Where Did the Weekend Go?

I make plans.

Not the kind that some people do -- where they plot out every single minute of the weekend, set out each anticipated clothing change in the order that you put the garments on, and count the exact number of chocolate chips to put on the waffles -- more like, "Hmm, this might be a good weekend to replace the furnace filter, and if there's time, balance my checkbook." And of course, there's my running, riding, and swimming to squeeze in there, too...as well as some mild parental obligations. But according to my plan, there'd be plenty of time to relax and recharge, too.

It didn't quite work out that way. The first setback occured as I tried to turn off the bathroom light when I finished shaving. It's one of those push on/push off dimmer switches, where you slap it to make it work, and then turn the knob to attain the desired brightness. The bathroom was apparently designed by a Hollywood makeup artist, because there's an entire row of bare light bulbs above the mirror -- and if you crank it up all the way, there's enough candlepower to melt your face. To keep from being blinded, I use a dual strategy of not replacing burnt-out bulbs (currently 4) and setting the dimmer to about half-power. The result is plenty of light to brush your teeth by, but not enough to set your eyebrows on fire.

Anyway, as I left the room I slapped the switch to turn it off. Not only did the lights not extinguish, but the switch began to make noises that you expect to hear from Orville Reddenbacher, but not from inside the bathroom wall. A light that won't turn off is bad -- a light that hisses and spits like Gollum is just plain frightening.

Fortunately, turning the knob all the way down seemed to soothe the riled-up electrons. But the day had barely begun, and I already needed to add a Home Depot run to my to-do list. Sigh.

Since Home Depot wouldn't open for a couple of hours, and I was moderately confident that my home wouldn't burn down while I was gone, I went out to Waterton for my Saturday morning walk/jog. I won't bore you with details, since it was pretty much the same as last week's (only without the skunk odor). I survived. Afterwards, I treated myself to a nice hot bath, and then called Tanner to see if he was ready for his weekly whuppin' at tennis.

Well, no...he wasn't. Band practice. Can't blame him for that -- they've got one month to get ready for their big Midwest Tour, and they need to write several new songs, and possibly even rename the band. It's a lot of work to do. I told him to call me when practice was over.

I decided to spend my time working on my video project. As previously reported, I planned to finish editing the movies that Doug Smith and I had made with our Wichita Swim Club buddies a few decades ago. On Friday, I had completed the task of synching up both movie soundtracks with the video, but I hadn't yet finished adding the bells and whistles that I hoped to include. I wanted to add closing credits that actually named the actors, and maybe even a commentary track where I could talk about the challenges of trying to coax actual acting out of school-aged competitive swimmers. (See also Steve Lundquist in "Return of the Killer Tomatoes"...5:15 into the clip.)

Well, I'm still not finished with that project. But I did finally get together with Tanner. It turned out not to be for a tennis game, though—his mom and I took the opportunity to sit down and discuss his academic and/or employment future with him. Please allow me to diagram exactly how that equation works out:

Parents + Teenager + Serious Life Topic = No Fun For Anyone

But parental responsibility carries with it the duty to occasionally dredge up your inner Mr. Strickland, and attempt a vaccination against rampant slackerism. We tried to do it without too much frothing and spitting, and he managed to keep the "You're old—therefore you're lame" rebuttals to a minimum. I'm not sure if we accomplished anything other than agreeing to support him through one more semester of school, but we all remain hopeful that his future holds more prosperity than soup kitchens. We'll see.

Tanner did accompany me to Home Depot, where I successfully remembered to get a furnace filter, but failed utterly at remembering the correct size to buy. The good news at the end of the day is that I was able to replace the light switch without being electrocuted (and even bought some spare bulbs to replace the burnouts), but the bad news is that I'll have to return to the store to trade the filter I bought for one that'll actually fit into my furnace. Sigh.

My other accomplishments for the weekend include a nice bike ride on Sunday morning, followed by a good swim practice. After hearing reports that non-wetsuited swimmers have been seen in the water at Chatfield, I may try to swim in the pond next weekend. Maybe.

In the evening, I went back over to grab the boy for that game of tennis we had missed on Saturday. We had fun, despite the fact that the score did not wind up being in my favor. I was still moving a bit gingerly on tender knees, but I'm beginning to think that even if I were at the top of my game, he might still be able to win. I may need some sort of psychological counselling to deal with this disturbing thought. Either that, or some tennis lessons...

And just like that, the weekend was over. I'm already looking forward to the next one. Maybe I'll get around to balancing my checkbook then. (Maybe.)

Have a great day!