Monday, October 17, 2011

Challenging Ourselves

Next Swim: Tuesday 10/18 5:30PM?

Last Swim: Monday 10/17 5:30PM

Conditions:

Water Temp: 54.4
Air Temp: 52 & clear skies
Waves: calm
Water Clarity: good
Saturday Crew: Flipper, Jack Frost, Capt'n

An air temp just north of 50...a water temp just shy of 55...and no Diablo to egg us on to swim skin. A real no brainer for climbing into our wetsuits for a comfortable swim across a glass like lake surface....right? Rather than employ Diablo's egg related tactics to persuade the crew to swim skin Flipper chose instead to quote Emilio Estevez from Young Guns...."A man's got to challenge himself on a daily basis."

So that we did. Both flipper and I logged a somewhat leisurely skin swim up to Garage and back....stopping to swap jokes and stories at the Garage before returning. Jack Frost on the other hand continued to break in his thermal swim gear that I think is advertised to be good to minus 55 or something.

I'm not sure which felt colder today...the water or the air afterwards. I'm beginning to call the phenomenon "Fools Gold" where your reluctant to leave the comforts (?) of the "warmer" water because the air feels so cold.

The skin counter now leads the wetsuit counter 108 skins swim to 60 wetsuit swims. The consecutive day swim streak also now sits at 117. It appears that I may have conflicts for evening swims the rest of this week all the way through Sunday. Could the consecutive swim day streak be in jeopardy of ending?

17 comments:

Ben Speed said...

Well, all good things come to an end. Today i logged my first pool swim since May. I learned three things: (1) pools are warmer than hell's hottub, (2) people in pools swim WAY too close to each other compared to the lake, (3) I'm out of shape for sprint workouts. Since I'm a morning swimmer, it looks like the pool is jail until next May. However, I do want to join the crew every so often for the weekend lake swims. Hope to see you all around the muck suck soon.

Moondaug said...

According to the National Weather Service from Sullivan, Wisconsin, a Wind Advisory has been issued beginning at 4:00 P.M. through 10:00 A.M. tomorrow. A tightening pressure gradient over Wisconsin and Lake Michigan, will result in very windy conditions developing late today and tonight, continuing through Thursday. North winds of 30 to 40 mph, with gusts to 60 mph, are expected near Lake Michigan. North winds of 25 to 30 mph, with gusts to 45 mph, are expected inland.

Should be some fun today!

Jeff said...
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Jeff said...

I decided to delete an earlier comment suggesting that Gumdrop doesn't like big waves and rocks, but decided to change the content.

Anyhow, who's going in with me!?!?

TONIGHT...NORTH GALES TO 40 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 50 KNOTS.
RAIN. WAVES 14 TO 18 FEET.

Gumdrop, I hear Mr. Belvedere doesn't like big waves...and rock piles.

--I'm not really going in.

Moondaug said...

Actually, Mr. Belvedere likes big waves and rock piles so much, that he sometimes jumps in without me! Good thing that he usually only comes out on Sundays (Ma-ma always told me to keep Sundays bests for Sundays!

Kahuna said...

I ask again: "If a tree swims in the forest, and there's no other tree there to swim with it, did the tree swim?"

Moondaug said...

No swim is ever lost, as long as there is still one fool left to swim.

Patriarch said...

Kahuna, the answer is: if the tree is from Shorewood, Yes. If the tree is from Spain, or Glendale, or Milwaukee, No.

Jeff said...

What if a lone tree from Whitefish Bay gets waterlogged and spends eternity in Davy Jones' locker? Does that still count? even if no one knew the tree was bobbing up and down in the water to begin with?

Moondaug said...

As a great band once said-

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their please.

The trouble with the maples,
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade.

There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream "Oppression!"
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
"The oaks are just too greedy;
We will make them give us light."
Now there's no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.

-Rush

Diablo said...

Yes, if a tree swims in the forest, even if there is not other tree there to swim, it does swim.

Kahuna said...

No, a truly unobserved event is one which realizes no effect (imparts no information) on any other (where 'other' might be e.g., human, sound-recorder or rock), it therefore can have no legacy in the present (or ongoing) wider physical universe. It may then be recognized that the unobserved event was absolutely identical to an event which did not occur at all. The lone swimmer may have a momentary effect on the Lake's surface, but the Lake is so vast, and effect so small, that the effect quickly vanishes, and as quickly the swim is identical to a swim that did not occur at all, and thus has no legacy that may be recorded. The meaning of an unobserved swim, is the meaning of "fwah".

Moondaug said...

If an unobserved event is one which realizes no effect on anything or anyone (your first definition) it would have to occur in a perfect vacuum (the brief period of time at the dawn of the universe, before mass,energy,space and time emerged from a "bang", maybe there was no time then), which doesn't exist in the here and now, otherwise my swim times would be a whole lot faster (assuming time still exists in a perfect vacuum)! Upon considering your second position- I will meet your Fwah with a butterfly! The proposition that an effect is to small in to great of a system to make a difference in that system would have to refute the butterfly effect in chaos theory (for example- a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the globe). So a good thought experiment might be; can a single swim by Diablo (the Master of Disaster, or Chaos, as some might interpret his fiery nature) rock you like a hurricane half way around the world?

Jeff said...

Kahuna, the problem that we have is that if I tree falls in the forest and no one is around to see it, did it really fall?

Kahuna said...

If Diablo falls in the forest, no one would know, because nobody ever knows what the hell Diablo does in the forest, and nobody's ever there to see it. If the Patriarch or the Cap'n falls in the forest, it's probably because they've been drinking too much Kilkepitsch. If Bubba Ben falls in the forest, it just confirms the suspicions his wife has.

Moondaug said...
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Moondaug said...

Diablo and I logged a skin swim yesterday around sunset. Neither one of us had planned it, somehow we just both happened to show up at the same time knowing it was time for a visit to the Lady of the Lake, nuff said. She rewarded us with an invigorating fresh bite of a swim. Also present was a 30' tree washed ashore, I assume, unless Kahuna planted it there. Afterward we both ended up at Lisa's for pizza and beer, once again unplanned, amazing. Present at the afterswim were Mrs. Diablo and Beth (whom I shall henceforth refer to as California Girl). Will swim today around 3 if anyone is interested.