A month in pictures-- Part 2

Once I finished finals the fun factor in my life increased greatly as I tried to get the most out of my time off for my summer vacation.

1. What I am reading

 

My favorite genre of books is adventure and survival.  I tend to really enjoy books about climbing Mount Everest or getting stranded in the wilderness.  This book happened to be about the dog sled teams that got the serum to Nome, Alaska during a diphtheria epidemic in 1925.  I thoroughly enjoyed it although some may argue that these books aren't very relaxing reads.

2. Something that is inspiring

This year the Big 12 track meet was in Manhattan and I got to go.  I was super excited about this.  I have always enjoyed going to track meets (and I enjoy them even more now that I don't have to compete in them).  Also while I was in college I worked as a student athletic trainer for the K-State track team one season.  Some of the athletes I worked with are still at K-State and it was great getting to watch them compete again.  How can watching athletes of this caliber not be inspiring?  How thrilling is it to watch races that come down to thousandths of a second, a gutsy finish, guys high jumping over 7 and a half feet, or athletes throwing heavy objects insane distances!  Track meets are also fun because you find yourself cheering for everyone.  I will admit I was clapping and cheering for a girl who had an outstanding performance in the steeplechase-- and she just happened to run for KU.  At a track meet I can overlook that.  Any other sporting event I would never find myself cheering for a jayhawk.  While I will never compete at this level or even run as fast as I did during high school being at the track meet reminded me how fun running is and gave me a boost of motivation to continue my plodding runs along the pavement of my neighborhood streets. 

3. Favorite words

This might be a little mushy for our blog but I have a boyfriend who is a sweet guy.

4. Something fun

 

After finals one of my friends from class and I decided to celebrate by going on a 30 mile bike ride.  It was such a great time.  It was a beautiful morning.  We had a wonderful time chatting about classes and life.  We got to see some wildlife-- the deer along the trail were not to concerned about us at all.  And I got to take my bike out for a spin which is always a blast.  

5. Something sweet

My friend and I tried to time finishing up our bike ride with the beginning of Happy Hour at Sonic but we rode too fast.  We decided to hit Sonic anyway.  (Happy Hour at Sonic has become a tradition for us when we get together for study session especially since it is conveniently located about three blocks from our apartments.) Nothing hits the spot more than a cool cherry limeade after a long bike ride (or anything other activities).  Plus the deal is even sweeter with half price drinks during Happy Hour.

A month in pictures -- Part 1

I'm not much of a photographer. I (Alex) have attempted to learn about camera settings and photo composition, lighting and shutter speeds.  I have flipped through books and browsed websites.  I'm still not much of a photographer.  One problem is that I never have a camera with me and when I do have it I don't like to stop what I'm doing an actually take a photo.  Some advice I have gotten is just to take more pictures-- try to take a picture of something every day.  So during the past month that's what I tried to do.  I found some suggestions for a photo scavenger hunt and set off with my camera in hand.  (Actually I still didn't carry my camera with me but my iPod can take pictures which is handy.)

1. Something I do every day

 

Being in school I tend to do quite a bit of studying-- more than I would like most of the time.  During finals week it seems like I spent entire days sitting at my desk with notebooks and textbooks scattered about.  Of course I might not have had to spend the whole day chained to my desk if I hadn't waited to start studying for my comprehensive cardiopulmonology test until the day before.

2. Something peaceful

  It might be ironic but what I chose for something peaceful is actually along my commute to school.  I never have pictured commutes in rush hour as peaceful but I really enjoy driving to school especially in the spring.  The neighborhood I drive through has statues at each intersection (side note: Kansas City has more statues and fountains than any other city besides Rome, Italy). 

3. Snacks

One day during finals week I found a box at my door.  First of all I really like getting mail.  Secondly I get super excited for packages even if they are textbooks from Amazon.  Thirdly when the box is full of goodies for finals week I can hardly stand it.  The past couple of years my church back home has sent all the college students a care package full of snacks.  I will admit for a brief moment I wondered if staying in school to get yet another degree wouldn't be such a bad idea if it meant that I continued to get boxes of snacks.  However it didn't take long to realize that several more years of school wouldn't be worth getting more care packages.  All college students love getting food but it also means so much to know that there is a group of people back home who continue to care about you , support and encourage you-- thanks!

4. Something pink

This rose bush is planted on the corner in front of the apartment Jules and I live in.  It was beautiful this spring.  

5. Something unusual

This picture may not seem unusual but take note that the faucet isn't running- this is what makes this unusual.  For about three weeks this faucet had been running constantly.  It started as a simple drip.  We contacted the maintenance man to fix the drip.  He came and worked on it a while.  That evening I took a shower and I couldn't turn on the cold water so I had to jump in and out of the shower to keep from getting scalded and suffering burns.  The next day Jules informed me that the cold water does work but you have to turn the knob three times as far as you use to turn it.  A few days later we came home and the water was running constantly even though the faucet was off.  While the sound of a babbling brook may be soothing the sound of water from a faucet that runs constantly is less that relaxing.  Several days later the maintenance man came back and tried to change a few parts.  He was able to slow it down to a small trickle and also showed me where the cold water shut off valve was.  Within a few days the trickle gradually increased into constant running again.  But this time we knew where the shut off valve was since the maintenance guy showed us which knob it was.  This was handy but then also slightly inconvenient since we had to turn on the water at the shut off valve to take a shower, flush the towel, run the dishwasher, and anytime we needed cold water in the sink.  After about a week of this we finally got a plumber to come and "fix" it.  The faucet still drips like it did to start with but after all of this we were happy to have the drip back.      

6. Something I made

This past year I have taken up sketching and drawing.  I didn't start this because I needed a hobby but to prevent me from going crazy listening to lectures for my online class.  My online class had 1-2 hour lectures each week about ethics, leadership principles, risk management, conflict resolution, and health insurance reimbursement-- riveting stuff.  I had to find something to keep me busy so I could sit and listen without being bored out of my gourd so I began drawing.  I suppose I learned something in my class but I also came away with about 10 new pieces of art work. 

Outhouses to Cathedrals (and everything in between)

Since I (Alex) am not a full blown adult with a real job yet I still get summer vacation.  However since I am a grad student the powers at be decided we didn’t need three months of summer vacation but that three weeks would suffice.  Therefore my summer break has come and gone already.  When we started classes again this past week we all wanted to hear about the adventures of our classmates over break.  One went backpacking in Europe, another spent time in Alaska, someone else got married and spent her honeymoon in Costa Rica.  The traveling I did in my three weeks off wasn’t quite as exciting but still entertaining never the less—and I could just tell that my classmates were jealous of my great stories. 

My first trip was a tour of southeast Kansas.  My mom and I were on our way to visit my grandmother in the Joplin, Missouri area and we decided to take a different route than we usually do.  This route took us through Medicine Lodge, home of Carrie Nation who was against the use of alcohol and spent her free time taking a hatchet to bars.  Next we drove through Sharon, KS home of Martina Mc Bride.  In Wellington I got the chance to see where my mom grew up during her childhood.  The next town was Elk Falls—probably the highlight of the trip.  Elk Falls has a population of 107 and is the self-proclaimed World’s Largest Living Ghost Town.  If that isn’t enough of a claim to fame, it is also the outhouse capitol of Kansas.  We drove down Main Street (or what is left of it with all the potholes) and saw at least 4 outhouses.  There is an outhouse tour as well—the sign says that “the tour is a gas” but we passed up on that.  Speaking of gas, we were in need of some—the automotive kind that is.  The gas gauge said we had 65 miles of fuel left and the next decent size town was 68 miles away.  Elk Falls didn’t have a gas station so we drove on.  The next town was Longton—no gas here either but it is supposedly the white-tail deer capital of Kansas.  We then cruised into Moline which had a gas station—much to my mother’s relief and is also home to the oldest swinging bridge in Kansas.  This was another quick stop so I could walk across it although I was slightly disappointed in its swinginess- which apparently isn’t a word.  For the next few miles in the Flint Hills I had to keep Mom from jumping out of the car to steal rocks from pastures and fence lines for a Bible school craft project.  (Bible school craft teachers will stop at nothing to get their supplies—through the years I have been dumpster diving for pop bottles and eating large amounts of oatmeal and peanut butter so she could use the empty containers.  I knew the idea of getting arrested for trespassing and stealing probably wasn’t going to keep her from those rocks.)  The next point of interest was Columbus which was where Mom went to high school so I got to see the track where she had an unfortunate run-in with a hurdle during PE class and the street where all the cool kids dragged Main in the summer. 

This trip had been plenty of excitement for me and I didn’t think it would be possible to top the excitement of the Elk Falls outhouses but as we turned the corner to my grandma’s that changed.  People were lining the road, police were everywhere, and there was a gigantic cargo plane at the airport.  We stopped at pickup something for dinner and found out that President Obama was coming to town to speak at the Joplin High School graduation since it had been 1 year since the tornado.  While we were there Air Force One flew over and we couldn’t cross the street since it was blocked off so we stood around and watched the presidential motorcade drive past which was pretty cool.  (It was less cool and more of an inconvenience later that evening when we wanted to go somewhere but had to wait since the motorcade was headed back to the airport and the roads were blocked off again.)

The other half of my tour of Kansas was to the northwest part of the state.  My boyfriend grew up in that part of the state so we were headed to his hometown for the weekend.  Our original plans were to stop and see the Garden of Eden in Lucas, KS which consists of a collection of concrete statues a Civil War veteran made.  However, it was raining so we opted for something indoors instead.  We stopped in Victoria at the Cathedral of the Plains.  This is one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas (and yes there are more than 8 wonders in Kansas for those of you who may be wondering that).  It is a gorgeous limestone church built by the families of the parish in the early 1900s.  The size is impressive and inside there are numerous stain glass windows, wood cravings, and a large altar.  We then traveled on to Hays to visit the Sternberg Museum which is full of fossils that were discovered in the region.  Other highlights of the trip included seeing my first rattlesnake in the wild at a state park and participating in the Philipsburg Riverless River Festival Run (a spoof off of Wichita’s River Festival).  I did find it ironic that while running in the Riverless Run I crossed a creek three times.  Philipsburg is also home to the largest rodeo in Kansas.  While it wasn’t rodeo weekend, the PBR (professional bull riders) was in town so we watched some bull riding as well.  In traveling from northwest portion of the state back to Kansas City—you can see a lot of Kansas in 6 hours of driving—I got to see one of my favorite Kansas tourist sights—the world’s largest ball of twine in Cawker City. 

So there you have it—my tour of Kansas and many of its superlatives. 

Lifeguarding

Over the past few months, Alex has taken the plunge to become “somewhat more professional” by taking a job as an aquatics safety supervisor—aka a lifeguard. 

I haven’t applied for many part time jobs before but it took over 6 months for me to land a job as a lifeguard.  It was a pretty intense interview process.  Actually I wasn’t interviewed at all but I showed up and that was apparently enough to get the position.  Between trying to fit in training, waiting on paperwork, and being out of town for a few months it turned into an extended process.  I finally got to start in the middle of March—the week of mid-terms which maybe wasn’t the brightest idea. 

My job is a far cry from being a lifeguard on Baywatch.  I spend a good deal of my time scrubbing the scum line on the side of the pool on my hands and knees sporting my yellow guard shirt and a fanny pack.  I have also developed mad skills for cleaning windows, disinfection railings, and numerous other cleaning jobs—the Red Cross fails to mention all of the cleaning tasks in the job description of a lifeguard in the training manual. 

After a few weeks on the job I worked a Family Fun Night which is usually mass chaos since families can swim for a few hours for free.  In the midst of the chaos I had several opportunities to whistle at people not following the rules.  I got the feeling that everyone was ignoring my whistling.  The next day a fellow lifeguard and I were having a slow day so she had me practice blowing my whistle (yes, this was part of the on the job training that was overlooked on my first day).  She was slightly appalled not only by my technique but the performance of my whistle—it wasn’t loud enough.  This then lead into a conversation about the inferiority of metal whistles (which I was using) compared to plastic whistles.  I also learned that the Fox 40 model is top of the line (I was unaware there were brands or models of whistles) and it is the highest decibel range allowed by whistles.  She had ordered hers online since there was a better selection of colors.  The standard issue whistle at the pool is the Fox 40 Mini—a step below the Fox 40 original but still worlds better than my metal whistle.  There was one left in stock in the standard black which I am now the proud owner of.  I was also instructed in the appropriate tongue placement for the most forceful blast to get the attention of rowdy children.  There was discussion the other day at work about assigning whistle colors to correspond with years of service as a lifeguard—kind of like a black belt system in martial arts.

I often work in the afternoons as the lifeguard during swimming lessons.  This has also been very educational to learn about parenting.  It seems like 90% of the parents at swimming lessons are helicopter parents.  One parent expressed concerns because she felt the instructor wasn’t supporting her daughter’s back enough while they were practicing the back float.  The aquatics director calmly tried to explain that to pass this level the child needs to be able to float independently—generally this means that they float without any support from the instructor and since it there were only a few classes left the instructor was decreasing the support.  This parent was still pretty concerned about the situation but I think the girl was finally able to float by herself.  I have also had several moms come up to me to let me know that they need to step into the locker room to use the restroom and if I could watch their kids swimming and make sure they are safe.  The sarcastic side of me always wants to reply the sure I would be happy to watch their kids while they step out even though as a lifeguard I usually watch all the swimmers all the time to ensure their safety and I will probably continue to do that if they are sitting at the edge of the pool or if they leave for a moment. 

Another exciting part of my job has been working with some of the other guards who are high school students.  Sometimes I feel really old.  One guard who is 16 was mentioning the other day how sometimes it is hard to grow up and she wishes she could just be 12 again.  She is going to be a junior next year and has to worry about where to go to college, what she wants to study, getting her driver’s license, etc.  I realized that age 12 was half my lifetime ago and sometimes I just wish I was 16.  I then found myself say, “Back when I was a kid we got our permits at 14 and licenses at age 16.”  Anytime you start a sentence with the phrase “back when I was a kid” you are getting old.

Now that summer is starting I will probably start working at the outdoor pool some which means I might actually get to benefit from one of the best reasons to be a lifeguard—a great tan.