it was with a very nice man, and in fact, it involved stuff I actually wanted to know (nothing to do with swimming) but it did, in fact, take 45 minutes. By the time he left, I was in the same position of scouting the lanes, but now with time for only a really quick dip. Long course, 1500m.  You win some, you lose some.

The pool sent out an email this morning letting everyone know that today would be the LAST day the outdoor pool would be open until Spring.  This was a shocker - I definitely thought we had at least until November, and I know I was not alone in thinking that. Oh well.  I was headed that way anyway, but this added a sense of urgency, to say the least.  The water was 68F, but there was still a healthy crowd out there.  Back to a hot and (somewhat) crowded indoor pool tomorrow, I suppose.  At least I have the Vampire swim next weekend in Annapolis to look forward to! (and and and a bonfire afterwards!)

I was meant to head to some friends’ for dinner on the last night of Sukkot tonight, but they changed the plans so many times and so last minute (aka, today) that in the end I gave my thanks and apologies and said let’s try this again sometime soon. I absolutely would have gone if we could have stuck to a reasonable time, but I am feeling uber busy and secretly relieved to have my evening back.

I’m eating chia pudding!  Dinosaur eggs in my mouth! :)

In reality, lots of work, lots of stress. I ran a few times, hit the gym a few times with the intention to run on a treadmill and ended up walking instead, have been engaging in some half-hearted and brief yoga sessions (I’m counting those as wins though), and have been swimming 2-3 short and easy (yes both short and easy) sessions per week over the past three-ish weeks.  I went on a hike last Sunday morning (yay) and ended up with bloody ankles that have been killing my run-motivation this week, but anyway...maybe time for a bit more structure for this last week, and then time for base-building by November.

Structure includes coming back to Tumblr more regularly, right?  So hi!

“There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs—commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward. Its extreme down-town is the battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there” (Herman Melville)

Hi!

I have been awful about updating here, but I’m going to turn that around in this, the second half of my year.  It’s my half birthday!!  so what’s new?

*The semester started a while back, and my seminar is going well so far - no one’s dropped it, amazingly, and the students seem pretty engaged...

*Almost crunch time on the dissertation - I have a bunch of other projects that I am trying to clear off of my plate in the next few weeks, and then it will be teaching and dissertation, 24/7.  My plan is to be done in the Spring semester.  If possible, I’d like to be done not even at the end of spring semester.  Some of these things are out of my hands, but I’m going to write that baby as fast as possible in the meantime. My department seems to be falling apart with alarming rapidity, so I’d like to finish before i’m left holding it, gazing over the rubble that used to be a well-respected hotbed of intellectual life.

*Yep, those other projects are keeping me a little bit busy first though...cranking away at them

*Swimming!  The Lake George Marathon Swim (32 miles) took place this past weekend.  Perhaps I’ll recap it here sometime, but the shortest version of the event is that the entire thing was shut down after five hours in the water.  Not just my swim, but everyone’s (we were a field of 13 solo swimmers plus 13 relay teams).  The swim was called off at a dark 8pm, but it took many over five hours to get back to shore.  Boats were sinking, police escorts and tows were called.  Bad news all around.  Sure, we had bad weather, but the more disappointing part of this was just how badly mismanaged the entire event was.  The “race” director ignored all warnings, put us all in danger, and then was entirely unreachable for the duration of the event.  Some teams never actually got the message that the event had been called! (they managed to have the sense to pull themselves anyway).  It should never fall to the swimmer to make these kinds of calls - if you show up to an “event” some amount of expertise and judgement is what you are paying for.  A historic debacle in the marathon swimming community - thankfully, and luckily, no one was hurt (*cough* not even the swimmer that the race director hit with his boat). I hope to come back and conquer Lake George solo, without an “event” sometime in the future, as I’m sure many of us will.

While I’m excited to take a bit of an offseason, concentrate on some running, dropping some weight, etc., I COULD NOT let the season end on the sour note that was Lake George. In nine days (count ‘em, 9) I will be swimming around Manhattan.  This was maybe not the most financially responsible conservative decision I could have made, but I think it will be worth it for a bunch of reasons (I should probably write a post on those sometime too...). In any case, I am SO looking forward to October 1!!  New Yorkers, come wave from shore!! 

Next year’s big swim is set and in the works as well, and I am so excited about that...

A great day.  A tough day - tough conditions, but in the end, I walked up onto a beach in Scotland.  In the middle of the night.  Next to some guys camping out and having a bonfire!

I’m not sure if there will be a tracker for the North Channel, but I will try to put one up if there is. At the moment, Saturday is looking like the best day for a swim, but things could still change. (They could change during the swim though too - the tides and currents are much trickier than those in the Channel)