H2O

Oh and feel better @GATECH

The dreaded community swim team cold is an annual tradition. We will have that from time to time and it’s always right before divisionals. The worst

These damn tall boy beer cans suck for being inconspicuous. 12ozs just look like reg soda cans. I have one of those plastic bottles where you can freeze a core insert which keeps whatever is in it cold. I use that for my rum and Coke’s

See technically we aren't allowed to have that. And we've had issues with parents getting s-faced and not watching their kids in the baby pool(not life guard monitored). But if you do it on the DL and use huggies and don't flaunt that you are slamming booze then its "allowed" August is best cause the pool becomes a ghost town and you can do it without eyes glaring.

mesos be coming. I feel it.

Yeah well I do that too for 15 min when its adult swim. And sneak in beverages.

When we joined our pool on 2009 I had ZERO intention of being a swim team parent. I just wanted a place for my kids to learn to swim and play during the summer. It was at my wife's urging we join a pool. Little did I know my two daughters would be tadpoles in the pool and beg to swim every day. So then it just seemed natural to join the swim team so they could have friends and learn how to do the 4 strokes. Then we were thrust into actual A meets due to swimmer shortages and my kids had decent enough times. Actualy the main reason is they both could do breast stroke LEGALLY at a very young age. My kids swam an A meet at age 5 and 6. And got points!!!! For being legal. At that time, our pool was down at the bottom. Since 2012 to now we slowly moved up to where we are now and the pool and its demeanor has changed. it used to be soooo laid back with swim meets and just having fun. But success has bred competitiveness and a culture of wanting to win more than just having fun. Our rise every year has also gotten that dreaded "we only join the pool for swim team" attitude. Because they want to jump on while we are doing well. This means they aren't as attached to the pool as a family who lives nearby and is happy for the POOL over what record they have every summer. But I LOVe watching my kids swim. I can't cheer because I'm a deck official most meets. the ones i get the night off I will be up there rooting for my kids and the team. I really enjoy their success and they have been to All-Star events for relays and individual which is amazing. Given the number of pools and swimmers. to get into the top 18? And swim? Holy shitballs. So tonight i will be out on deck, sweating my balls off, checking time cards and yelling "TIMERS CLEAR!" for 3 hours. Why? Because I'm a swim team parent.

List of jobs I've done at my pool since 2013: timer, marshal, assist chief timer, chief timer, pool set up crew, concessions set up, grill, and more as my wife was part of concessions. The more is going to various places to get ice, drinks, food, etc. This was on top of being on the pool board the last 4 years. in charge of facilities. Don't get me wrong. I look forward to watching my kids swim and love how they help the team each meet, good or bad. I have made lots of friends from doing all this volunteering over the years and the comradery from being in the trenches is a bond that can't be broken. That said, there are some parents that can step up and help and they don't so that will always be a spot of frustration. I'm out there helping EVERY kid, not just my own, by doing the things I do along with so many other wonderful parents. it takes a village to pull off a swim meet and it would be nice for everyone to chip in. No slam to you, @mattie g You are doing good chipping in where you can and having your wife help out with the food. And I've been down there at the bottom division wise and sometimes i think it was much easier and more fun when there was no pressure to be top dogs like the Div 1-5s are. Those people are nuts.

Oh god. This post. its everything. The 37 heats for just 8&U when you wish they would pre-test kids to see if they can even swim let alone a length of a pool. Where they start and you can walk up to the snack bar, order one of everything, wait 5 min for the grill guy to make a burger into a hockey puck and still get back to the pool to time them touching the wall. And the chatter among parents. "Oh, did you see Billy swim? His back was TERRIBLE!!" "Well, my kid Francesca, just swam a 28.45 last week which is 0.00000002 better than last week and now she will get to swim an A meet over that dirty faced girl with the parents that dress from Ross!!" And the jerk ass parents that DO NOTHING each and every meet despite having 5 kids that always DQ on breast stroke because they brain fart and start swimming freestyle after the flip turn. Its ok, lazy parents, just start at your phone all meet and yell a tepid "woo, go child #2!" while the few that help every week stand there melting. Having a B meet canceled due to storms is one of the best feelings ever. But I also remember being at an all-stars and right during warm-ups there were storms and nothing better than sitting in a stiffling hot car for an hour waiting because they ain't calling off an all-stars and it was resumed once the deluge had ended. I am with you, brother. Just call me Salty McSaltface every monday when we have a B meet. No one to blame but myself tho. I could have been a lazy ass parent and NOT volunteered to be chief timer. Imma dumbass.

Kids have a swim meet tonight. I'd be cool if it stormed this evening. Otherwise its 4 hrs in the heat.

And ALMOST late side of the 30s? Puhlease

I sound like a bag of microwave popcorn when I kneel down on the ground. I snort lines of advil after I exercise. When it rains my left elbow flares up. I get vats of lotion to deal with my ashy ankles(that what your fave troll say they look like). And don’t get me started on how much Metamucil I take.

So I’m just bordering on oblivion? Or have I entered the void?

If I keep doing these gd exercises I do to stay healthy I won’t make it to retirement.

But my family thanks you!! Just disconnect the sewer and put an outhouse in the back. Free garden fertilizer!!

Thank you. I like that you say I'm young. Clearly @mappy is wrong calling me old all the time. I don't blue plate special yet. But gonna spend time at the diner every morning chatting to the war vets over coffee. Its a new adventure coming and i just want to enjoy the hell out of it.

mods please lock thread. Its over.

Wasn't the goal back when I started. It was live paycheck to paycheck and scrape enough together to get a car and house and keep a roof over my family. Could have made more money elsewhere but knew by staying this goal would be closer. My dad won $100 lottery once. He gave me 50 cents. I turned that into the multi-dollaraire empire you see before you now. Can't see it? Neither can I.

Thank you! Absolutely nothing. I’m not looking for another job right away. I just want to see how it goes. I do plan to spend more time on the eastern shore. But with 2 kids still to finish HS I’m not going anywhere Thank you! I’m cool with all those things

AOL and frozen orange juice futures.

another nice morning

Thank you both. It will be a huge change but one that I know will be a positive one

Dude. you have no idea how many times I have used the police partner just about to retire then gets swiss cheesed on the last call for a break in to my boss. I told him he best not send me out on one last job where I'm playing frogger or on top of this

Thank you both. The finish line is oh so close. But the only maps I will make are snowstorm maps, I mean tropical maps with snow for PSU

I'm retiring after 50 years of summer cicadas. 50 Broods would put me at Gandalf age and I haven't found a magic elixir that does that yet. Beer is close. Thank you!! Scary and exciting at the same time.