It seems like not very long ago that Addie was the youngest kid at the swim meet. Oh wait. That was yesterday. We went to a meet at Georgia Tech and it turned out to be an eye opener for me.
Academically I have always known that big kids swim too. They have to. There are high school and college teams and then there is Olympic swimming. I've just never been there for it, till yesterday. The only big kids I've seen swim in competition are those rare canoe and kayak athletes who flip in a race and for whatever reason can't get the boat rolled back up. For the record, that in no way resembles competition swimming except that it is swimming in competition. Generally speaking swimming out of a boat in whitewater looks sort of like what I do in the pool, near the verge of panic. I say near because I'm not really panicked at all. I just reserve the right be.
The pool at Georgia Tech is the one where the 96 Olympic swimming was held. It's a long course. I don't really know what that means except that the length of the pool is measured in meters, lots of them. How many? Um well standing where I was when I first saw the pool I was thinking approximately oh my God that's far meters. It turned out to be fifty. I know because I had to know to be a timer.
They asked for volunteers to be timers. I had a choice. I could sit comfortably in the stands. Drink as I wanted to. Munch on snacks now and then. Read when I wasn't interested in the swimming, after all at least Nascar has wrecks if you know what I mean. Have easy access to a bathroom. Or I could stand on the pool deck obliged to pay close attention with consequences if I failed to do my job. Get stiff knees and a stiff back. Challenge my bladder to last till the end of the last race. Get wet from splashes on almost each start. No brainer, right? Of course I volunteered.
Addie is eleven. I've timed races for her age group before. That was back in the day when timer meant punch the clock and help the kid out of the pool. Clearly that previous age group is gone. These kids were mostly real people sized and could make fifty meters go by pretty fast. Am I Dad Van Winkle? Did I miss a few years while Addie was getting to this point?
The oldest kid in my lane all day was 21 years old. I work with a few people not much older than that. He was a student at Georgia Tech and had been for four years. Most of the swimmers were twelve to sixteen. I talked to some of the kids who raced. I asked the old guy the lamest question of the day, "I don't suppose you know Jim Wade? He's the only student I know here." He forgave me and didn't act like it was as lame as it actually was. I didn't use my favorite question on him. I tried confirm for each heat that the kid stepping up to the lane was actually the right kid in the right lane for the right heat. Maybe with big kids that's not necessary anymore. Most of them seemed to remember the day when the timer asked though and answered politely. I usually asked, "Are you (insert name here)?" When they said yes, or usually yes sir just to make me feel old, I sometimes asked, "Are you carrying any ID?" I got a laugh every time I asked that. I was actually surprised that I made that many adolescents laugh. It rarely happened with my own. After about four times even I felt lame using the same joke again so I stopped.
The whole time I was timing I was also waiting for messages from remote children. Davis was at the Drake Relays in Des Moines. He did okay and probably wouldn't want me to say more than that. Benn is in London training. Training is going fine, but other things are, well, building character. He was waken before 7AM the day before his trip. It was USADA and he had to be drug tested. Yes USADA (US Anti Doping) does make house calls, and anywhere else they can catch you. That's another story in itself. He, later that day, realized he had scheduled his flight wrong and had to do a last minute scramble to change it. Having that worked out he left the next morning early. He got to London and his boat didn't. His first day or so of training was in a borrowed boat with borrowed equipment, until the boat showed up finally. The weather is British. And to top it off he is trying to get to the conclusion of a complicated and potentially controversial decision by the International Canoe Federation. I'm not ready to explain that yet.
Addie swam five races at the meet. Four of them were 100 meters and the last one was 400 meters. That plus her warm up totals up to more than I swam in 2011. She started with the 100 meter Butterfly. Real Butterflies don't live long enough to travel that far, nor would I. She also did 100 meters of each of the other three strokes and the 400 meters was free style. She didn't even seem to be all that tired. She said she should have pushed herself harder in the 400 meter race.
Instead she decided to push me today. Yes we did a swim workout again today. She really needs to learn how to drive the car. I can barely manage the steering wheel after those workouts.
Yesterday was a good day for me. I feel more connected to Addie's sport. Knees and back aside it is more fun to be in the middle of it. Timing is a way easier method of staying connected that actually getting in the water, safer too. People ask me why I switched from Benn's sport to Davis'. I tell them that it might still take me to the hospital, but less likely the morgue. I think I've found a way to get involved in Addie's sport now without reversing that. Not everybody has to be a competitor.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
The trials off Trials
Benn has something I will never have. No I don't mean his 2008 Olympic ring. That mostly stays at my house. I can have it any time I want it. Everybody pretty much knows I take credit for it anyway. I mean Benn has a friend he's known since they were two years old. Dave is his name. Dave came to Olympic Trials this year having never seen Benn race before. Dave coming added a whole new flavor to trials. We had to explain a few things to him. For instance we had to explain that winning Olympic Trials in Benn's sport doesn't mean you go to the Olympics. It means you're one of three remaining candidates and you go into the final race with a slight edge over the other two.
Dave bought into that. He wasn't overly concerned about the logistics. He was just making up for 12 or so years of never having seen his lifelong friend actually do his thing. Dave got to the course pretty excited just as Benn was about to do his first run on day 1. I was in my usual state of pre-competition adrenaline over-dose. I would usually bro-hug with Dave after a long time without seeing him, but this time I was on my way to the top of the course. He asked, "Where do you sit." I didn't even slow down as I ran by him. "I don't sit," I yelled over my shoulder. "I run." Dave caught on quickly because after a successful first place finish on that first run, Benn saw Dave on the bank before he saw anybody else. Dave ran all the way down the course just like the rest of us.
I was somewhat more relaxed after Benn had one in the bank. Dave and Benn and Bailey and I hung out with each other and some paddling friends and watched the other boat classes race. We did that until it was time for Benn to race again. They do two runs each day. By this time Dave was into it. He showed many of the same adrenaline symptoms that I had. Dave and Bailey and I ran Benn down the course together to another successful first place finish. We watched some racing. We did an interview. We forgot to tell Dave it might not happen this way every day. We prepared to do it again the second day, and I relaxed significantly.
Maybe I relaxed too much. Maybe Benn relaxed too much. At any rate, by the end of 2nd run day 2, I was ready to sit with Charlie Brown, the team Sports Psychologist. No seriously, that's his name. He gets that a lot. Things hadn't gone well for Benn on day 2. After one of Benn's runs Dave saw Benn paddling across the pool at the bottom of the course alone. He knew like the rest of us that Benn was disappointed. Benn has never hidden his disappointment very well. Dave asked if Benn was coming back. I said, "Not this time, for a while." He asked, "Is it okay to talk about it?" Bailey told him, "Dave, you've known him 21 years. You don't know anything about the sport. You came to Charlotte to watch and support. I think you have a free pass to say whatever you want." That wasn't true for the guy who wanted to do an interview this day. Benn did, however give the guy one of my all time favorite Benn quotes. The interviewer asked, "How do you feel about today?" Benn looked hesitant and somewhat pained. I think the guy knew his timing was bad, so he quickly added, "Just two words." Benn took a long breath and asked, "Is disaster two words?"
Marsha had arrived at the course just in time to see Benn abort his second run and float to the finish line in frustration. She was okay though. She had only left school as fast as she could after CRCT testing, driven four and a half hours, with time tacked on for heavy traffic twice, excited to see her boy race. No big deal. Fortunately his first run had been okay and he finished the day in second place.
Based on the number of questions he asked I believe Dave was nearly as nervous on day 3 as I was. Maybe he was not quite as bad. I don't know if he was wondering whether the contents of his stomach would make it to the end of the first run. I was, and I think Bailey and Marsha and Angela were right there with me. Have I mentioned Angela? She is another paddler parent. We paddler parents suffer together during Team Trials and understand each other. I mention Angela specifically because she spoke for all of us paddler parents that day. The first time I saw Angela on day 3 she said something appropriate; not good morning, not great weather, not awesome crowd today. She said, "One more #$@ %&*< day of trials." I understood.
Angela's son Bug did well that day and will be competing in the final race with Benn, so Angela felt better. Benn put the rest of us at ease quickly. His first run was good enough to make the second one irrelevant. He won by a large margin.
I think Dave caught the fever. It's not just how much Dave enjoyed the race that makes me think so. It is that I'm sitting here a few days after Trials looking at Dave's car parked in front of my house. Benn's car is gone and two boats are gone. I think Benn took Dave to paddle for his first time. I can't wait to hear how it went.
Dave bought into that. He wasn't overly concerned about the logistics. He was just making up for 12 or so years of never having seen his lifelong friend actually do his thing. Dave got to the course pretty excited just as Benn was about to do his first run on day 1. I was in my usual state of pre-competition adrenaline over-dose. I would usually bro-hug with Dave after a long time without seeing him, but this time I was on my way to the top of the course. He asked, "Where do you sit." I didn't even slow down as I ran by him. "I don't sit," I yelled over my shoulder. "I run." Dave caught on quickly because after a successful first place finish on that first run, Benn saw Dave on the bank before he saw anybody else. Dave ran all the way down the course just like the rest of us.
I was somewhat more relaxed after Benn had one in the bank. Dave and Benn and Bailey and I hung out with each other and some paddling friends and watched the other boat classes race. We did that until it was time for Benn to race again. They do two runs each day. By this time Dave was into it. He showed many of the same adrenaline symptoms that I had. Dave and Bailey and I ran Benn down the course together to another successful first place finish. We watched some racing. We did an interview. We forgot to tell Dave it might not happen this way every day. We prepared to do it again the second day, and I relaxed significantly.
Maybe I relaxed too much. Maybe Benn relaxed too much. At any rate, by the end of 2nd run day 2, I was ready to sit with Charlie Brown, the team Sports Psychologist. No seriously, that's his name. He gets that a lot. Things hadn't gone well for Benn on day 2. After one of Benn's runs Dave saw Benn paddling across the pool at the bottom of the course alone. He knew like the rest of us that Benn was disappointed. Benn has never hidden his disappointment very well. Dave asked if Benn was coming back. I said, "Not this time, for a while." He asked, "Is it okay to talk about it?" Bailey told him, "Dave, you've known him 21 years. You don't know anything about the sport. You came to Charlotte to watch and support. I think you have a free pass to say whatever you want." That wasn't true for the guy who wanted to do an interview this day. Benn did, however give the guy one of my all time favorite Benn quotes. The interviewer asked, "How do you feel about today?" Benn looked hesitant and somewhat pained. I think the guy knew his timing was bad, so he quickly added, "Just two words." Benn took a long breath and asked, "Is disaster two words?"
Marsha had arrived at the course just in time to see Benn abort his second run and float to the finish line in frustration. She was okay though. She had only left school as fast as she could after CRCT testing, driven four and a half hours, with time tacked on for heavy traffic twice, excited to see her boy race. No big deal. Fortunately his first run had been okay and he finished the day in second place.
Based on the number of questions he asked I believe Dave was nearly as nervous on day 3 as I was. Maybe he was not quite as bad. I don't know if he was wondering whether the contents of his stomach would make it to the end of the first run. I was, and I think Bailey and Marsha and Angela were right there with me. Have I mentioned Angela? She is another paddler parent. We paddler parents suffer together during Team Trials and understand each other. I mention Angela specifically because she spoke for all of us paddler parents that day. The first time I saw Angela on day 3 she said something appropriate; not good morning, not great weather, not awesome crowd today. She said, "One more #$@ %&*< day of trials." I understood.
Angela's son Bug did well that day and will be competing in the final race with Benn, so Angela felt better. Benn put the rest of us at ease quickly. His first run was good enough to make the second one irrelevant. He won by a large margin.
I think Dave caught the fever. It's not just how much Dave enjoyed the race that makes me think so. It is that I'm sitting here a few days after Trials looking at Dave's car parked in front of my house. Benn's car is gone and two boats are gone. I think Benn took Dave to paddle for his first time. I can't wait to hear how it went.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Kryptonite
Krypton and Kedron have a lot of the same letters. I say that for a reason that I'll reveal shortly. First a quick update. Benn is in Charlotte training for the US Olympic Team Trials which will be held there April 12th through 14th. Davis set a school record in the Hammer at University of Illinois. Those two public service announcements are actually a good lead in to an explanation of the initial reference.
While Benn was living at home and paddling whitewater slalom, I also got a beat up old boat and started racing too. Then while Davis was home and making heavy stuff land great distances from a ring, I also picked that up. Consequently Addie has been asking me for some time now when I would start swimming with her. I finally ran out of excuses.
Yesterday Addie took me to swim at the Krypton Fieldhouse Swimming Pool. People who are from that planet seem to flourish there. There was a guy in the lane next to us who was high in the water, making strokes with very little effort, looking ridiculously smooth and swimming so fast I think I could have water skied behind him. It didn't work like that for me.
Coach Addie told me that my warm up consisted of 100 free and 50 kick. That's Kryptonese for 4 laps swimming freestyle, which is the only style I know anyway. Then two laps just kicking while holding on to the floatie thingy, which turns out to be called a kick board. Technically I never actually finished the warm up. I did okay on the 100 free.
When it came time to do the 50 kick, I grabbed the flo... um kick board and shoved hard off the wall, feeling the swift flow of water over my body. I kicked like a mad man. I worked it hard and fast. I gave it everything I had. I just knew I was keeping up with Addie. After all I am much taller and stronger. Quickly however I lost touch with the swift water feeling around my body. Remembering I had on goggles I decided to open my eyes and look. I couldn't tell much. I'm not used to looking at the pool bottom through goggles. We don't do that on my planet. I just kept kicking hard with determination. I was sort of surprised to see a tadpole swimming on the bottom nearly matching my pace.
After a few more kicks I realized that the black spot wasn't a tadpole after all, and I had been looking at it since I first opened my eyes. I wasn't moving. I was getting a great cardio workout. I don't remember ever feeling like I was sweating in water before, but there you have it. The Krypton Pool might as well have been 25 miles long instead of 25 yards. I wasn't getting there.
Coach Addie insisted that we try it again, and again, and again until I finished. I didn't finish. It's going to take a while I think. She did finally decide we should move on though. We moved on to something easy, Butterfly. Swimming is about as natural to me as flying. I have just as many wings as I have gills, just as many feathers as scales. Swimming Butterfly is probably slightly harder than when Icarus flew too close to the sun. And that kick, Dolphin Kick? I don't even eat Dolphin. Why would I try to kick like one. I did make a little progress when Coach Addie told me my butt needs to breathe during the dolphin kick. I didn't quite get what she meant but I was glad she understood that some part of me needed to breathe. My shabby butt was hanging on the side of the pool huffing and puffing after every lap.
Coach Addie is pretty good. She did help me as much as I am probably capable of being helped. She really has to correct one flaw in her coaching however. She stopped me once to give a pointer before I finished a lap. I stopped to listen quickly realizing I was in the deep end well over my head and completely done in with not much chance of restarting now. I starting seeing the bright light. Do you have any idea how hard it is to walk to the end of the pool on the bottom when you're butt is dying for air? She should probably let me get to the end of the pool before coaching.
I have to finish and just say next week we're going to work on freestyle and breast stroke. I promised her one day a week. I can't type much more today though because my arms are cramping and I have to stop to rest every few words. I have a plan for the warm up next week though. I'm going to take a belt and tie on a couple of extra floatie thingies.
While Benn was living at home and paddling whitewater slalom, I also got a beat up old boat and started racing too. Then while Davis was home and making heavy stuff land great distances from a ring, I also picked that up. Consequently Addie has been asking me for some time now when I would start swimming with her. I finally ran out of excuses.
Yesterday Addie took me to swim at the Krypton Fieldhouse Swimming Pool. People who are from that planet seem to flourish there. There was a guy in the lane next to us who was high in the water, making strokes with very little effort, looking ridiculously smooth and swimming so fast I think I could have water skied behind him. It didn't work like that for me.
Coach Addie told me that my warm up consisted of 100 free and 50 kick. That's Kryptonese for 4 laps swimming freestyle, which is the only style I know anyway. Then two laps just kicking while holding on to the floatie thingy, which turns out to be called a kick board. Technically I never actually finished the warm up. I did okay on the 100 free.
When it came time to do the 50 kick, I grabbed the flo... um kick board and shoved hard off the wall, feeling the swift flow of water over my body. I kicked like a mad man. I worked it hard and fast. I gave it everything I had. I just knew I was keeping up with Addie. After all I am much taller and stronger. Quickly however I lost touch with the swift water feeling around my body. Remembering I had on goggles I decided to open my eyes and look. I couldn't tell much. I'm not used to looking at the pool bottom through goggles. We don't do that on my planet. I just kept kicking hard with determination. I was sort of surprised to see a tadpole swimming on the bottom nearly matching my pace.
After a few more kicks I realized that the black spot wasn't a tadpole after all, and I had been looking at it since I first opened my eyes. I wasn't moving. I was getting a great cardio workout. I don't remember ever feeling like I was sweating in water before, but there you have it. The Krypton Pool might as well have been 25 miles long instead of 25 yards. I wasn't getting there.
Coach Addie insisted that we try it again, and again, and again until I finished. I didn't finish. It's going to take a while I think. She did finally decide we should move on though. We moved on to something easy, Butterfly. Swimming is about as natural to me as flying. I have just as many wings as I have gills, just as many feathers as scales. Swimming Butterfly is probably slightly harder than when Icarus flew too close to the sun. And that kick, Dolphin Kick? I don't even eat Dolphin. Why would I try to kick like one. I did make a little progress when Coach Addie told me my butt needs to breathe during the dolphin kick. I didn't quite get what she meant but I was glad she understood that some part of me needed to breathe. My shabby butt was hanging on the side of the pool huffing and puffing after every lap.
Coach Addie is pretty good. She did help me as much as I am probably capable of being helped. She really has to correct one flaw in her coaching however. She stopped me once to give a pointer before I finished a lap. I stopped to listen quickly realizing I was in the deep end well over my head and completely done in with not much chance of restarting now. I starting seeing the bright light. Do you have any idea how hard it is to walk to the end of the pool on the bottom when you're butt is dying for air? She should probably let me get to the end of the pool before coaching.
I have to finish and just say next week we're going to work on freestyle and breast stroke. I promised her one day a week. I can't type much more today though because my arms are cramping and I have to stop to rest every few words. I have a plan for the warm up next week though. I'm going to take a belt and tie on a couple of extra floatie thingies.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Citius Altius Fifty-ish
I don't know how many of you are familiar with the phrase Citius, Altius Fortius. It is in fact the Olympic motto and is Latin for faster higher stronger. Since I mentioned the Olympics, I suppose by now that everybody knows Benn won the Pan Am Games and thereby qualified a C1 slot for Team USA in the Olympics. First box checked. Now he needs to win the spot for himself. Stay tuned.
That is not actually why I mentioned the Olympic motto. I did so to lead into what I did this past weekend. I went to the USA Track and Field Masters National Indoor Meet. The motto there is somewhat different depending on who you ask. Some will say it is, "Slower, Lower Weaker." Others say, "Older Slower Lower." Either way it is the perfect motto for a track meet where you might see studly thirty year old competitors who could have even competed in Olympic trials four years ago. Then in the very next competition you might see ninety year olds who...well...probably didn't.
I have a 72 year old friend who throws in almost every throwing event. She has a 93 year old friend who throws at least the shot put. I know because I saw her set a US National Age group record. I also watched a group of six 80 to 84 year old men get down in the starting blocks for a 60 meter dash. Just as I was wondering if they would be able to get up, the gun sounded and they made their way at various speeds to the finish line. I have to admit that the photo finish between the two leaders was pretty exciting and way faster than I would have guessed. I find that more than interesting, maybe even inspiring, but not the best part of the meet.
The best part of the meet is that I, at 53 years old, can surround myself with serious competitors in a variety of events, not just how fast is your 5k time. I train. I learn new skills and new events. I go to compete, and I am serious about it. Did you suppose the fire in my kids bellies was spontaneous combustion? Let me put that notion to rest. My kids were raised on the sparks of their parent's competitive embers which may have cooled a bit over the years but now that I have found track and field heaven, will never die. And I would not be able to rest if I didn't mention here that they got a double dose. I am no more competitive than Marsha, although she has yet to bring home three medals from nationals. Oops, there goes that competitiveness again.
Marsha went with me and was my wing man. We had a great time. She even gave me some coaching during the 25 pound weight throw. She at one point gave me the following technical advice, "Get your head out of your ^$$ and throw it farther." And I did. That's my girl.
I didn't bring home any gold. Maybe next year. I took silver in both the 25 pound weight throw and the 56 pound weight throw and I took bronze in the shot put. I heard a phrase while I was getting warmed up for the 56 pound weight throw. Somebody reminded a friend that, "At your age there is a brief window between warmed up and worn out." When all my good throws turned out to be in the warm up and I could barely lift my arms for the competition throws, I realized what he meant. I pretty much shattered the window with my warm up throws. Lesson learned, don't warm up for the 56 pound weight throw.
Here's the cool thing though so that I leave you with some understanding. One guy threw the shot almost 2 meters farther than I did, but I encouraged him to throw farther. Another guy got ahead of me with a 13.15m throw. I answered and jumped ahead of him into second place with 13.19m. He followed with a 13.18m throw. All the while we encouraged each other and both worked hard to win. He finally put it away with a 13.5m pop that I had to be proud of him for. Afterwards we introduced our families. How cool is that? Two guys in their 50s can compete very seriously with each other. I can't say I loved finishing third, but it could have been worse. I can say that I loved competing with that guy and hope to see him next year. The same goes for those other guys in all three events. I have a renewed passion for competition.
So do you think that Benn will have enough Fraker mojo to carry him through what he has to do over the next few months? The spark is there. It all comes down to keeping his head out of his ^$$.
That is not actually why I mentioned the Olympic motto. I did so to lead into what I did this past weekend. I went to the USA Track and Field Masters National Indoor Meet. The motto there is somewhat different depending on who you ask. Some will say it is, "Slower, Lower Weaker." Others say, "Older Slower Lower." Either way it is the perfect motto for a track meet where you might see studly thirty year old competitors who could have even competed in Olympic trials four years ago. Then in the very next competition you might see ninety year olds who...well...probably didn't.
I have a 72 year old friend who throws in almost every throwing event. She has a 93 year old friend who throws at least the shot put. I know because I saw her set a US National Age group record. I also watched a group of six 80 to 84 year old men get down in the starting blocks for a 60 meter dash. Just as I was wondering if they would be able to get up, the gun sounded and they made their way at various speeds to the finish line. I have to admit that the photo finish between the two leaders was pretty exciting and way faster than I would have guessed. I find that more than interesting, maybe even inspiring, but not the best part of the meet.
The best part of the meet is that I, at 53 years old, can surround myself with serious competitors in a variety of events, not just how fast is your 5k time. I train. I learn new skills and new events. I go to compete, and I am serious about it. Did you suppose the fire in my kids bellies was spontaneous combustion? Let me put that notion to rest. My kids were raised on the sparks of their parent's competitive embers which may have cooled a bit over the years but now that I have found track and field heaven, will never die. And I would not be able to rest if I didn't mention here that they got a double dose. I am no more competitive than Marsha, although she has yet to bring home three medals from nationals. Oops, there goes that competitiveness again.
Marsha went with me and was my wing man. We had a great time. She even gave me some coaching during the 25 pound weight throw. She at one point gave me the following technical advice, "Get your head out of your ^$$ and throw it farther." And I did. That's my girl.
I didn't bring home any gold. Maybe next year. I took silver in both the 25 pound weight throw and the 56 pound weight throw and I took bronze in the shot put. I heard a phrase while I was getting warmed up for the 56 pound weight throw. Somebody reminded a friend that, "At your age there is a brief window between warmed up and worn out." When all my good throws turned out to be in the warm up and I could barely lift my arms for the competition throws, I realized what he meant. I pretty much shattered the window with my warm up throws. Lesson learned, don't warm up for the 56 pound weight throw.
Here's the cool thing though so that I leave you with some understanding. One guy threw the shot almost 2 meters farther than I did, but I encouraged him to throw farther. Another guy got ahead of me with a 13.15m throw. I answered and jumped ahead of him into second place with 13.19m. He followed with a 13.18m throw. All the while we encouraged each other and both worked hard to win. He finally put it away with a 13.5m pop that I had to be proud of him for. Afterwards we introduced our families. How cool is that? Two guys in their 50s can compete very seriously with each other. I can't say I loved finishing third, but it could have been worse. I can say that I loved competing with that guy and hope to see him next year. The same goes for those other guys in all three events. I have a renewed passion for competition.
So do you think that Benn will have enough Fraker mojo to carry him through what he has to do over the next few months? The spark is there. It all comes down to keeping his head out of his ^$$.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Nerd
I'm a nerd. Yes it's true. Nerds come in a variety of types and some of us are not as obvious as others. I for instance may be among the more subtle ones. It's not because I was a math major in college. It's not because my job is in Information technology. It's not because I carry two cell phones almost all the time and one is in a case on my belt. It's not because I am excited about my daughter being involved in Science Olympiad. It's not because I'll happily sacrifice a night out with the guys from work to come home and play angry birds with Addie.
I don't know how to write this but there is or should be a brief pause here as I adjust to the shock of discovery that I'm not subtle after all. I'm eat up with nerdiness. "Eat up with" is a southern redneck phrase meaning consumed with or totally committed to. Example uses are; my house is eat up with termites (not really). My sister is eat up with the idea of growing her own organic food (really).
At any rate you may be wondering why I brought up my nerdiness. Last night we were visiting my sister and Davis called. My brand new refurb IPhone 4 which I am still learning how to use chirped with the cricket ring tone I've chosen. Since we were at Debbie's house he wanted to see the house and see everybody and see the baby chickens, ducks and guineas that Debbie is raising in the house (she's a nerd too). So he said, "Give me a minute to put some pants on and we can face time." I didn't think about the pants thing until later when it became clear that he was calling from the locker room. At any rate the face time thing was a fail on my phone. I still don't know why, but it worked on Marsha's phone. At the time I took that to mean I'm not eat up with nerdiness. You have born witness to the changing of that tide.
I got an email from Benn this morning. That's on the other phone, the Blackberry. No I don't plan to receive my email on the iPhone to combine the two. We've already established who I am. Benn is in Brazil. This trip is for a race that an American has to win. Winning this race means the US will have a C1 Olympic slot. Not winning means no American goes to the Olympics in C1. Of course Benn wants to be that American who qualifies the spot. Assuming an American wins this race, the next big race will be for the Americans to compete to see who gets to fill the slot.
I saw the red flashy light on the blackberry while I was washing the dishes and grabbed it to find an email from Benn. I sat down and answered his email. He's probably thinking what a nerd I am for answering so quickly.
Benn has a week to go in Brazil. It's not the fun Brazil on the east coast. It's the rain forest jungle Brazil on the west side. There is a job to do and Benn went there to do it. Sounds harsh and surprising for a guy who does his thing paddling a canoe, but that is truly how it is this time. I am confident that he can get the job done, but I, the nerd, am keeping both phones close while he's gone to make sure I don't miss a word of news that I might be able to get while he's there. I sort of hope though he doesn't try to face time with me till I get that figured out.
I don't know how to write this but there is or should be a brief pause here as I adjust to the shock of discovery that I'm not subtle after all. I'm eat up with nerdiness. "Eat up with" is a southern redneck phrase meaning consumed with or totally committed to. Example uses are; my house is eat up with termites (not really). My sister is eat up with the idea of growing her own organic food (really).
At any rate you may be wondering why I brought up my nerdiness. Last night we were visiting my sister and Davis called. My brand new refurb IPhone 4 which I am still learning how to use chirped with the cricket ring tone I've chosen. Since we were at Debbie's house he wanted to see the house and see everybody and see the baby chickens, ducks and guineas that Debbie is raising in the house (she's a nerd too). So he said, "Give me a minute to put some pants on and we can face time." I didn't think about the pants thing until later when it became clear that he was calling from the locker room. At any rate the face time thing was a fail on my phone. I still don't know why, but it worked on Marsha's phone. At the time I took that to mean I'm not eat up with nerdiness. You have born witness to the changing of that tide.
I got an email from Benn this morning. That's on the other phone, the Blackberry. No I don't plan to receive my email on the iPhone to combine the two. We've already established who I am. Benn is in Brazil. This trip is for a race that an American has to win. Winning this race means the US will have a C1 Olympic slot. Not winning means no American goes to the Olympics in C1. Of course Benn wants to be that American who qualifies the spot. Assuming an American wins this race, the next big race will be for the Americans to compete to see who gets to fill the slot.
I saw the red flashy light on the blackberry while I was washing the dishes and grabbed it to find an email from Benn. I sat down and answered his email. He's probably thinking what a nerd I am for answering so quickly.
Benn has a week to go in Brazil. It's not the fun Brazil on the east coast. It's the rain forest jungle Brazil on the west side. There is a job to do and Benn went there to do it. Sounds harsh and surprising for a guy who does his thing paddling a canoe, but that is truly how it is this time. I am confident that he can get the job done, but I, the nerd, am keeping both phones close while he's gone to make sure I don't miss a word of news that I might be able to get while he's there. I sort of hope though he doesn't try to face time with me till I get that figured out.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Austalian Open
"I race this weekend," was all I heard. Marsha heard, "I race on Bailey's birthday." we weren't sure what that meant. I'm usually on the ball better. I know all the ins and outs of finding Benn's race dates and times no matter what country he's in. I even the websites where results and live feeds can be found. I've followed results in Slovenian language before when all I could read was the names. This time I missed it.
The phone rang as we were turning off the lights Thursday night. It was Benn. He was calling because he was sure we had seen the results of the qualifying runs and wanted to enjoy it with us. He had already raced on Friday morning. He had a good day and we didn't even know he had a day yet. Darn those Australians for getting the days all screwed up. Did you know they set their clocks like 16 hours ahead of ours? I've heard of trying to be on time before but that's just crazy. Anyway Benn had a good qualifier and was going into the Semifinals in 5th place. He said it felt like when he was really on his game going into the 2008 Olympics. Good timing.
They advanced 30 boats to the Semifinals and previous runs don't counts, so anything can happen. We had an appointment at the bank at 4 oclock Friday and Marsha said she had found the start list and Benn was racing at 4:37. That was sort of odd since his race was Saturday morning. I was still struggling with that. But it meant we needed to hurry at the bank in order to get home and watch the live video feed. We made it. He had the fastest raw time in the semifinal but a touch, which means a 2 second penalty. that was still plenty to qualify him for the final in 5th place.
Again the final also is a fresh start but only the top ten boats. Between me and watching the final was Addie's basketball practice that lasted till 6:30, a pizza pick up and a drive home. Addie and I walked in the door as the German in front of Benn was finishing his run and Benn was in the starting gate. His run was fast and clean. clean means he didn't touch any gates, so no penalties. the run put him in second place. One guy later dropped Benn to third but he held that going into the last boat who just happened to be two time Olympic gold medalist Tony Estanget of France. Tony has messed up before, but it's rare. This was not one of those times. Benn got knocked off the podium and finished in 4th place.
Don't read that the wrong way. I am thrilled with the race. It means Benn had a great warm up race against a very strong field prior to the start of the races that count. He raced at a high quality and was clearly focused and when we talked to him thursday/friday, he was happy. I call that a success. And I don't have to spend a sleepless night looking for results. It's nice to go to bed Friday night already knowing what happened on Saturday. My only remaining question is this. Who got the birthday present on Bailey's birthday? Maybe me.
The phone rang as we were turning off the lights Thursday night. It was Benn. He was calling because he was sure we had seen the results of the qualifying runs and wanted to enjoy it with us. He had already raced on Friday morning. He had a good day and we didn't even know he had a day yet. Darn those Australians for getting the days all screwed up. Did you know they set their clocks like 16 hours ahead of ours? I've heard of trying to be on time before but that's just crazy. Anyway Benn had a good qualifier and was going into the Semifinals in 5th place. He said it felt like when he was really on his game going into the 2008 Olympics. Good timing.
They advanced 30 boats to the Semifinals and previous runs don't counts, so anything can happen. We had an appointment at the bank at 4 oclock Friday and Marsha said she had found the start list and Benn was racing at 4:37. That was sort of odd since his race was Saturday morning. I was still struggling with that. But it meant we needed to hurry at the bank in order to get home and watch the live video feed. We made it. He had the fastest raw time in the semifinal but a touch, which means a 2 second penalty. that was still plenty to qualify him for the final in 5th place.
Again the final also is a fresh start but only the top ten boats. Between me and watching the final was Addie's basketball practice that lasted till 6:30, a pizza pick up and a drive home. Addie and I walked in the door as the German in front of Benn was finishing his run and Benn was in the starting gate. His run was fast and clean. clean means he didn't touch any gates, so no penalties. the run put him in second place. One guy later dropped Benn to third but he held that going into the last boat who just happened to be two time Olympic gold medalist Tony Estanget of France. Tony has messed up before, but it's rare. This was not one of those times. Benn got knocked off the podium and finished in 4th place.
Don't read that the wrong way. I am thrilled with the race. It means Benn had a great warm up race against a very strong field prior to the start of the races that count. He raced at a high quality and was clearly focused and when we talked to him thursday/friday, he was happy. I call that a success. And I don't have to spend a sleepless night looking for results. It's nice to go to bed Friday night already knowing what happened on Saturday. My only remaining question is this. Who got the birthday present on Bailey's birthday? Maybe me.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Super Powers
One of my favorite superheroes has powers that do not include leaping tall buildings, propelling a canoe quickly and precisely through rapids that would terrify the average mortal, or launching heavy objects further than the average mortal. Her powers in the cerebral realm, include the ability to perform mental tasks exceeding the average mortal.
She demonstrated those powers this past Saturday at a Science Olympiad event held at Booth Middle School. Ordinary sixth grade mortals were at home watching Phenius and Ferb like me. She loves that academic stuff. She in fact recently was overheard saying, "I wonder what it's like to not make all A's."
That's quite a different attitude from her oldest brother Benn. In middle school his attitude was that any grade higher than an 89.5 demonstrated waisted effort. Brother Davis followed Benn to middle school and elevated that attitude to an art form. In his academic philosophy any grade that rounded up to more than a C was waisted effort. I think I caught him once putting forth extra effort to pull down and average that somehow edged up into the B range.
Speaking of my other two superheroes, Davis recently demonstrated his vulnerability by having to deal with an anatomical malady. He called and said he has a "Pilo-something Cyst." "Pile of what cyst," I asked? He said that was close and I should google or you tube it, but not too close to meal time. Turns out it was a Pilonidal Cyst and I'll spare you details as they are just as gross as my initial mispronunciation might bring to mind if your imagination is as twisted as mine. He did however heroically endure lancing the cyst without anesthesia while lying on a table in the track training room, a table whose edges under his hands turned to pil-o-sawdust on the floor.
I should get back to the cerebral hero however. She had a really good day at Science Olympiad. It was a lot like a track meet where there are no big sweaty guys growling as they heave heavy objects. It was a lot like a canoe race where there is no danger of cracking your boat or face on a rock or getting caught in a hydraulic. Okay, no, it was nothing like either of those except in that it was intense competition but of a vastly different kind performed by a mostly different kind of kid.
Addie, in fact, is very like her brothers in her competitiveness. She is not prone to scream intensely and gutturally during Science Olympiad competition like Davis has done at times throwing shot put. She does approach the academic intensity with which Benn studies currents and flows and surges and pole hieghts and placement and stroke placement and rock locations, but she doesn't end up wet.
Like the boys, she does love to win. And she did. She came home with three ribbons. I won't claim of course that she was the only kid to do very well that morning, but that doesn't matter. I saw the movie and know that there is more than one Green Lantern in the universe. That makes him no less a superhero and applies to her as well. He had a cool ring, which is not bad. I'll bet he didn't have three ribbons.
She demonstrated those powers this past Saturday at a Science Olympiad event held at Booth Middle School. Ordinary sixth grade mortals were at home watching Phenius and Ferb like me. She loves that academic stuff. She in fact recently was overheard saying, "I wonder what it's like to not make all A's."
That's quite a different attitude from her oldest brother Benn. In middle school his attitude was that any grade higher than an 89.5 demonstrated waisted effort. Brother Davis followed Benn to middle school and elevated that attitude to an art form. In his academic philosophy any grade that rounded up to more than a C was waisted effort. I think I caught him once putting forth extra effort to pull down and average that somehow edged up into the B range.
Speaking of my other two superheroes, Davis recently demonstrated his vulnerability by having to deal with an anatomical malady. He called and said he has a "Pilo-something Cyst." "Pile of what cyst," I asked? He said that was close and I should google or you tube it, but not too close to meal time. Turns out it was a Pilonidal Cyst and I'll spare you details as they are just as gross as my initial mispronunciation might bring to mind if your imagination is as twisted as mine. He did however heroically endure lancing the cyst without anesthesia while lying on a table in the track training room, a table whose edges under his hands turned to pil-o-sawdust on the floor.
I should get back to the cerebral hero however. She had a really good day at Science Olympiad. It was a lot like a track meet where there are no big sweaty guys growling as they heave heavy objects. It was a lot like a canoe race where there is no danger of cracking your boat or face on a rock or getting caught in a hydraulic. Okay, no, it was nothing like either of those except in that it was intense competition but of a vastly different kind performed by a mostly different kind of kid.
Addie, in fact, is very like her brothers in her competitiveness. She is not prone to scream intensely and gutturally during Science Olympiad competition like Davis has done at times throwing shot put. She does approach the academic intensity with which Benn studies currents and flows and surges and pole hieghts and placement and stroke placement and rock locations, but she doesn't end up wet.
Like the boys, she does love to win. And she did. She came home with three ribbons. I won't claim of course that she was the only kid to do very well that morning, but that doesn't matter. I saw the movie and know that there is more than one Green Lantern in the universe. That makes him no less a superhero and applies to her as well. He had a cool ring, which is not bad. I'll bet he didn't have three ribbons.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
A Taste of Champaign
We visited the storage facility this weekend to check on the spare emergency child. Everything was fine. I understand why the University of Illinois is such a good storage facility. It's too cold for anything to spoil. When we descended below the clouds on arrival looking out the window gave the appearance of landing in my freezer, except that there's no room for a runway in my freezer. I struggle to find room for a new carton of ice cream in my freezer. That is unless I throw away one of the old partially eaten cartons of ice cream with freezer burn. That would be a breach of family tradition, so I just continue to struggle.
Oh, back to landing in the freezer, the difference was that when we landed we found out that our freezer is actually warmer than it was that day in Illinois. The rental car started. Midwesterners clearly know more about winterizing a car than I do. Had it been my car we might have just waited till Spring.
We dropped our bags at the hotel and picked up Davis just outside the storage unit on the way to find something to eat. Davis had eaten but the rest of us were hungry. Just between us, I am the only member of our immediate family who is even remotely pleasant when hungry. I think the appropriate term for angry about being hungry is hangry.
When we parked at the restaurant we took the time to hug quickly and briefly before going inside(remember the temperature). Davis gave Marsha and Addie "pick up" hugs. It's been a while since little boy Davis was able to get a pick up hug so I stepped up. I wasn't able to bounce him or swing him like a few years ago and frankly my back might need some time before I step up again. Once inside we ate. We talked. We made sure Davis wasn't getting dusty or mildewed in storage. We checked Davis over for freezer burn, and we made plans for what all we'd do over the next two days before putting him back in storage for a few more weeks.
Guess what happened shortly after Davis finished throwing in the track meet. Even though I'm a technology guy, this kind of stuff still amazes me. We were sitting in the bleachers in Illinois and Benn called from Australia. While I talked to him on my phone we all started walking to a nearby stairwell and Marsha downloaded Skype to her i-phone. Once in the stairwell the whole family Skyped from opposite sides of the planet and a difference of roughly 70 degrees in temperature. I was afraid it wouldn't work at first, not because of the technology. I work with that stuff all the time and know that it's just magic. What I was afraid wouldn't work was fitting a majestic Fraker head into that itty bitty i-phone screen. Yes the kids are headsize gifted too. When the four of us stand together we look like Mt. Frakemore. On the plus side, Marsha never lacks for shade when she's with one of us. We just stood a little further from the phone and it all worked out.
We're home now and back in the routine. We miss Davis already and even with the magic of Skype we never really stopped missing Benn. It was great to spend time with Davis and have an awesome trans-global family talk except for those darn noisy birds in the tree Benn was under. We didn't have any problem with birds in the freezer. By the way Benn posted a new blog too at paddlinglife.net with some great pictures from Bailey.
Oh, back to landing in the freezer, the difference was that when we landed we found out that our freezer is actually warmer than it was that day in Illinois. The rental car started. Midwesterners clearly know more about winterizing a car than I do. Had it been my car we might have just waited till Spring.
We dropped our bags at the hotel and picked up Davis just outside the storage unit on the way to find something to eat. Davis had eaten but the rest of us were hungry. Just between us, I am the only member of our immediate family who is even remotely pleasant when hungry. I think the appropriate term for angry about being hungry is hangry.
When we parked at the restaurant we took the time to hug quickly and briefly before going inside(remember the temperature). Davis gave Marsha and Addie "pick up" hugs. It's been a while since little boy Davis was able to get a pick up hug so I stepped up. I wasn't able to bounce him or swing him like a few years ago and frankly my back might need some time before I step up again. Once inside we ate. We talked. We made sure Davis wasn't getting dusty or mildewed in storage. We checked Davis over for freezer burn, and we made plans for what all we'd do over the next two days before putting him back in storage for a few more weeks.
Guess what happened shortly after Davis finished throwing in the track meet. Even though I'm a technology guy, this kind of stuff still amazes me. We were sitting in the bleachers in Illinois and Benn called from Australia. While I talked to him on my phone we all started walking to a nearby stairwell and Marsha downloaded Skype to her i-phone. Once in the stairwell the whole family Skyped from opposite sides of the planet and a difference of roughly 70 degrees in temperature. I was afraid it wouldn't work at first, not because of the technology. I work with that stuff all the time and know that it's just magic. What I was afraid wouldn't work was fitting a majestic Fraker head into that itty bitty i-phone screen. Yes the kids are headsize gifted too. When the four of us stand together we look like Mt. Frakemore. On the plus side, Marsha never lacks for shade when she's with one of us. We just stood a little further from the phone and it all worked out.
We're home now and back in the routine. We miss Davis already and even with the magic of Skype we never really stopped missing Benn. It was great to spend time with Davis and have an awesome trans-global family talk except for those darn noisy birds in the tree Benn was under. We didn't have any problem with birds in the freezer. By the way Benn posted a new blog too at paddlinglife.net with some great pictures from Bailey.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Man Card
Leaving the Gym tonight I heard a man and woman talking about plans. I think he was asking her out. She asked if there was some sports event going on. I don't know why she asked but he didn't answer. She pressed it and he had to answer that he thought there was a football game. I hated to call him out while he was trying to get a date, but I said, "Yeah it's the BCS National Championship Game." He tried to rally by saying, "Oh yeah. I know that. There's an SEC team in that?" I said, "Dude, give me the card." He said, "What?" "Stop pretending and hand over your man card now. You can have this back when you can either tell me the score and some highlights, or man up and admit that you really don't care."
I say all that knowing that Benn is in Australia with probably no idea that the game is even happening. You tell me though. You think you want to pull the man card from the guy in the picture below? Not me. We don't watch football games together, but he'll never pretend. Davis and I do football. We're texting about this game as I type and watch. Since he was just a little guy Benn has earned his man card in lots of other ways. He was as early as 5 years old there with me in one, "place we don't tell Mom about." He's been there with me in a few of those since then.
Saturday was a pretty eventful day. I went to throwing practice. I spent the practice trying to learn a skill that I'm not very good at. Mike, the coach, commented that Tom's going to be sore tomorrow. I said he clearly doesn't understand yet what it means to be 53. Tom's sore everyday. Then I went to Addie's basketball game. Addie is a pretty good player. It's not her best thing. Athletically her best thing ii swimming, but she likes basketball and is on a pretty good team. They were undefeated, but the team they played Saturday had a Heisman Trophy candidate who more or less beat us single handedly. After the game we went for pizza with Kate's mom and Dave. Remember Kate is in France. Brigette, yes she has her own name, and Marsha and I commizerated because it had been so long since we had heard from our globe-trotting kids. Dave said that after going five days without hearing from Kate, Brigette is ready to call the State Department. I understand. Sometimes it's just not enough to track bank account withdrawels. Now and then you want to hear breathing and know that it's coming from your kid.
Low and behold when we got home, Benn and Bailey Skyped us. Benn has been training with an international variety of friends, and Italian, a Frenchman, a Canadian and our buddy Jim from the US. Jim was also with me once in one of those places we don't tell Mom about. He's not just a good slalom racer and training partner for Benn. He's a one time member of the Tom Fraker rescue team and another guy who's man card never in jeopardy.
At any rate training seems to be going well. Bailey seems to be having a good time. Marsha and Addie and I had a great time talking to Benn and Bailey and they took a day off to go to the beach with two car loads of slalom people.
I also got an email from Benn today. Guess what. He's reading this blog. I'm reading his too. He's posting probably a couple of times a month with pictures by Bailey on a blog at paddlinglife.net. Bailey too is struggling with limited internet access to post a photo blog on her site baileygarrot.com. That should give you something to check into if you're man enough to admit that you're not into this game.
I say all that knowing that Benn is in Australia with probably no idea that the game is even happening. You tell me though. You think you want to pull the man card from the guy in the picture below? Not me. We don't watch football games together, but he'll never pretend. Davis and I do football. We're texting about this game as I type and watch. Since he was just a little guy Benn has earned his man card in lots of other ways. He was as early as 5 years old there with me in one, "place we don't tell Mom about." He's been there with me in a few of those since then.
Saturday was a pretty eventful day. I went to throwing practice. I spent the practice trying to learn a skill that I'm not very good at. Mike, the coach, commented that Tom's going to be sore tomorrow. I said he clearly doesn't understand yet what it means to be 53. Tom's sore everyday. Then I went to Addie's basketball game. Addie is a pretty good player. It's not her best thing. Athletically her best thing ii swimming, but she likes basketball and is on a pretty good team. They were undefeated, but the team they played Saturday had a Heisman Trophy candidate who more or less beat us single handedly. After the game we went for pizza with Kate's mom and Dave. Remember Kate is in France. Brigette, yes she has her own name, and Marsha and I commizerated because it had been so long since we had heard from our globe-trotting kids. Dave said that after going five days without hearing from Kate, Brigette is ready to call the State Department. I understand. Sometimes it's just not enough to track bank account withdrawels. Now and then you want to hear breathing and know that it's coming from your kid.
Low and behold when we got home, Benn and Bailey Skyped us. Benn has been training with an international variety of friends, and Italian, a Frenchman, a Canadian and our buddy Jim from the US. Jim was also with me once in one of those places we don't tell Mom about. He's not just a good slalom racer and training partner for Benn. He's a one time member of the Tom Fraker rescue team and another guy who's man card never in jeopardy.
At any rate training seems to be going well. Bailey seems to be having a good time. Marsha and Addie and I had a great time talking to Benn and Bailey and they took a day off to go to the beach with two car loads of slalom people.
I also got an email from Benn today. Guess what. He's reading this blog. I'm reading his too. He's posting probably a couple of times a month with pictures by Bailey on a blog at paddlinglife.net. Bailey too is struggling with limited internet access to post a photo blog on her site baileygarrot.com. That should give you something to check into if you're man enough to admit that you're not into this game.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
A Tale of Two Travelers
I work for an airline. That means my family can fly when seats are available. I have one son who spent his high school years traveling the country to compete in track meets, and now attends college a short plane ride from home. I have another son who for most of a decade has traveled the world to compete in slalom canoe. For me, "will he win" is the second most stressful question of any trip. The first is, "will he get on the flight." We fly stand-by. If the plane is full we stand and say by. Even though both sons have been stranded, spent the night in airports, missed flights, stayed extra days on trips and just aborted trips altogether, Benn and Davis manage the process, with which they are both so experienced, in very different ways. I'll demonstrate with stories of their most recent flying experiences.
Davis called me on Dec 20th and said, "How does the last flight of the day look tomorrow?" He asked about one, not flights, not days, just that one. It looked fine. Naturally it would look fine for Davis. As is his habit he left at what I would call the last possible minute for the airport. He called me from his truck to tell me it wouldn't start. At first it was turning over but now just clicking. I told him his battery was dead. He decided to call a friend with jumper cables to get him started. He decided Future Davis could worry about the battery after Christmas. When the truck cranked he first noticed that the dome light came on, left on from the previous night. He second noticed that the gas tank was empty, also left so from last night. Of course he already knew then that he would leave at the last possible minute and have to fill it anyway, but no big deal. He's Davis. Now after waiting and jumping his truck well beyond the last possible minute, he still had to get gas. His friend followed him to be sure it cranked again.
A few minutes later Davis called again and said he was on the way. "How's the flight look? I think I can make it if I hurry." I said, "The flight looks soon, but there are still seats. I'm going to hang up so you can focus on not getting pulled over. That kind of ticket won't help you get on the flight." He said, "Wait! I forgot my confirmation number." I knew that already. He is Davis and that's what he does. I had it in my hand, and texted it to him, because I am Tom and that's what I do. He texted a few minutes later and said, "I got my ticket." I replied that I hoped he meant a seat. He had arrived at the very small Bloomington, IL airport and charmed the ticket agent into letting him check a bag, just a tiny bit late, smiled at her again while she, the same one, worked the departure gate, and waved at her as she threw his bag through the cargo door of the aircraft. I told you its a small airport, but I do think a couple of other people work there too. Davis made it home on a smile and a prayer due in no part to his own diligence. The smile was his. The prayer was mine.
I didn't set out to be that guy who has the confirmation number ready, who worries his kids onto flights. It's not Davis's fault I'm that way. I suppose its mine but I never once said as a kid, "I want to be that guy." I wanted to be a superhero. In the third grade I wanted to be super strong and to be super fast and to be able to fly. I turned out to be that guy who sits at home and frets about his kids getting on the flight.
So by contrast Benn asked in November, "How do flights from Atlanta to Sydney look near New Years Eve or New Years day? He figured those would be easy travel days. Being that guy I checked them weekly and then daily till Dec 30th. Suddenly there were large numbers of other stand-by travelers also on the flights and most with higher priority than his. And his girlfriend Bailey was trying to go with him with a lower priority than his. None of that made me feel better and it stressed Benn completely. He could still get on but barely and he was worried about it. He had been beaten into diligence by years of disappointments, set-backs and various stressful travel occurrences. Davis wouldn't recognize a beating if it... well beat him.
At any rate Benn suggested I look at earlier flights that day. Some of me was wearing off on him. Sure enough those large numbers of stand-bys grew geometrically on the earlier flights and would roll to his. He would not get on. He decided to go for the first flight of the day, good training from Dad. Bailey came over and we got up to leave for the airport at 5AM. I prepared him for the worst and even gave him a pre-scouted list of alternative routes if he didn't get on. He appreciated it, but he was already in that stressful frame of mind. We made it to the airport early. He had his confirmation number, and Bailey's. By the time I got back home I logged onto the system and saw that Benn had a seat but Bailey looked to be number 14 waiting for 5 seats. Remember diligence though. That's why you go for the first flight of the day. People "no show." Both Benn and Bailey eventually got seat assignments and experience finally told Benn he could relax.
If experience knows what's good for it, it won't tell him that again. When he ran his boarding pass through the scanner it failed. He somehow disappeared from the list. Software bug? Gate agent error? Or just another beating? In the last minute frenzy of boarding, last minute passengers running to the gate to find boarding complete and doors closing, nobody fixed it. Benn didn't get on.
He spent a few brief minutes being devastated and telling Bailey via cell phone that he'd get there. Then the mental and physical training of an elite athlete paid off. He focused. The next flight was about to start boarding on concourse A. Benn was on concourse E. Have you been to the Atlanta airport. A and E are in different counties, the National Weather Service issues different weather forecasts for them, they are... What I'm trying to say is it was really far. Benn ran. I was still that guy and still checking. I texted him his seat assignment for the next flight before he even got to the gate. Yes. He made it and got a seat and is in Australia now for warm weather winter training.
Davis is back at school. The return for Davis was less eventful. That's because I was there to organize and drive. Neither Benn or Davis has to fly again for a while. I can relax. I don't worry about them while they are away. They are big boys and make good decisions. I just worry about them while they travel. Will they get on the flight? If I had my way back in the third grade I would now be able to pick them up with my super strength and fly them where they need to be and do so very fast. Oh well. Instead I'll just wait for Benn's next beating and see what I can do to help.
Davis called me on Dec 20th and said, "How does the last flight of the day look tomorrow?" He asked about one, not flights, not days, just that one. It looked fine. Naturally it would look fine for Davis. As is his habit he left at what I would call the last possible minute for the airport. He called me from his truck to tell me it wouldn't start. At first it was turning over but now just clicking. I told him his battery was dead. He decided to call a friend with jumper cables to get him started. He decided Future Davis could worry about the battery after Christmas. When the truck cranked he first noticed that the dome light came on, left on from the previous night. He second noticed that the gas tank was empty, also left so from last night. Of course he already knew then that he would leave at the last possible minute and have to fill it anyway, but no big deal. He's Davis. Now after waiting and jumping his truck well beyond the last possible minute, he still had to get gas. His friend followed him to be sure it cranked again.
A few minutes later Davis called again and said he was on the way. "How's the flight look? I think I can make it if I hurry." I said, "The flight looks soon, but there are still seats. I'm going to hang up so you can focus on not getting pulled over. That kind of ticket won't help you get on the flight." He said, "Wait! I forgot my confirmation number." I knew that already. He is Davis and that's what he does. I had it in my hand, and texted it to him, because I am Tom and that's what I do. He texted a few minutes later and said, "I got my ticket." I replied that I hoped he meant a seat. He had arrived at the very small Bloomington, IL airport and charmed the ticket agent into letting him check a bag, just a tiny bit late, smiled at her again while she, the same one, worked the departure gate, and waved at her as she threw his bag through the cargo door of the aircraft. I told you its a small airport, but I do think a couple of other people work there too. Davis made it home on a smile and a prayer due in no part to his own diligence. The smile was his. The prayer was mine.
I didn't set out to be that guy who has the confirmation number ready, who worries his kids onto flights. It's not Davis's fault I'm that way. I suppose its mine but I never once said as a kid, "I want to be that guy." I wanted to be a superhero. In the third grade I wanted to be super strong and to be super fast and to be able to fly. I turned out to be that guy who sits at home and frets about his kids getting on the flight.
So by contrast Benn asked in November, "How do flights from Atlanta to Sydney look near New Years Eve or New Years day? He figured those would be easy travel days. Being that guy I checked them weekly and then daily till Dec 30th. Suddenly there were large numbers of other stand-by travelers also on the flights and most with higher priority than his. And his girlfriend Bailey was trying to go with him with a lower priority than his. None of that made me feel better and it stressed Benn completely. He could still get on but barely and he was worried about it. He had been beaten into diligence by years of disappointments, set-backs and various stressful travel occurrences. Davis wouldn't recognize a beating if it... well beat him.
At any rate Benn suggested I look at earlier flights that day. Some of me was wearing off on him. Sure enough those large numbers of stand-bys grew geometrically on the earlier flights and would roll to his. He would not get on. He decided to go for the first flight of the day, good training from Dad. Bailey came over and we got up to leave for the airport at 5AM. I prepared him for the worst and even gave him a pre-scouted list of alternative routes if he didn't get on. He appreciated it, but he was already in that stressful frame of mind. We made it to the airport early. He had his confirmation number, and Bailey's. By the time I got back home I logged onto the system and saw that Benn had a seat but Bailey looked to be number 14 waiting for 5 seats. Remember diligence though. That's why you go for the first flight of the day. People "no show." Both Benn and Bailey eventually got seat assignments and experience finally told Benn he could relax.
If experience knows what's good for it, it won't tell him that again. When he ran his boarding pass through the scanner it failed. He somehow disappeared from the list. Software bug? Gate agent error? Or just another beating? In the last minute frenzy of boarding, last minute passengers running to the gate to find boarding complete and doors closing, nobody fixed it. Benn didn't get on.
He spent a few brief minutes being devastated and telling Bailey via cell phone that he'd get there. Then the mental and physical training of an elite athlete paid off. He focused. The next flight was about to start boarding on concourse A. Benn was on concourse E. Have you been to the Atlanta airport. A and E are in different counties, the National Weather Service issues different weather forecasts for them, they are... What I'm trying to say is it was really far. Benn ran. I was still that guy and still checking. I texted him his seat assignment for the next flight before he even got to the gate. Yes. He made it and got a seat and is in Australia now for warm weather winter training.
Davis is back at school. The return for Davis was less eventful. That's because I was there to organize and drive. Neither Benn or Davis has to fly again for a while. I can relax. I don't worry about them while they are away. They are big boys and make good decisions. I just worry about them while they travel. Will they get on the flight? If I had my way back in the third grade I would now be able to pick them up with my super strength and fly them where they need to be and do so very fast. Oh well. Instead I'll just wait for Benn's next beating and see what I can do to help.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)