On being a hero...sort of

I just turned the news off, and the last thing I heard was that some kid nearly drowned at a lake. He was saved thankfully. It made me sad though, because it is not that hard to help people in the water if you know how to swim well and learn just a few techniques for how to help them, even if you don't have a flotation device. Then I started thinking about what it means to be a hero. And it's funny. I lifeguarded for about seven summers and we, the lifeguards, always used to joke about being a hero whenever we had to jump in to help someone in a panic. We would serenade any guard who had to jump in with either "Wind beneath my wings" or "Hero" by Mariah Carey. The reality is that if we hadn't been there watching, they probably would have drowned.

I can remember learning to how to save people in the water when I was sixteen. I got a job at a local waterpark, and originally was just trying out for a "shallow water" guard. This was due to the fact that you were supposed to be eighteen to work in deeper water. However, the trainers saw me swim a fast 50 better than probably 90% of the other potential lifeguards, and were like, "Okay. Why are you not trying to be a deep water guard?" I said it was because I was too young. They told me it didn't matter and sent me to the deep end to swim a 200 instead. So I passed my swim test and began to train as a deep water guard.

The training was kind of fun and kind of awkward, because we had to practice on each other. Everyone already knew how to swim well. I can remember going to my first shift at the park and being scared witless. I was confused and trying to learn the protocol for what we were doing. I was so scared that I tried to avoid working at the wave cove the first week or two I was there which was difficult, since there were a very small number of deep water guards in comparison to the total number of guards. All the deep water guards worked at the wave cove, but could cover other areas of the park if they were short-handed or if someone asked you to cover for them. Eventually, of course, I had to suck it up and guard the wave cove. I think part of the fear was having to jump off the guard platform without hitting people, and then for me, I was scared that I would do something wrong, or that something really terrible would happen. The truth is that a lifeguard's main job is to PREVENT these kinds of accidents from happening. If you see a weak swimmer, you tell them to stay in the shallow end, if they actually listen to you.

I think a big misunderstanding about people in distress in the water is that they will call for help when they are in trouble. In reality, they have an instinctive panic response that does not allow them to call for help. They aren't thinking about calling for help, they are just trying to breathe, and panicking. This is why you hear about so many children drowning in pools. If you're not watching, they'll just fall or slip under the water and no one will know the difference.

I know that's a pretty serious topic, but I also wanted to say that after a bit of reflection on lifeguarding, I thought it was a fun job. I always played down the hero role, but looking back, I think it was pretty cool. I saved quite a few people just by being present, and by having some training of course. I do sort of still pay attention to what's going on in the pool if I am near it.

Pocket of Grace

The last month has been stressful and chaotic, mostly because I packed up all my earthly possessions and moved them to Texas. So far, I am really enjoying it. I had only been there about 3 weeks before I left to go to a conference last week where I was doing a presentation. The presentation went well I thought, and it was great to see many of my former coworkers at the conference. 

On my way back from Missouri (where the conference was) to Texas, I stopped and spent the night with my friend Beryl at her Aunt and Uncle's house. I had originally left my car there to carpool with Beryl (who had flown from CA to OK). When I got back, I found my car washed, detailed, and tuned up. Beryl's Uncle Doug had taken my car into the shop to have it checked out for me. He not only had the car detailed, but had them rotate my tires, do an alignment, and try to figure out what the knocking noise was on the left side of the engine.

I was really touched by this. My car had been maintained mechanically, but not really physically in the last few months. This was a totally unlooked for surprise, and I'm thankful to Doug for the care he took of my car while I was away. 

Doug was an agent of grace in a stressful and chaotic time in my life, and I'm thankful for the reminder from God that even though I feel like things are a bit challenging and chaotic right now, everything is going to be alright--He sometimes leads me to rest in these pockets of grace.

Regular

So. There's a bakery down the street from where I work. They are awesome! People come from all over town to experience their homemade breaded wonderfulness. My favorite thing to get there is a raspberry chocolate scone. The bakery has them on Tuesdays and Fridays, and maybe on the weekend sometime as well.

Well, I did not realize I was known as a regular customer until I walked in the bakery today (Thursday) and the girl at the counter says, "Oh no, no raspberry chocolate scones! What are you gonna do?"

I laughed and said, "I know. Um, I'm gonna get a pear almond scone."

I wish I could capture the tone on the girl at the counter's statement because it was very cops or something, "Whatcha gonna do!?" or maybe Speed (the movie), "There's a bomb on a bus...what do you do, WHAT, do you do!?"

I still like the raspberry chocolate scones better, but given my options, the pear almond will have to do for today.

Walking in SD

So I really like to walk a lot! One of my favorite places to go in San Diego is at Mission Bay. There's lots of parking and the path has mile markers to tell me how far I've gone.

Three stories for ya about walking at Mission Bay:

1. I was walking near the hotel part of the Bay and walked past a crow. I have always been fascinated by crows. Many of my favorite authors write about crows-- about their intelligence, sense of humor, and tendency for hiding shiny objects. Well, as I was walking, I watched this crow fly down and pick up this monstorous chocolate chip cookie. The crow had the whole thing. This really made me laugh.
2. One day, while walking past one of the bathrooms, I happened to look inside a vending machine. In the dispenser, there was a pigeon. Nesting. What I was thinking: Smart bird. It was out of the wind and defensible to all predators except for humans.
   
3. The last time I went to the beach, I saw a girl sort of running backwards near me. All of a sudden, I heard her yell, WATCH OUT! YOU'RE GONNA HIT THAT GIRL! I turned and looked, and sure enough, her husband or boyfriend had thrown a long spiral pass with a nerf football, and it was flying straight at me. So I reached up and knocked it out of the air. I bobbled it a little but caught it in the end. They were both impressed with my catching skills.

I love walking.

Weekly moment of comedy

My life yesterday resembled a sitcom yesterday and here's why. A guy friend of mine first sends me an instant message (names have been changed):

this is random... you know jane smith? musician?

54 minutes

12:29 PM me: yes.

12:30 PM we have played together many times.

12:33 PM F: cool

12:34 PM me: where'd you meet her?

F: long story

is she cool?

me: totally.

F: hip?

me: why?

F: smart?

cute?

me: check, check, and check.

why are you asking about cuteness...

do you like her?

12:35 PM I think she's cute, but I'm a girl.

F: well, technically i've never met her

gross

jk

me:you know what I mean.

I just rolled my eyes.

F: nice

me: we're friends...

F: crazy

12:37 PM small world

me:I'm now very curious.

12:38 PM F: just a random connection

me: friend of a friend?

F: yeah

me: did they date?

or something?

F: um, i don't know

more like friend of a friend of a friend

12:39 PM me: ah. 3rd degree connection.

or 2nd if you use me as one. :)

I see her a lot.

we talk occasionally.

she's a good musician.

12:40 PM I'll prob. be seeing her tonight at rehearsal.

F: crzy

don't say anything, that would just be random. she doesn't know who i am

but i thought i would just ask

me: yeah I won't.

12:41 PM F: ask who she is

nice, thanks for the randomness

12:42 PM me: yeah. no prob.

I enjoyed it immensely

That same evening, I run into Jane....

J: Robyn, I HAVE to talk to you. Do you have a minute?
R: Yeah what's up?
J: Okay. So my friend R met her boyfriend on Craigslist and she convinced me to post an ad and give it a try. I was getting all these responses and they were all mostly from guys named "snake." But there was one guy who seemed really cool. I stalked him online and saw that you were friends and I didn't know if you were just online friends or actual friends.
R: That is so funny.
J: So do you know him?
R: Yeah, we're friends.
J: Is he nice?
R: He's really nice, loves God, loves people...
J: Really? So you think I should meet him?
R: I think he is a friend worth having.
J: Okay, I don't know what I am going to do. Don't tell him I talked to you, okay?
R: That's cool.
J: Do you think I should tell him I know you?
R: That's up to you. If you don't want me to say anything, then I won't.

This is so amusing. So they both know that I know both of them, but they do not know that they have both talked to me. I also know that they have seen each other before, last year at a wedding I played in. They were both present. They might have even been briefly introduced. I am so amused.

At least I can vouch for each of their characters. That is good. I'm trying to convince Jane to hang out with me at some kind of social function where the guy would be present. That would truly make it a sitcom situation.

Driver's License

I finally reached the point where the DMV required me to retake my picture in order to renew my license. When I originally got my license as a teenager, I had this internal debate with myself over what I should write down for my eye color and finally decided on "brown." They are brownish, but not quite brown because they have hints of green and yellow in them. So when I went in to renew my license, I changed my eye color to hazel. Which is what I probably should have put in the first place. I suppose most people don't get to change their eye color, so when the DMV lady looked at my application she asked, "Are you wearing contacts?" I said "no." And that was that.

Buckeyes and Boys

I went to watch the Ohio State game tonight at a local bar with a friend of mine who is a Buckeye fan, wherein there were some shepherds sitting at the table next to ours. Well, they weren't really shepherds, but they were dressed up for Halloween. They might have been wisemen... There were three of them and they were all dressed the same. One of them started talking to me. I said something about how I couldn't tell them apart because they all looked alike (because of what they were wearing). He got "insulted" and told me I was mean because I thought they all looked alike (and they didn't???). He turned his turban away from me and told me to "talk to the towel." My tablemates were wondering what the heck this guy was doing. I told them that he was ignoring me because I insulted him. They all started laughing. Then later, he decided to take a picture "of the mean girl." I made a face with my eyes rolled. Then my friend asks me, "did he just take your picture?" I said, "Yes. Yes he did." And everyone at my table started laughing again.

Bottom line: Some drunk guy in a fake turban who doesn't know my name and who thinks I'm mean now has a picture of me on his camera. What's the point? Seriously.

Dead Rat

So I went to the archives a few days ago and decided to clean out the office. That's when I noticed a dead rat, right by the desk. I had been stepping around it for at least an hour before I noticed it. It had been dead for awhile.

My long lost friend: Part 2

I got to spend some time with my long lost friend yesterday. It was like we were never apart. I love friends like that. I went to her place after checking out the chapel at the Marine Corp Recruit Depot. What a great place! I'm playing cello there for some friends of mine in about a month. They were both there yesterday morning. It was fun hangin' with them. Since Dave is a marine, they are doing the traditional sword arch at the end of the ceremony and so the friend in charge of it was there too. He was such a cool guy. He's the kind of guy that gives me hope that there are still nice guys out there. Anyway. After that, I called up my friend Rachel (the formerly lost friend) and we spent the afternoon catching up. We took a nice long walk to get ice-cream, and talked the whole time. It was great. We have so much in common. When we got back to her place, she got out her guitar, and I got out my cello and we played together for a bit. I'm so glad she's in town and that we're back in touch.

Rachel has been all over the place and lives out of two duffel bags. She works mostly as a server for a cruise line and when she's off the ship, she decides to go to different places and live there for short periods of time. She also worked at a summer camp as a ceramics instructor. It was great to see her again. I'm glad she's in town.

My long lost soul sister

I cannot even remember my trail of thought that led me to find a friend that I have not talked to in ten years! We went to Africa with the same group and of all the people in that group, I think she and I were the most similar. I love the free spirit in her, the strength of her faith and her mad guitar playing skills. One night, we sat around and did beat poetry with these bongos that some of us had purchased at the marketplace. So funny. Apparently, I have the gift of rhyme, and she and I had everyone laughing over our "poetry." I think she is my long lost soul sister.

Well, I found her through a social networking site, which is amazing considering she is not "friends" with any of the other friends of mine that went on that trip. I was just thinking about her and remembered that I had an old email address for her in my old email account which I retain as a "junk" mail account. So I looked her up by name and found her.

And in her profile, it says that she just moved to San Diego. My response: Are you kidding me?

I really hope she messages me back or gives me a call. I'm wondering how recently she moved to San Diego and whether she has any friends here yet. If she does not, then this is totally a God thing because it can be so lonely to move to a place where you do not know anyone.

Lame

I've been trying to walk in the mornings before work, clears the mind, good for the soul, all that. I just got a hair cut (short!!) and so when I walk, I wear a baseball hat usually. Today, I wore my B.Mello hat. It's cool, yo. Except that it blocked my peripheral vision and I ran into a "school crossing" sign as a result. Yes. I am that lame.

Tooth stuff

So I went to see my oral surgeon today. The assistant led me to a room and I immediately got suspicious because I had been there before, once for getting my wisdom teeth out, and once for getting a post implanted in my mouth. If they were going to put me under, they would have told me, but as it was, they poked me a few times. All I gotta say is that needles hurt, especially when they are poked into the roof of your mouth. All I could say was, "OW!!" When they were done, I said, "I knew I was going to get tortured today." They laughed. And I was. Tortured that is. Willingly. Sad, huh?

Red Robin

I went to visit my parents last weekend on Saturday. My mom and I ate at the Red Robin that used to be where my friends and I always hung out when we were in high school. It all started with my 16th birthday...My mom threw me a surprise party for my 16th birthday. I was at my dad's house, when my mom knocked on the door. She said I had left something in her van. So I went to check it out, and all my friends were in the van. We drove to Red Robin and had dinner.

There happened to be a cute server serving us that night, and I didn't think he was that cute, but all my friends did. The result of this was that we continued to go to Red Robin in hopes of seeing this guy, which eventually led to one of my friends getting a job there when she turned 16 in November of that same year.

Well, she's still working at the Red Robin. I ran into her with my mom at lunch on Saturday. It was so fun to catch up and hear what's up in her life, and in the lives of my other friends from high school.I was always the independent one. I was the only one of that group to go away to college. Everyone else stayed in town. They all still hang out with each other. I don't think I could have stayed there, but I'm glad that I'm slowly reconnecting.

Music Stories

I was just thinking about how there are still a few moments in my life where I wonder what would have happened if? I've written about this before, but I was thinking about one of those today.

My mom forgot to take me to an orchestra rehearsal one night. I was in high school, but most of the kids in the orchestra were in junior high. I was trying to get into the symphony that was sponsored for the same group, and there just wasn't enough space for me.

After I waited at home for an hour (in vain) for my mom to come home and drive me over to the rehearsal, I started to cry. Punctuality for orchestral musicians is important.

I completely missed that rehearsal, and I found out later that my stand partner got into the symphony that night because someone else had dropped out. It would have been me if I had been able to audition because I was the better sight-reader.

I was talking about this incident with a friend today, and it still upsets me that I missed that rehearsal. I really need to let it go.
-------------------------------------------------
Then I started thinking about whether I would ever take music lessons again. I think I would if I had the time and money. I think a potential instructor might ask me what my goals would be, and I wouldn't be able to articulate them.

I might put on a recital next year sometime near my birthday, but it is a daunting task. The pieces I'd like to play are challenging. I got a raised eyebrow when I told the director of the orchestra I'm in what pieces I wanted to play. He underestimates my ability. Mostly because I'm not reaching my potential. :)

If I truly put some good effort into the pieces in orchestra, I would be the best player in my section.

New friend?

So I had this gift card to Olive Garden. I received it for teaching a swim lesson to some ladies at work that are competing in a triathalon. I coached and taught swim lessons for about 7 years in the summer until I had to get a "real" job, so I am good at stroke analysis, technique, and coaching people to improvement.

Sorry, got sidetracked. So anyway, I hadn't seen my friend Ryan G. in awhile, and made plans to have dinner with him. Ryan and I have a fun history together because we grew up together. Our parents went to the same church, we went to the same schools, and he used to hang out with my step-brother. Then he ended up coming to UCSB, and we were involved in the same club, and spent a summer overseas with the same group of people. We lost touch a little after college, but then he moved to SD, and well, its fun for us to hang out because we know a lot of the same people.When we were talking about where to eat dinner, I remembered that I had a giftcard to Olive Garden. So we decided to use it.

We were starting our conversation when all of a sudden there was this guy with a loud booming voice who introduced himself with a VERY australian accent, "Hi, my name is James, and I'll be your server tonight..."James told us that he is half-aussie, and half-american, and let me tell you, our experience just would not have been the same without him. He was courteous without being obtrusive, the service was excellent, and he was both fun and funny all at the same time. It is obvious that James loves people, and Ryan and I agreed that we would come back, just because of how great our experience was. The most interesting thing about it was that James has no prior server experience, and this was his first week on the job.People seem to be afraid of getting to know each other these days, it is rare to meet those who are willing to try. I think we found ourselves a new friend. And to think, I never go to Olive Garden, and never would have gone if I hadn't got a giftcard.

Rats!

So our student worker this morning saw a rat run across the first floor over by our front desk. So my co-worker freaked out and came into my office and actually stood on my stool that I have for students to sit on if they need to. So I went to see what was going on. Sure enough, there was the rat. He was freaked out, and tried to go outside, but of course all our doors were shut. So after a few minutes of trying to corral him out the door, he finally ran into our first floor stacks. The student and I chased him around for a bit, and eventually lost him. The students who were studying on the first floor couldn't figure out what we were doing... carrying around newspaper sticks and suddenly dropping to the floor to look underneath the stacks... and let me tell you that carpet is dirty! Anyway, who knows where the rat is now. Hopefully getting an education in the 200's (religion and philosophy) because we called physical plant and he could possibly die. I feel sorry for him. He was THIS CLOSE to freedom and ran the other way.

Texas Part 1

My harrowing Texas experience:

Dad dropped me off at the airport at about 9pm so that I could pick up my rental car so that I could drive from Houston to Austin.

Problem 1: There are two airports in Houston, I thought I was flying into the other airport. My directions from Houston to Austin were incorrect. I drove around Houston for 45 minutes before I actually got to the correct freeway. And I had to pay about 3 tolls for going the wrong direction. By the time I was on my way, it was after 10pm.

Problem 2: Earlier on Saturday, I had dropped my cell phone, and it was not working correctly. I didn't realize that my phone wasn't working correctly until about 1/3 of the way to Austin and not until midnight. So I pulled into a gas station in the middle of Texas and went to use the pay phone. I didn't realize that pay phones these days only work locally. Then I realized that I didn't have my cousin's number...I was trying to make my way to her place to sleep. So I called my Grandma collect, and got Danielle's number, and then tried to use the pay phone until I gave up and bought a phone card at the mini-mart that was attached to the gas station. It took about 25 minutes for me to make those calls.

Problem 3: With the exceptions of all the incorrect turns I took in Houston, I missed an additional 2 turns, which set me back even more. At least I usually knew when I was heading the wrong direction, and I would either turn immediately around, or get out and ask. I left Houston at about 10:45pm, and finally got to Austin at around 2:30am. I was very tired.

Even though I made it here, there were a lot of things that could have gone wrong. I kept praying for safety and provision, that God would calm me down and get me where I needed to go. I am so thankful I made it here safely, and I'm glad I don't freak out when I feel like I'm lost. I knew which direction I wanted to go, and went. Although I had never taken this route before, and needed to ask for help along the way, I made it to Austin. See y'all later.

PS. If you try to call me, leave a message, as I am able to check my messages, but can't call out very well.