on the fritz...

...  an entire swimming pool! The consolidated government public pool where I had been going to swim a couple of days a week: broken, closed for repairs. Several years ago the city built a public indoor pool to satisfy the clamor of those few citizens who had been vociferously demanding an opportunity to swim indoors year 'round. Aquatic enthusiasts who had sufficient family history to exert their influence, insisting the Natatorium would be a marvel, as well as an asset to the community. It is a beautiful facility, and as you might have guessed, this vast, show-place of a building requires expensive maintenance. Employees who sit and watch people swim all day: trained, certified life guards to protect us from ourselves.

I started swimming a couple of days a week, but when I had the 'incident' last fall, and could not immerse my arm, the water exercising ceased. It took a while to get back in the groove, regain motivation and interest in going to the pool. To get thirty minutes of swimming done takes about two hours: you have to get there, park in the city-owned deck, walk to the building. Pay your fee to swim, strip, get on your suit, get wet and do laps for half an hour, while avoiding all the other people splashing around, turning the water into an obstacle course. Then do all the above in reverse when you get finished, plus shower.

This all occurs in the smaller of two pools that is almost bath-water temperature. Not sure of the precise degree, but a whole lot warmer than the other larger pool that is designed for laps/swim lanes and diving. It is a huge noisy facility when there are kids present. There will be occasional closures on a weekend when there is a competition scheduled but otherwise the building is open either early or late six days a week.

It has been closed for several weeks, due to maintenance. While this facility has been unavailable, another city pool has remained open past the usual closure date when schools start, for citizens with the compulsive urge to swim regularly. Though I have been tempted to go to the outdoor pool, there has been, once again, a serious motivation problem. A bag of gear, with suit, towel, misc. personal hygiene supplies, lives in my car, hoping to provide the impetus for some weightless exercise, but it's been a while. My hope is that motivation will return when that nice big 'concrete pond' of nearly bath temperature water is back in service.