Gate Guardians, Lifeguards and Gargoyles

So, will the fourth time be the charm? Why would I be asking such a thing? Well, it's been a frustrating few days at the gym. Here's the crazy. 

I often call the Gate Guardians gargoyles. I realize that
gargoyles were not actually guarding the front doors, but the
attitude of some of the front desk people is closer to that of a
gargoyle than a friendly face in the morning. 

It takes two things to swim (not counting the swimmer's individual ability to stay in the water and propel him/her/itself from one end of the pool to the other without drowning). It requires a Gate Guardian and a Lifeguard. On Saturday we were missing the more unusual of the two - the Lifeguard, Beth, was there, but our Gate Guardian was missing. The YMCA was locked up tight. Beth started making phone calls, but as the time passed I just went ahead and left. No swim on Saturday. I later heard that the doors weren't opened until 6:35 am - more than half an hour late. 

I am quite fond of gargoyles on buildings, but when they are in charge
of opening the gym and they don't perform their job, they fall a ways
down on my "favorites" list. 

On Sunday I took the day to be with DH, and we had a delightful day at the Renaissance Festival, even though we had an unseasonable heat wave and it was HOT. Still, I didn't have to worry about swimming on Sunday since it's my day off from the gym. 

On Monday I went to my secondary location because I had a 6:30 am bi-weekly appointment with my Chiropractor. Although the Lifeguard wasn't there when I arrived, Aimee assured me that Greg was one of their more reliable guards and that he'd be there. EXCEPT, it turned out he overslept. We were allowed onto the pool deck, but couldn't actually get into the water until he had arrived, almost 30 minutes late. Because I had an appointment, I only got 15 minutes of swim in - far short of my usual mile. Argh! 

This lovely heron gargoyle is ascribed to be from Notre Dame
Cathedral. I didn't have the chance to drill down and find out
if that's its' true location, but it is quite a lovely and rather
unusual gargoyle. 

So, Tuesday arrived and I was looking forward to returning to a regular schedule. We have a new Gate Guardian on Tuesdays, and she takes offence at being told how to do her job. The fact that the people telling her have been there daily for 20 years or more and probably know her job much better than she does, doesn't seem to make a difference. The Lifeguard hadn't shown up yet, so when she unlocked the door, we asked her if she had called and when one would be there. She said she was there to unlock the door, that she hadn't called at all. WRONG ANSWER! If there's no guard by 10 minutes to the hour, she's supposed to get on that phone and get him/her/it moving. I blew off Tuesday. If she hadn't even called, it would be 30-45 minutes at best until we had a pool in which to swim. Even Rosemary turned around and left, snorting in disgust! 

This lovely array of gargoyles is from Amiens, France. I'd say this
cathedral is certainly protected and that water will be properly
removed from the structure when it rains.  

So today is Day Four. I'm really hoping that I'll have a pool to use today with a Lifeguard and a Gate Guardian who actually knows what they are doing. It would be nice to get back to my usual schedule, but it's going to be a hard workout after this many days off. ARGH! 

Enjoy your Wednesday. I have a ton of stuff to do, just catching up from having to work the last eleven of twelve days. I'll get it done, but it's going to be hectic. Still, at least I finally have a "day off" to do my laundry, grocery shopping, etc. and I really need that. Yippee!