Pool Ponderings
Well, here it is at last! After nearly six long years of waiting, the heatwave has finally arrived!
Allow me to elaborate. Back in the day (1990 to be precise) I started work at Nielsen, a great big office block with glass windows and no air-conditioning in Oxford. It's the big building on the left just after the park and ride if you are driving into Oxford from the M40.
Add to this greenhouse of a building a dress code which basically dictated "you wear a suit and tie at all times", and you have the perfect picture of complete misery during the summer heatwaves. There I sat in a pool of sweat throughout that first summer looking out of the window and dreaming of being free. This went on for 15 long summers when the heatwaves rolled around with monotonous regularity.
It didn't get any better when I went to work for the probation service. In the long hot July of 2006 I had to go home for a cold shower every lunchtime just to be able to get through the afternoon.
So when I finally left the full time workplace in 2007 I found myself looking forward to a bright future of lovely sunny summers in the garden. But they didn't come.
Yes, July 2006 was the last truly hot month, mockingly the weather has turned on me. I was so looking forward to my leisurely chilled out summer life style laughing evilly inside at all those poor sods still stuck in their offices or crawling up and down the A40 in their overheating volvos. But, finally, it seems the time has come! The family Ayres has moved out into the garden, the BBQ is in full swing as the long for heatwave finally kicks in. I may even have cause to dig my ancient old air-conditioning unit out of the back of the cupboard where it has been gathering dust and developing a highly advanced spider eco-system these past long wet summers.
But I still feel something is lacking. We've got some nice garden furniture and a nice little patio and a barbecue. But it is not like being on holiday. I really miss having a pool you can just get into at any time. I know it is possible to get plastic pools but they aren't really practical with kids my age. Paddling pools have also proven to be troublesome. Our garden area is not laid to lawn. It is half patio, half gravel. So any sort of inflatable pool is a bad idea. We did have a plastic one last year but this was also a problem - once it was filled up with water it was so heavy there was no way to empty it. Plus paddling pools are unappetising at the best of times. Within a few hours of filling one it is full of dead flies, stones chucked in by the children, toys, leaves and various other detritus. And the children had the tendency to get into it with their shoes on which is also a problem.
This year we have got a water table which is quite good fun - Ollie fills his water shooter up and fires it around. This is supposedly to water the plants but a fair amount has found its way onto other people, windows, even into the house. Neither of the boys like getting wet and complain vociferously leading to countless changes of clothes. Then they go straight back out and do it all again. Jamie particularly hates being wet and will come in whingeing and complaining asking to be changed if he has so much as 50p sized splat of water on his shirt. This is most irksome and somewhat hypocritical I feel as he refuses to toilet train and has no problem walking around with a great big ball of piss strapped around his waist but a little splash of water is unacceptable it seems.
It really would be nice if we had somewhere local to go swimming but we haven't. The baby pool at the sports centre has been closed since before Christmas after they found some cracked tiles on the bottom. Unbelievable that they haven't been able to sort it out by now. And we don't have an outdoor pool or even a paddling pool.
I think it is a great shame that in a town this size we haven't got so much as even a paddling pool in Garth Park. Now that would be lovely in this sort of weather when you could go and have a picnic and then a paddle. It's just so frustrating when there is nowhere to cool off, which is why holidays are so great. We are going to Butlins next month and they have got a fantastic outside paddling pool area. Will the weather be like this though? Probably not.
I wonder if anyone has ever broached the idea of a paddling pool in Garth Park? Probably not - I imagine it would be rather expensive. They do have the fish pond at the front but I imagine paddling in that would be frowned upon, not to mention rather stressful for the fish.
Never mind, there's always cold showers. And it is quite nice being outside at this time of night, though not as nice as it used to be as there is a lot more noise around here than there used to be. I am sat outside right now with a nice glass of vino writing this - and it is well deserved as I have just come back from work, doing a Year 6 leavers disco which went very well. I even discovered that I have a fan (of my writing). A lady who has been following me on twitter and following my blog for some time, so that was really nice. A good evening all round really, and they even ordered in a lot of Domino's Pizza, including my favourite, which is of course the "Meatylicious". Helen, my fan, despite only meeting me for the first time today, clearly knows me well!
Enjoy the sunshine!
Jason xx
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
Allow me to elaborate. Back in the day (1990 to be precise) I started work at Nielsen, a great big office block with glass windows and no air-conditioning in Oxford. It's the big building on the left just after the park and ride if you are driving into Oxford from the M40.
Add to this greenhouse of a building a dress code which basically dictated "you wear a suit and tie at all times", and you have the perfect picture of complete misery during the summer heatwaves. There I sat in a pool of sweat throughout that first summer looking out of the window and dreaming of being free. This went on for 15 long summers when the heatwaves rolled around with monotonous regularity.
It didn't get any better when I went to work for the probation service. In the long hot July of 2006 I had to go home for a cold shower every lunchtime just to be able to get through the afternoon.
So when I finally left the full time workplace in 2007 I found myself looking forward to a bright future of lovely sunny summers in the garden. But they didn't come.
Yes, July 2006 was the last truly hot month, mockingly the weather has turned on me. I was so looking forward to my leisurely chilled out summer life style laughing evilly inside at all those poor sods still stuck in their offices or crawling up and down the A40 in their overheating volvos. But, finally, it seems the time has come! The family Ayres has moved out into the garden, the BBQ is in full swing as the long for heatwave finally kicks in. I may even have cause to dig my ancient old air-conditioning unit out of the back of the cupboard where it has been gathering dust and developing a highly advanced spider eco-system these past long wet summers.
But I still feel something is lacking. We've got some nice garden furniture and a nice little patio and a barbecue. But it is not like being on holiday. I really miss having a pool you can just get into at any time. I know it is possible to get plastic pools but they aren't really practical with kids my age. Paddling pools have also proven to be troublesome. Our garden area is not laid to lawn. It is half patio, half gravel. So any sort of inflatable pool is a bad idea. We did have a plastic one last year but this was also a problem - once it was filled up with water it was so heavy there was no way to empty it. Plus paddling pools are unappetising at the best of times. Within a few hours of filling one it is full of dead flies, stones chucked in by the children, toys, leaves and various other detritus. And the children had the tendency to get into it with their shoes on which is also a problem.
This year we have got a water table which is quite good fun - Ollie fills his water shooter up and fires it around. This is supposedly to water the plants but a fair amount has found its way onto other people, windows, even into the house. Neither of the boys like getting wet and complain vociferously leading to countless changes of clothes. Then they go straight back out and do it all again. Jamie particularly hates being wet and will come in whingeing and complaining asking to be changed if he has so much as 50p sized splat of water on his shirt. This is most irksome and somewhat hypocritical I feel as he refuses to toilet train and has no problem walking around with a great big ball of piss strapped around his waist but a little splash of water is unacceptable it seems.
It really would be nice if we had somewhere local to go swimming but we haven't. The baby pool at the sports centre has been closed since before Christmas after they found some cracked tiles on the bottom. Unbelievable that they haven't been able to sort it out by now. And we don't have an outdoor pool or even a paddling pool.
I think it is a great shame that in a town this size we haven't got so much as even a paddling pool in Garth Park. Now that would be lovely in this sort of weather when you could go and have a picnic and then a paddle. It's just so frustrating when there is nowhere to cool off, which is why holidays are so great. We are going to Butlins next month and they have got a fantastic outside paddling pool area. Will the weather be like this though? Probably not.
I wonder if anyone has ever broached the idea of a paddling pool in Garth Park? Probably not - I imagine it would be rather expensive. They do have the fish pond at the front but I imagine paddling in that would be frowned upon, not to mention rather stressful for the fish.
Never mind, there's always cold showers. And it is quite nice being outside at this time of night, though not as nice as it used to be as there is a lot more noise around here than there used to be. I am sat outside right now with a nice glass of vino writing this - and it is well deserved as I have just come back from work, doing a Year 6 leavers disco which went very well. I even discovered that I have a fan (of my writing). A lady who has been following me on twitter and following my blog for some time, so that was really nice. A good evening all round really, and they even ordered in a lot of Domino's Pizza, including my favourite, which is of course the "Meatylicious". Helen, my fan, despite only meeting me for the first time today, clearly knows me well!
Enjoy the sunshine!
Jason xx
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
Rule number 1 for DJ Jason, always keep him happy with an open invitation to the buffet!! Fab disco by the way!
ReplyDeleteThanks Helen, it was a great night and brilliant to finally meet you at last! Might see you at the big opening on Wednesday!
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