Ch. 4: Swimmingly
"Late's okay, Mom!"
"So's early."
We left for the pool on foot a little before nine and got there about nine twenty.
The sign above the counter said,
Open swim from
10:00 AM to 7:15 PM
in good weather.
Changing rooms
open at 9:45,
close at 7:30 PM.
Swimming class only
before 9:45.
"Twenty-five minutes, Mom, what're we gonna do?"
"It's enough time for a walk."
Not much rainfall, so the park there is a little on the dry side most of the year. But there are baseball diamonds and football fields, and children practicing. Around the pool and the wading pool, they grass is pretty green, and they try to keep it green around the picnic tables and the children's park. More of a yellow-green, the further you get from the pool.
We read the botanical tags on some of the trees and bushes.
"Western soapberry. Says it can be used for soap."
"Broom dalea, also known as purple sage."
"Desert willow."
"Blue oak. Maybe there's more to like about this town than we thought."
"Wha ...?" I stopped. "Mom, did you just admit you had doubts about this move?"
Mom walked ahead and didn't reply.
We were back at the pool by the time they opened the changing area.
"Where's your swimsuits?" the girl at the counter asked.
We held up our bundles. "Tee shirts and shorts okay in the pool?" I asked.
She looked at our bundles. "Not unless they're clean and you're wearing a clean swimsuit underneath."
We both spread our bundles on the counter.
"Looks clean. Shower and check the rules before you go in."
We paid our money and went into the changing area. Mom and I shared a locker basket. We showered and changed quickly and went into the pool area dripping wet.
"That winds a little cold."
"We'll warm up quick in the water."
Swimming coaches were still chasing stragglers out of the pool. Life guards were skimming the water surface with nets to clear leaves. We had to wait.
The pool is a big Z. There's a diving area on the far end and a kid's play area on the near end, and a huge practice area ten lanes wide and fifty meters long between.
"We can do some serious swimming here, Cherry Hill."
"Not until the lifeguards blow their whistles."
Mom and I dove in the moment the whistles blew, and did laps. Mom still swims faster than I do when she's motivated, but not much. We stayed pretty even.
Rusty dove past us on the third lap and stayed just ahead. His friends started jumping in behind us. One girl kept up, but the rest lagged behind.
About the tenth lap, one of the boys was stopped ahead of us, blocking Rusty's path. A girl that looked like his twin was behind Rusty, and they teamed up to dunk him. I stopped and the girl who was keeping up did, as well, and we teamed up to dunk the twins. All his friends stopped and joined in the water fight.
Then the lifeguards' whistles blew, and I got to meet everyone. The girl who had kept up was June, the twins were Karl and Kim. And Karen and Kelly were there, as were their moms.
Mom got to gossip, well, find out a lot more about the school, the town, and the people. At first, they teased her about the workout she was doing while they talked. But she talked them into joining her.
I think it was Kelly that suggested water polo. We got permission from the life guards, and they roped off half the length of the practice area for us and set up goals. My mom and the other two moms did some short laps while we played.
Rusty's friends may not all be fast swimmers, but they are serious about water polo.
We had fun playing that for almost an hour, then rested on the sides and talked, and dove off the diving boards, and played piggy-back wars -- with permission from the life guards, of course.
No, I was not riding on Rusty's shoulders, at least, not most of the time. We all took turns being horses and riders, and I was a horse a lot of the time.
A guy named Joel tried to do a back flip from the low board, and didn't get his head down. he ended up in a major back-flop, splashing water to both sides of the pool. It hurt just to hear him hit the surface. Then he went limp in the water, face up and sinking.
I was close and swam for him. Rusty was on the other side of the pool, but he was under the lifeguard station and Sharon, who was manning the station, waved him off so she could get in safely. She was in mid-air when Joel floated back up, still facing the sky. He let out a roar, "IH-TEH YAHN KAH!" and started laughing. Then he rolled gingerly over and stroked carefully for the bank while the rest of us broke up in relieved laughter.
Sharon made him lie on the bank while she checked his eyes and reflexes.
I asked him where he learned Japanese. Turns out his dad is from Awaji Island, across from Osaka and Kobe.
It didn't take him long to convince Sharon and Hank, the other lifeguard on duty that day, he was okay, and he went back to the low board and turned a perfect back flip. Kim followed with a rolling bomb that splashed water over the banks, and Karl did a deliberate belly-flop, shouting, "Feels GOOD!" when he surfaced. Joel dunked him and the whistles blew again.
Sharon is June's older sister, and Hank is Karen's older brother. They're members of the college swim team.
While we were resting, Rusty and I got to talking about RFCs 1459 and 2813 and encrypted channels, and suddenly four girls grabbed me and four guys grabbed him and we went into the water. And the lifeguards' whistles blew again.
I was having too much fun to think about it, but it felt like I had known everyone forever. Everybody shared and everybody was included. No cliques. Well, except for Karl and Kim, but they have an excuse, and, anyway, they're an open clique.
And everyone wore conservative suits. Mom was right about the shorts and tee-shirt. I never took them off.
Some of the group had to leave about twelve, and others came. Mom and I said our goodbyes and left about one.
That evening, after Mom and I got back from finishing my registration for my senior year in high school, I did some web searches for Rusty's name and his public key. I found out he's on the school's science and technology team. He runs the school's student servers, and is teaching several students how to take his place. And his jobs with the ISP and the newspaper are official.
{join gwydyr.ussw pen9choir=}
{nick cutegeek}
{cutegeek :oxide Hey!}
{oxide alias superpaperboy}
{superpaperboy 'sup?}
{cutegeek had fun today. there long?}
{superpaperboy til 2. ya coming tomorrow.}
"Mom, can I go swimming tomorrow?"
"Of course."
"Thanks."
{cutegeek yeah}
"All week if you want. Can I come, too? It'll be good exercise for me."
"I guess so."
We chatted a little before I signed off and went to bed. IRC is much more convenient than raw UDP packets.
Wednesday morning, I gave Rusty a copy of one of my public keys before we went in to change. Mom went again and met Rusty and June's mothers.
I mentioned something about encrypted channels once while we were taking a break and we got thrown in the pool again.
That evening, Rusty and I imported each other's keys and talked shop over encrypted IRC. And other stuff.
{superpaperboy having a party at my house sat}
{cutegeek ?}
{superpaperboy friends from school and church}
{cutegeek oh}
{superpaperboy interested?}
{cutegeek maybe}
{superpaperboy dancin n games}
"Mom, Rusty's having a party at his house on Saturday. Kids from school and his church."
"Yes you can go."
"Just like that?"
"Rusty and his friends are good people."
{cutegeek im on}
We got thrown in the pool on Thursday, too. Mom laughed, and the life guards didn't even bother blowing their whistles until it turned into a water fight. And it wasn't even Sharon and Hank on duty that morning.
We were on unencrypted IRC that night.
{Superdad joined gwydyr.ussw}
{cutegeek Dad?}
"Mom, did you tell Dad about Rusty's IRC channel?"
{Superdad Hi, Rusty.}
"Well, yeah."
{superpaperboy Hello, sir.}
”Oh."
{Superdad I hear you're smooth-talking my daughter.}
{cutegeek :Superdad Identify yourself.}
{Superdad joined sugitahkr.net}
The sugitahkr.net channel can only be joined encrypted, with keys that only Dad, Mom, and I have.
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net Hi, Cherry.}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net Hi, Dad.}
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net exited}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net exited}
{cutegeek meet my dad}
{Superpaperboy Hi, Dad.}
{Superdad Just wanted to say hi.}
So Dad joined us that night. Mom joined us, too. Rusty suggested I pass his public key to Dad and Mom, and I did, out-of-band. (Sent it in encrypted e-mail to Dad, just handed it to Mom.) So we established an encrypted channel, and talked a little shop. Rusty's dad also joined for a bit.
After Rusty and his dad logged off, Dad and I got back on the encrypted channel.
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net So ...}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net Haven't mentioned the computer room, Dad. Or anything about your work.}
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net Get as much information as you can.}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net OK!}
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net And watch yourself.}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net ok}
{Superdad@sugitahkr537738.net And don't have too mucho fun. ;-).}
Dads.
Ch. 5: Swimmingly
Backup at https://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2017/10/bk-phr-04-swimmingly.html.
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