Pre-holiday

It's Wednesday morning and I'm at the help desk waiting for my computer. It's not working so good. Yes, Google Docs, I know that that should read “not working so well,” but I’m taking poetic license. Work with me.

I'm the only customer here. There are four IT specialists - three enlisted people and one civilian - and they're all looking at my computer. Apparently it's an interesting case. I'm just glad it didn't start behaving normally when I arrived, just to make me look bad. They do that, you know. 

Another customer just rolled up to the help desk counter so now my computer is being attended to by three IT people. I think they're trying to decide if I need a new battery, or a new computer, or something else. A new computer is kind of more trouble than it's worth, especially since it won't really be new, it'll be just a refurbished standard issue Dell laptop much like the one I already have. I don’t need the latest and greatest, bro. I’m not out here writing code. 

And look at that - a new battery it is. I'm waiting for the very nice Army E-3 to finish testing my new battery and then I'll be back in business. 

*****

I don’t even know what else to write about so I’m just going to type. It looks like my favorite part of November has come to an early end. It was gloomy and damp all day today, with no sign of the sun, and tomorrow will be more of the same. By the time this rainy period passes, I’m afraid that we’ll have made the transition to winter. The holidays are bearing down on me, and I am not ready. I’m not even close to ready. I haven’t done my shopping, I don’t have rock-solid plans in place, and I’d just as soon not do anything at all for Christmas but that is unfortunately not an option. I think I have to take care of my mom for the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and that’s fine. Someone has to do it, and it might as well be me. 

And it just occurred to me that the dumb computer is probably not the only thing that needs a new battery. I should go back to the help desk. 

*****

Or maybe I should just take a day off. That's what I'm doing now. It's Friday morning and I'm in the car on my way to George Mason University for day 3 of the Patriot Invitational, a mid season meet with maybe 10 teams swimming. It's a D1 meet, so Marymount will probably finish last but they're doing really well. My son's medley relay finished 9th of 16 on Wednesday night, and they broke their own program record. This morning is the 100 breast prelims. 100 breast is my son's best event. It's his bread and butter. It's the moneymaker. 

*****

Thanks to unusually horrendous traffic our 45 minute drive to George Mason took an hour and 20 minutes. We arrived just in time to see the heat immediately after my son's heat, with their times still on the scoreboard. Five minutes would have made the difference. But at least we got to see him, and we'll see him again tonight because he qualified for finals. Meanwhile a Friday off is turning out to be just the thing. 

*****

We made it back to George Mason in plenty of time for finals. My son had a great race. He swam his second best time and then beat his record time in his 400 medley relay split. The 400 relay, with a first year swimmer leading off in the backstroke, finished .07 off the program record. They'll get it next time. 

Meanwhile this month gets more and more bonkers by the minute. MTG is a riddle wrapped in an enigma and the Trump Mamdani meeting absolutely did my head in. I still can't figure out what to make of it. Did Trump's doctors change his meds? Is he trolling JD Vance and Stephen Miller? One thing that seems certain is that Zohran Mamdani is a generational political talent with absolutely extraordinary people skills. I saw the last few minutes of the meeting on TV and the first few minutes of the post-event coverage just before we left for finals, and Nicolle Wallace and her guests were losing their minds. I’m still flummoxed by the whole thing but one thing that's certain is that the Internet always wins. The memes arising from this absolutely unhinged meeting are top notch. 

Niche swim parent humor. I cracked myself up with this. 

*****

Saturday was the last day of the Patriot, and Marymount got second to last place - a very good outcome for the only D3 team at this meet. Marymount finished the 400 free relay, the last event of the weekend, in 9th place (they were seeded 14th) with a program record time. After a late dinner at an Irish pub in Fairfax, we came home and fell into bed, exhausted. It’s Sunday now, and I now have a kitchen full of Thanksgiving groceries. One holiday at a time. That’s how I’ll get through this season. Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Year’s, and then the second half of the swim season starts. That’s the real fun.