A Lack of Sleep and the Outdoor Pool - At Least it Was a Nice Memorial Holiday Weekend

Once again a sleepless night. I went to bed and to sleep shortly after 9:00 pm, which is exactly on time for me, but my alarm company called with an interior alarm at 11:15. So I grabbed some outside clothes and drove over. This time it was for the front interior motion detector, the past two times it was for the back interior motion detectors, but just as before (and fortunately), it was again probably mice. Time to try and get a handle on the critters' movements and get some traps set up. 

I've had mouse problems in the store before. Our doors 
aren't so tight fitting that they can't squeeze in from 
the outside. Usually we'll have more mouse problems in 
the winter than in the spring and summer - there's more 
for them to eat outside than in the store. Still, they 
are destructive and, if they are setting off my alarm 
system, they're also really annoying me. 

Unfortunately, this time I wasn't able to fall back into a deep sleep. I tossed and turned and finally, shortly after 2:00 am I gave up and listened to some meditations, then read a little bit more in my current e-book. At 2:45 am I finally went ahead, got up, got dressed for the pool, and am settling down to write this before leaving for my first swim in the outdoor pool in more than two years. 

There is a possibility, although a bit more remote, that 
it could be a field mouse instead of a house mouse. 
The ears are a good tell for that. House mice have larger 
more apparent ears than field mice, their eyes are 
also larger. 

I always approach the outdoor pool with respect and a little bit of trepidation. I'm good in the water, I'm certainly not afraid of the pool in the least, but it's quite a different swimming experience in the outdoor pool than in the interior pool. There's something amazing about an Olympic-sized pool, and we'll have swimmers from all over the Metro area coming over to join us. It's always more crowded for the outdoor pool than the much smaller indoor pool. 

At the literal crack of dawn, we're not as busy in the 
outdoor pool as an hour or two later. Also, during 
the middle of the workweek, it won't be as crowded. 
I'm hoping I'll only have to share a lane with a single 
swimmer, but I can chain if I have to. 

Fortunately, not everyone is crazy and wants to be in the water at 5:00 am. We'll have less competition for our time slots, and also I swim on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll miss the weekend group as well. All things considered, I'm lucky. But I'm not going to be at my best today with less than three hours of sleep. Still ... it's swimming, it's the outdoor pool, and I have a good book that I'm listening to, so it's not all bad. 

"The Halfling's Gem" is the sixth book 
in R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'Urden 
series. It's always fun to listen to a 
good book while swimming - it makes 
the laps go faster, at least for me. I've 
tried music in the past, but found I was 
changing my stroke to meet the 
rhythm of each piece. Counterproductive 
to say the least. Books don't have that 
problem. 

I hope all of you had an excellent Memorial Day weekend. We cooked burgers on the grill on Sunday and steaks on Monday, and I have plenty of leftover steak for at least one more, and possibly two more meals. All in all, it was a pretty good long weekend, even with the weather warnings of late Monday and the shop's alarm issue. I can make it through a day at the shop with minimal sleep - it won't be the first time. And I'll try to make sure I get a good night's sleep tonight so I won't be a zombie tomorrow. Have a great Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.