Odds and sods

A few things:

• I bought myself a bike as I’d earlier promised my son. I dusted off my bike helmet and rode it home from the shop. I haven’t ridden it since but it’s been stinking hot here and we’ve had other things on.
• I’ve been doing laps every day at the pool while JJ does his swimming lessons. I haven’t swum laps for about three years and I thought I’d have to be rescued by one of the lifesavers as I floundered at the deep end before I could reach the end of the pool. It’s a bit like riding a bike though – the breathing I use for swimming has come back to me without many problems at all. JJ’s swimming abilities have improved no end with his every day attendance at swimming lessons too. And he loves it.
• I had a garage sale the other day and raised bugger all money. I ended up giving the rest of the stuff away. If it weren’t for a friend of a friend buying quite a few things I would have made a loss. People coming to garage sales want to tell you their life story, buy your stuff for next to nothing, and tell you that this is priced too high as it’s been superseded (my sister’s stuff, not mine). Some people bought some of my old tapes and my music taste was commended – David Bowie, Cold Chisel (Circus Animals) etc.
• I had a phone call from my younger sister yesterday telling me she’d been asked not to make a scene at my cousin’s funeral. My middle sister was apparently one of a delegation asked to tell my younger sister this. There is no way in hell she would ever make a scene at anyone’s funeral she attends and for anyone to think that absolutely appalls me, and obviously there’s more to this story than I’m recounting here. Suffice to say that families are full of a hell of a lot more politics than I’ve ever enountered at work. My middle sister likes to stir the pot and has also apparently been bitching about me to one of my friends she’s been shagging. We’ve had issues recently which I had a chat to her about but after the funeral next week I need to have another talk to her to see what issues she’s obviously got with me.

All the stuff that’s been happening – particularly the last one – has been churning around in my mind and seeking an outlet. I’ve found part of that outlet but it’s not appropriate to drag the whole story out here. It’s been really great doing the laps at the pool because when I’m there doing my swimming, I just concentrate on that and all else leaves me. I’ve also been using the rest of my time after swimming to catch up with friends while I’m on holidays.