Arrrrggggg! I’m a bit perturbed at a pool right now. (Wife finds it comical when I ‘get mad at pools’…which isn’t uncommon.) I’m doing the snowbird thing in Fort Lauderdale. Not my first time here, but been here a week for this current visit. Wanted to participate in the USMS 1-hour ePostal. So I looked up the times for the local municipal pool (which I’ve have swam at before in other seasons). “Lap swim 1-5pm.” Get to the pool at 1:05pm and the lifeguard says “Oh, we close at 2pm.” Apparently internet hours haven’t been updated for winter hours. I explain what I need to do…i.e. 60 minutes of swimming. She says “No worries. You have time. I can stay on deck a few extra minutes.” So, with my visiting 24-yr old son as my lap counter, after a brief warmup, I start the swim at 1:11pm. All is going well. Then, at 2:04pm, just seven minutes remaining in my hour…the head lifeguard stops me, and tells me I have to get out, the pool is closed. I explain what I’m doing, point the the female guard and said she told me she’d stay. She says “He won’t let me.” and has an apologetic look on her face. The guy is being a total dink. Fifty-three minutes wasted. Well, not wasted…it was a good swim. But whatever. I felt worse for my son…who was reluctantly counting/recording for me. But the situation really irritated him too. HE feels bad for me. But now, I think his anger has turned into motivation. He keeps asking me “When are we going back for your swim?” I think he just wants to go back there to stick it to ‘em and say HA! See, we did it in spite of you jacka$$e$.
Dan
