I don't really have anything new and exciting to talk about, but it's been a week since I've written, so here I am again. I've been just working and swimming, like always - trying to get 35 hours a week at work and 22,000 yards a week in the pool. That all worked out last week - I got jerked around at work, as usual, but I did scrape together 35 hours, and since Anna came to J-ville to get her jackets, we swam a 4k workout together, so I made my 22k yardage for the week, too. (The three LumberJax practices plus the Sunday ocean swim make 15k, but I have to get the other 7k on my own somehow, which isn't always easy - the pool closest to me SUCKS, Cecil is really far away, and UNF charges $5 plus parking. Bah.)
I just talked to Joanne online - my camp buddy from England. She says orientation's about to start and that there are almost no old counselors back - all new. She also says that Jen, our five-year resident Scot, ended up with serious visa issues and got officially escorted back to Scotland almost as soon as her plane hit the ground. She was supposed to be Bonnie's assistant director, and so now that position is still open. She's still trying to get here - and, knowing Jen, she'll pull it off - but I did plant the bug in Joanne's ear that I could possibly do it if Jen didn't come through. I'd have to be inducted as a Navamochee (head staff) and give up my Mohawk tribe status, which would be sad, but it'd be a fun job - being at camp but not with all the same little daily moans and groans as usual. And it would probably pay more - I usually net around $2200 for ten weeks of work (which is why I stayed home this year, for the first time in 9 years - I need more money!), but a head staff position would give me more than that. Ah, well, it probably won't happen, but it's nice to think about. I do want to get up there for a visit, either way, but that may not happen either - my schedule's pretty full.
26 days till Key West! I'm driving down on Thursday the 23rd, spending the night with Erin in Miami, driving the rest of the way on Friday and checking into the Sheraton with Christine (my kayaker), swimming on Saturday the 25th (here are the swim map and the director's tips, in case anyone's interested), then heading back Sunday. Other people have mood swings, well, I'm having 'confidence swings' - sometimes I feel like I'm going to finish easily and quickly, and other times I worry that I won't finish at all. In actuality, I probably will finish, but it's easy to look at that map and remind yourself of jellyfish, mud flats, sunburn, chafing, etc. and get psyched out. I hope Christine turns out to be cool - I've only been in contact with her by e-mail, so anything's possible. She paddles for Monica's club, though, and Monica says she's great; I trust her.
Speaking of Monica, I hope she makes it down for the race, too. She's a teacher and runs a paddling club, so I e-mailed her months ago when I was looking for a race paddler and she hooked me up by putting my ad in the club newsletter. We hit it off via e-mail and now we practically know each other's entire lives, even though we've never met face-to-face. She writes like I do, which instantly gained my respect. Certain people simply understand how to write so that their finished product says what they want it to say while still reading smoothly, like a book. Lots of people try to do that - they write with perfect grammar and punctuation - and yet they still don't have that 'something extra' which makes their work 'smooth'. I can't explain it any better than that. Even university students are often lacking it; I usually have a lot of 'mental winces' while reading others' work. However, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I do have that 'something extra', and have from a very young age. And Monica has it too, which makes it fun to write with her. I've said this before, but when it comes to e-mail, I instantly formulate a first impression based on how a person writes. That's probably a terrible thing - I might be writing off (pun intended!) some perfectly nice people just because their e-mails strike me as ungrammatical or careless - but I honestly can't help it. Example: everybody in this part of the world knows what a redneck sounds like, and you can gain an instant impression of one by simply listening to his or her accent. (Don't lie; we all do it.) Well, that's how writing is for me. I mean, would anyone read this site if I didn't write well (content - or lack thereof - aside)? I doubt it.
Anyway, I suppose I'm through being arrogant for the day. I got up at 4:30 this morning for work, so I think I'm going to go take a nap.
Oh, but cross your fingers for me - one of my co-workers (whom I've never met) might leave the job, and if she does, I get her shifts! (Well, I'm not sure I'd get to keep them all summer, but it would be for at least a week or two, until they find someone else.) That would give me a REGULAR schedule for once - can you imagine? It's not that I want her to leave, but there's considerable personal gain in it for me if she does, so ... what can you do?
I just talked to Joanne online - my camp buddy from England. She says orientation's about to start and that there are almost no old counselors back - all new. She also says that Jen, our five-year resident Scot, ended up with serious visa issues and got officially escorted back to Scotland almost as soon as her plane hit the ground. She was supposed to be Bonnie's assistant director, and so now that position is still open. She's still trying to get here - and, knowing Jen, she'll pull it off - but I did plant the bug in Joanne's ear that I could possibly do it if Jen didn't come through. I'd have to be inducted as a Navamochee (head staff) and give up my Mohawk tribe status, which would be sad, but it'd be a fun job - being at camp but not with all the same little daily moans and groans as usual. And it would probably pay more - I usually net around $2200 for ten weeks of work (which is why I stayed home this year, for the first time in 9 years - I need more money!), but a head staff position would give me more than that. Ah, well, it probably won't happen, but it's nice to think about. I do want to get up there for a visit, either way, but that may not happen either - my schedule's pretty full.
26 days till Key West! I'm driving down on Thursday the 23rd, spending the night with Erin in Miami, driving the rest of the way on Friday and checking into the Sheraton with Christine (my kayaker), swimming on Saturday the 25th (here are the swim map and the director's tips, in case anyone's interested), then heading back Sunday. Other people have mood swings, well, I'm having 'confidence swings' - sometimes I feel like I'm going to finish easily and quickly, and other times I worry that I won't finish at all. In actuality, I probably will finish, but it's easy to look at that map and remind yourself of jellyfish, mud flats, sunburn, chafing, etc. and get psyched out. I hope Christine turns out to be cool - I've only been in contact with her by e-mail, so anything's possible. She paddles for Monica's club, though, and Monica says she's great; I trust her.
Speaking of Monica, I hope she makes it down for the race, too. She's a teacher and runs a paddling club, so I e-mailed her months ago when I was looking for a race paddler and she hooked me up by putting my ad in the club newsletter. We hit it off via e-mail and now we practically know each other's entire lives, even though we've never met face-to-face. She writes like I do, which instantly gained my respect. Certain people simply understand how to write so that their finished product says what they want it to say while still reading smoothly, like a book. Lots of people try to do that - they write with perfect grammar and punctuation - and yet they still don't have that 'something extra' which makes their work 'smooth'. I can't explain it any better than that. Even university students are often lacking it; I usually have a lot of 'mental winces' while reading others' work. However, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I do have that 'something extra', and have from a very young age. And Monica has it too, which makes it fun to write with her. I've said this before, but when it comes to e-mail, I instantly formulate a first impression based on how a person writes. That's probably a terrible thing - I might be writing off (pun intended!) some perfectly nice people just because their e-mails strike me as ungrammatical or careless - but I honestly can't help it. Example: everybody in this part of the world knows what a redneck sounds like, and you can gain an instant impression of one by simply listening to his or her accent. (Don't lie; we all do it.) Well, that's how writing is for me. I mean, would anyone read this site if I didn't write well (content - or lack thereof - aside)? I doubt it.
Anyway, I suppose I'm through being arrogant for the day. I got up at 4:30 this morning for work, so I think I'm going to go take a nap.
Oh, but cross your fingers for me - one of my co-workers (whom I've never met) might leave the job, and if she does, I get her shifts! (Well, I'm not sure I'd get to keep them all summer, but it would be for at least a week or two, until they find someone else.) That would give me a REGULAR schedule for once - can you imagine? It's not that I want her to leave, but there's considerable personal gain in it for me if she does, so ... what can you do?
stormed at 15:41
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