In search of pleasantly predictable

Exercise is a big part of my retired life, and right now it’s in a state of flux. My lower back issues are under control, and just when I thought everything was pleasantly predictable, the universe is making me adapt to change.

I hate it when that happens.

Let’s start with swimming. One good thing about the pandemic was the introduction of lane reservations at the club where I swim. I guess they decided the pandemic is over, and now it’s every man for himself. No reservations. Shared lanes. Complete mayhem.

I have some serious thinking to do. I really don’t get my money’s worth out of the membership anyway, but it’s a great pool, I love to swim and believe it’s good for my body, so I accept the price. Now I’m not sure it’s a reasonable trade-off. I could take my chances with getting a lane, but I’ve encountered some pushy people out there, and I’m not at all confident in how lane etiquette will play out.

Very stressful.

While I could continue my deep water running in our backyard pool, that window closes by the end of September. Ah, I have another idea. I could check out another part of the club pool and see if my deep water running rig works there, and that pool is heated year-round. And I would only take up a tiny corner of this much-coveted space. But I’m still not sure it’s worth the money.

I’m annoyed. It’s always something. The club also offers gentle yoga and mat Pilates. I’m interested in both, but I’m worried about introducing another variable to my back. Like maybe leave well enough alone?

Then there’s golf. We had our women’s club championship. I’ve struggled with performance anxiety for years, but I keep trying to work through it and have improved considerably. Still, in the final round, I choked on the front nine and shot a 48.

It was looking as though I wouldn’t even break 90, which for me, is not a good score. I willed myself to relax and just try to enjoy the rest of the round. I tried really hard not to be grumpy and chit-chatted more than usual just to keep it light.

I rarely shoot a low score on the back nine, but I have done it, so I know it’s possible. I figured a 41 would give me an 89, and somehow, the possibility made me feel better. I had a string of pars toward the end and finished with a 39 for a total of 87! Still not my best round ever, but I felt like it was a huge victory for my mental game.

The mental game is my weakness, so after that experience, I thought, let’s build on that success. I bought yet another book on, oh, let’s call it the mental game. I tried some of the mind-over-matter strategies on the driving range with spectacular success. I was on fire! I couldn’t wait to get back out there and put it into action.

Once again, it’s all about expectations. On Monday, I could barely hit the ball. I just cannot understand the gap between the driving range and real golf. It is so frustrating. You’d think with enough practice, I could improve to my satisfaction, but that is not the case.

Anyway, I’m back to just relaxing about golf. I don’t know what else to do. I’m feeling a little worn out anyway, so I may also take a week off. We are experiencing some pretty intense heat, and it wouldn’t hurt me to sit this one out. I’ve never been particularly good about listening to my body, but I did say this was about adapting to change. I said that, right?

Other than my sports drama, all is well. I visited the dermatologist because I didn’t like the looks of a little spot on my face. That spot turned out to be normal age-related nonsense, but there was another spot I didn’t give a hoot about, and that one was pre-cancerous, so she froze it off. Just another reminder that for all intents and purposes, we know nothing! Get checked out.

My sister turned me onto this show I mistakenly believed was free on Amazon Prime. It turns out the first episode was free, but then you have to subscribe to one of the lesser-known streaming services. The show is The Discovery of Witches. I loved it but didn’t want to mess around with Sundance or Shudder.

Instead, I went to the library and checked out the first book in the trilogy … The Discovery of Witches. It’s a great read! I’m almost finished and ready to go for the second book. However, it has just scratched the itch, and now I want to see the TV version. I could skip the subscription thing and buy the first season for about $20, but that seems wasteful to me.

I love all the entertainment content that’s available now, but anti-trust be damned, I wish there was one giant streaming service in the sky. I think Sundance is only $6.99 a month, but it’s just one more thing.

Did I mention I’m grateful these are my biggest issues of the day? The scrubbed Artemis launch brought back a lot of memories from my years in the space business, and while reading about it made me proud to have been involved, the work was intense, and honestly, at this stage of my life, I’d rather be worried about who’s going to fuck up my swim.

So, pleasantly predictable. Perhaps it’s an aspirational thing.

28 thoughts on “In search of pleasantly predictable”

  1. The lane issue is always there and such a PITA. My pool only has 8 lanes so usually 2 to lane. I avoid the splashers and kickers too. I’m a slow methodical swimmer so I don’t need the drama of someone doing the butterfly. I loved the lane reservations and even asked could they still do some?? NOPE. I havent gone over to check out the outdoor pool but I know it’s olympic size but lap swimming is only 12:30- 3:30( I think) . Still I love swimming so it’s worth the drive and the lane issues.

    1. I guess I’m going to give it a chance, but I’m not excited about it! Splitting a lane is OK, I guess, but I absolutely can’t do the circle thing. I’m also a slow methodical swimmer.

  2. As for swimming at the club, do what I do, whether purposefully or it just me. Act and look as crazy as you can. Wear weird bright clothes and mumble to yourself a lot. Maybe a swim cap with rubber flowers all over it. It’s amazing how this works. No one will get near you and they may leave you a wide berth.

    I’m waiting on the launch, since I had my hand in several parts of it and had a large design team. My claim to fame is an interface problem with the toilet I worked to resolve. Go Orion !

    2. Such great suggestions! I also thought of testing breastlessness by going topless. Technically, I think it’s legal, since I don’t have breasts or nipples, but oh, the ruckus.

      Hope your toilets hold until Orion takes off with humans. Thank you for your service.

  4. Hey DP,

    Is your place an “over 55” or just a regular exercise place (for all ages)?

    Does your place have a “one class trial”? I like the idea of Pilates but it always messed with my low back that has been a no go forever. Gentle Yoga can be too easy or just right. It depends on the instructor and if they say – “if this is a problem or you have X issues then just do this instead, or just don’t do this particular stretch/bend/exercise.”

    Streaming. Seems like the mid 90s with telecom deregulation. A thousand long distance carriers! What a mess…

    We have Amazon Prime. We sign up for Britbox or Paramount+ or whatever, watch everything we are interested in for a month or two, then cancel. This isn’t like like cancelling cable or cell phone service, akin to getting a root canal. Prime is super easy to sign up AND cancel – no hassles at all. They don’t have everything (like HBO Max) but you might want to consider that approach.

    1. All ages use the club. But with few exceptions, all the classes are included in the monthly fee. I’m wary of Pilates and yoga for all the reasons you cite. I may just stick with the deep water running. Seems to be good for everything. I did see a beginner’s Tai Chi and wondered about that.

      You’re right about the telecom comparison. But at least we have all this great content. Not so with the phone companies. We do have Amazon Prime and Netflix, so that catches most of what I want. I watched the first episode free on Amazon Prime, but to see the rest, I either have to “pay by the drink” or subscribe to one of their channels. But you’re right — I can always cancel.

  5. Anytime I have a dermo appointment, I make sure that I have no important events coming up because I am sure to come home with several “burn” marks that turn really ugly in a few days. As someone who has had melanoma, I can’t be too concerned about a few days of hideousness.

    We have that same stream creep as you. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix, and now we have AppleTV because T-Mobile offered it to us for free for a year. Unfortunately, we are now hooked on a few of their shows.

    1. Melanoma is scary stuff. I’m with you on hideousness being a small price to pay.

      I love the term “stream creep.” That’s exactly what it is.

  6. I’ve started eyeing up our local leisure centre where there’s a small pool. I’d hoped to use it for rehab purposes when I had knee surgery back in February 2020, and no-one needs reminding how that worked out. My knee is telling me that replacement surgery which got put on hold isn’t going to wait much longer, and I’m wondering about doing some pre-surgery pool based exercise to strengthen up muscles which might be useful for making life after surgery a bit more manageable. But, yeah, it looks busy…

    Thanks for the laugh about the undoubted ruckus you’d cause if going topless swimming 😀

      1. Yes, we’re away for a brief holiday and then I’ll have to rummage around to find my swimming costume and be a brave girl about it. I mean, it’s right at the end of our road so it would be wrong to waste such a convenient facility. And I’m sure there must be a time when it’s not crowded.

  7. I have similar thoughts on joining our Natatorium, even though it’s heated and that kind of calls. For now I’m still using our large pool here which wo t close until its cool. I also worry about the wet deck of the indoor pool even with shoes on. We’ll see. I’m due for my annual skin test in a couple weeks, joy of joys. I do have a sin tag needing removal but that’s just cosmetic.

    1. I’m real careful about wet decks and find my nasty old Keen Newport H2 sandals to be the best for tromping back and forth.

      Visiting the dermo is a PITA, but you’re smart to stay on top of it.

      1. Keens sandals are great at the pool! I’ve snorkeled in them at the beach, too. We didn’t renew our expensive club membership once the lane reservations stopped. We have a year round outdoor Olympic sized pool in our neighborhood but it only has lap swimming early in the morning for an hour and another hour in the evening. The rest of the time, it’s everyone for themselves. I’ve been to pools where you were assigned a lane and a start time when you checked in. A horn sounded every 30 minutes so people knew when to get in and get out. If you wanted a longer swim, you’d get in line again after your first 30 minutes. Made sense to me but no one here wants to try it.

        1. Keens are great — I should probably get a new pair. Mine are pretty gnarly.

          I like the idea of the 30-minute swim and then the horn. Why can’t we have that? I don’t see what they gain by eliminating lane reservations. I will be filling out my comment card at the club. We shall see what they have to say — if anything.

  9. I can relate to your golf woes. I tried league bowling for three years. Fortunately, I was in some league where they had some magical formula where the worse you were, the more extra points they awarded you. It really was bowling for fun. When I started bowling, my average was around 106. Three years later, even after some private lessons, my average was…….(wait for it)………around 106. It was very discouraging.

    Television……I want to rip my hair out.

    1. If people tell you about a great show, you have to make sure you find out HOW they are watching it so you can find it. too.

    2. Just because there is a show you want on a specific streaming service doesn’t mean ALL episodes are there. Often it is only certain seasons. The rest are often somewhere else.

    3. I have a really childish impatience with digital technology. If I try to figure out something for myself, I almost always eventually hit a wall. This require a phone call to someone to get any further. But to who? And where do you find their phone number?

    4. I can’t always figure out how to get stuff I have simply recorded.

    5. Because of all of the above, I have reverted to “dumb blonde” persona as regards the television. I let/insist my husband be in charge of turning the damn thing on and finding our programs. But I do realize that if anything happens to him, I will be sitting here in the dark with no entertainment after my six hours of daily reading. I know I have to get a handle on this, but I would rather have a root canal.

    1. Your comments made me laugh. They say despite all the technology advances and everything else, average golf scores are the same as they were 30 years ago.

      I can totally relate to your digital woes. However, my husband is worse at it than I am. I’m like the help desk, and that is a sad state of events.

  10. I’m so tired of the streaming issues. We already pay a boatload for Dish, so why can’t I get what I want there? Everyone seems to need to set up their own specific streaming service. It’s impossible to get them all. I know people who share with others to reduce the cost, but we haven’t ventured into that yet. I also heard the services are on to that and trying to stop it. I also have the problem of never knowing where to go to find something. We end up searching everything we subscribe to and then find out, we have to pay extra to watch it!! If I’m already paying for the service, why do I have to pay for each individual show I want to watch? It’s definitely a racket!!

    1. Indeed! Even though you end up paying more, I like Amazon Prime because you often have the option of “paying by the drink” instead of adding yet another subscription. But not always. It’s a mess.

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