swimming pool generals

Sitting here while watching the seconds of my life tick away into oblivion I tend to go through various states of mind, oscillating between extreme euphoria and deepest despair. During my downward spirals I often hit a sort of critical point, at which I think “right, that’s it!” and I proceed to make a plan in my head, a schedule of action for my day and/or my week. “This time will be different” I’ll say to myself, “this cannot go on, if I can just get off my fat ass and achieve a, b and c – regardless of how miserable I feel, then things will begin to improve”. So off I will go, suddenly transformed into a workaholic for all of a few hours before the initial adrenaline rush fades and I arrive back at square one. In fact this is usually how most of my work and/or minor achievements (like getting dressed in the mornings) occur.

And so it is that I stand today at the end of one of these little ‘schedules’ and at the beginning of a new one. This time last week I worked myself up into such a suitably green frenzy that I swore I would make a change this week. What became of it? Well this week has seen me cut down my meat intake to an all time low. During the last seven days I have consumed one BLT baguette and two tins of tuna. Not only that but I have purchased less bottled drinks and packaged items while recycling all those that I have. I can also proudly report on the somewhat trivial success of having bought and fitted one of those fancy energy saving light bulbs in my room. Rather than guzzling 100 Watts (per cycle?) my lighting needs now only drain 20 Watts from the national grid. Hurrah for me.

My new mini plan of action is less concerned with saving the world and more concerned with enriching my knowledge of the period I am supposed to be devoting twelve months to studying, the Second World War. Not the most uplifting of subjects you might think, but I am afraid I am one of those geeks who has fantasised about tank battles and merciless butchering ever since he was a toddler. Perhaps not an all to healthy passion, but hey, its mine to indulge.

This schedule is also to include a morning swim at the Commonwealth pool behind my flat (as pictured).

And for your information “shhhhhhhhhhhh-hhhhhooozzziiimm” is the noise an old age pensioner makes as he laps you around the pool for the ninth time.

Sob.