For my back yard, please

If you know anything about this blog, you know I'm not looking at the building. Check out the blue thing to the left.

Coolest Job in the (Sea) World

Are you skilled at using gravity to show off? This isn't an ad or any of that, but today I was checking out my (this) site to see if all was in order and one of my adsense ads just blew me away. It was for Sea World. The ad was seeking (I paraphrase) skilled spring board and platform divers for SeaWorld Viva show jobs. Having been to Sea World on several occasions, in FL and Hawaii, I got to thinking. Where do they have diving? Well they've got some that dive and assist with the killer whales show. I'm too old and floppy to have ever been a high-diver, but if you've got the skills, here may be your chance to be the envy of everyone who has ever visited a waterpark. Scoll through the adsense links above and maybe the ads are still there. If not, you might try Sea World directly or try googling whoever hires talent for the place. Apparently, they've got some openings that require someone skilled at using gravity to show off. PS I get paid if you click on the link. That's some new law, I have to tell you that. So ok, I've told you.

Danny Kunze - World Record High Dive

Another one for the swimming heros award - I think I need to add a sub-category for the real whack-jobs. This guy seems sane until he starts going higher, and higher, and ... yeah, he's a whack-job, but he is still alive so ... hmmm.

Feeling Fatigue? You May be About to be Awesome

I've heard about bio-rhythms for as long as I can remember, and as I age, I am starting to notice my own body cycles a little bit more. One particular oddity stands out in my mind and one I'm just starting to see as a pattern is in my body's ability to accommodate a hard workout. A week ago, and for the week prior, I noticed a discernible decline in my ability to get through a full-speed workout without giving out half-way or two-thirds of the way in. The workouts seemed to get progressively worse as time went by. Then a couple days ago, things went the other way - I was getting stronger and stronger, faster and faster - and on Tuesday I had one of the best workouts I've had in years. This has happened before but only now am I beginning to discern that indeed it follows a pattern. I need time to define what is happening, if I can. Is it my diet? I have had more protein lately. Is it my sleep? I've had some bad nights and some good ones. Maybe something else? Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Super Family

I think I may have posted this before, but I stumbled across this on the web this evening and had to share it (again?). Enjoy and pass it on (oh, and emulate if you dare).

Does Swimming Pool Temperature Matter?

We have a new pool director at the indoor pool I frequent during the cold season. She has added an innovation to our pool room, an information board. It includes among other things, the names of our lifeguards, the date, the weather (outside), pool activities for the week, and the pool temperature that day. The board is updated daily so it did not take us regulars long to realize something was screwy about the reported pool temperature. The reported figure never varied by but a degree, but we experienced swimmers knew better since the feel (to us) jacked around like a jumping bean. Generally if the temperature was 84 or more (think 85 - 87) the board reported it at 83. Below 83, same deal (though we only got to witness that once, but for a week). I asked a guard about this. The reply I got back was something to the effect that "she" (the pool director) didn't like to report temperatures when they were out of line ... the members just get mad. Well, duh. But we get even more upset when we're treated like stupid imbeciles. I've come to expect the warmer temperatures. The director seems to find it easier to appeal to the dippers rather than the swimmers. I enjoy jumping into warm water as much as anyone, but much after that and you can have it. We swimmers fatigue faster with warmer water. My time to the mile can vary by as much as a minute and a half dependent on the water temp. So given that cooler water temps are out of the question, I've taken to faking myself out by taking a hot shower before my jump in the pool. The hot shower makes my first few laps feel relatively cool, gets me going faster than I might otherwise. I still fatigue out faster than I might in cooler water, but at least I feel like I have some control.