Swimsover 2025

 Seems I never published last year's Swimsover photo. From October 6, 2025...

First Dunk 2026

 The pool has been open since April 27th, but the weather has not cooperated...until yesterday.

First Dunk 2025

 

The pool was opened on April 28th and I got in up to my knees on the 30th (the water was 65 degrees), but the actual First Dunk took place on Saturday May 3rd (with the water at 72 degrees). Here comes summer!

Swimsover 2024

 

My mother-in-law used to say, "It always get hot around the Jewish holidays" and that proved true when the temperature reached 75 degrees on Yom Kippur. I made my last swim two days later, on Monday the 14th, with the water down to 64 degrees. Though it's been sunny and the pool won't be closed until tomorrow, the overnight temps in the 40s (and daytime highs in the 50s) mean I am done for the season.

How many weeks till next May?

First Dunk 2024

 

Lots of petals from the neighbor's flowering tree, but the pool is open!

Swimsover 2023

Well, the pool is not closed yet, but the forecast for the coming week is highs in the 60s and overnight lows in the 40s, so it would seem that yesterday was my last time in the water. I did get a full week of October swims, though, so I'm happy the original date for closing (this past Tuesday) was rescheduled.

Only about 30 weeks to First Dunk 2024!

Where Does a Blood Donation Go?

 

  The young woman in the center of this photo is alive today thanks to twenty-four transfusions of whole blood, platelets, and red cells she received while fighting leukemia. People who receive transfusions rarely, if ever, know from whom they come nor do the donors ever learn who receives their donations.
  On May 3rd, however, at a New York Blood Center dinner, she got to meet six of the two dozen strangers whose donations saved her life. It was an amazing and emotional event for all.
  Only 2% of the population of this country donates blood and blood products. The need is constant and there is no substitute. Please consider becoming a donor; you may never know who you will save, but someone out there will benefit.
  By the way, the six donors in this picture, who were also strangers to one another, have together made more than 1,100 lifetime donations! (Four hundred and fifteen of them were by that familiar-looking guy third from
the left.)

First Dunk 2023

   After some morning volleyball on a warm sunny day, it was time for First Dunk!

Swimsover - 2022

   The pool is scheduled to be closed this afternoon and with the chilly temperature today, there was no way I could get in one last swim. So, Swimsover is officially October 16th. 

  Looking forward to the reopening and First Dunk in May, 2023.

First Dunk -2022

   We opened the pool quite early this year -- April 6th, in fact -- because we needed the cover out of the way so the new patio could be installed. Despite that, it was not warm enough for my first dunk until May 17th. (Sorry, no photo available.)

  With temperatures in the 80s today, Alex joined me for his first dunk of the season. He has been looking forward to being back in the pool since his last swim of 2021.

Swimsover 2021

   Another pool season came to an end with my final swim yesterday. I had hoped for one more today but the pool guys showed up before I got home. 

  Oh well, only about 28 weeks till we open it up again.

First Dunk 2021

 The pool is open and the Temperature Team and I were ready for this year's First Dunk. The water was 73 degrees, so it was a refreshing dip after volleyball and some yard work.

Will You Shut Up, Man

 So tired of hearing about how so many Republicans believe the election was stolen from Trump. Let's have a 2016 flashback to compare:

*Number of Democrats who believed the election was stolen from Hillary Clinton: Many.

*When Clinton conceded the election to Trump: The day after the election

*Number of Clinton lawsuits filed to have votes thrown out: None

*Number of post-election rallies Clinton held proclaiming voter fraud: None

*Number of times Clinton demanded Vice President Joe Biden throw out the Electoral College votes from states she "should" have won: None

*Number of Clinton supporters who stormed the Capitol, threatening lives and destroying property: None

*Number of deaths as a result of Clinton's post-election actions: None

History From the Future

 

From A History of U.S. Elections, © 2057 by Amazon Putnam Doubleday, Inc. :

In 2016, there was massive interference by the Russian government in the Presidential elections. Though the public was only told that it was limited to influencing and bogus postings on social media, further investigation showed that malware had been planted in the voting machines of a number of states. Primary targets were Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, identified as “swing states” because their electoral votes would most likely determine the winner of the election. The purpose of the malware was, quite simply, to change votes. Every tenth vote recorded for Hillary Clinton was changed to a vote for Donald Trump, resulting in a Trump victory in each of the swing states. It was this change that resulted in all the polls and predictions of the outcome turning out so wrong.

Investigations after the election revealed the existence of the malware, but the discovery was kept at a top secret security level, the fear being that disclosure would shake the faith of the American public in the electoral process. President Trump, after being advised of the situation, chose to take no action against the Russians. He also took no steps and gave no orders to have the malware removed.

 

As the 2020 election approached, Trump began a campaign designed to destroy Americans’ faith in the security of the elections, the very situation that keeping the Russian interference a secret was intended to avoid. However, Trump claimed that it was the Democratic Party that would use tricks and fraudulent voting to steal the election from him.  

Trump’s major concern about his reelection was mail-in voting. While the Russian malware would continue to change votes in his favor, nothing could be done with paper ballots that had to be processed and counted by human beings. Over the course of the year leading up to the election, he made numerous statements about counterfeit ballots and ballots being sent on behalf of deceased people and illegal immigrants, as well as other baseless claims.

The situation grew more serious for Trump with the outbreak of Covid-19. With the country locked down by the pandemic, many states instituted or eased restrictions on the use of mail-in or absentee ballots. This was of particular concern in the so-called “swing states,” which again would most likely determine the winner of the Presidency. Trump installed a staunch supporter as Postmaster General, giving him the specific task of crippling the Postal Service so that ballots would not be delivered to the voters or returned in a timely manner.

The impact of the Russian malware was evident early on Election Day as tallies from the swing states showed Trump with substantial leads. Trump, thinking his reelection was assured, declared himself the victor. What he had failed to take into account were the millions of mail-in ballots that still had to be counted, votes that were overwhelmingly for his opponent, Joe Biden. As those ballots were tallied, it became evident that Biden was, in fact, the winner of the election. Trump, handcuffed because he could not focus attention on the voting machines and the Russian interference which had enabled his 2016 victory (and was intended to reassure his reelection), instead pursued baseless litigation to have all the mail-in ballots thrown out.

Despite his refusal to concede defeat, Trump’s tenure as President ended with the inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021. He went to his grave claiming that the election had been stolen from him. He never publicly acknowledged the Russian interference, though a postmortem investigation of his private papers revealed a number of questionable communications with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. (The exact contents of those communications remain sealed until 2080.)

 

Further investigation during the Biden Presidency discovered that the Russian malware’s use had been expanded in 2020 and utilized in a number of races for the United States Senate and House of Representatives. As with the Trump votes, votes cast for Democratic candidates in a number of states were changed to votes for their opponents, resulting in a number of illegitimate Republican victories. It was not until 2027 that this became public knowledge when two Senators who had benefited from the cheating acknowledged that their unwavering support for Trump had been in exchange for the “help” with their campaigns.

 

Following the 2020 election, the movement to eliminate the Electoral College from the process of electing the President grew more fervent. The battle, almost totally partisan, went on for more than a decade until an agreement was reached. In 2035, the 30th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified by 40 states, determined that Electoral College votes would be prorated in each state based on the popular vote. This effectively eliminated the concept of “swing states” and gave the Presidency to the person who won the popular vote.

 

 

Swimsover 2020

 Another pool season comes to a close. My last dip was yesterday afternoon with the air temp in the low 70s and the water down at about 64 degrees. Laurie calls this photo "Proof of Life in Frigid Water."

This morning, our friends from Carr Pools arrived and the 2020 swim season is officially ended.

Only about 28 weeks till First Dunk 2021.

First Dunk 2020

   The pool was opened last Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon, we had a couple of snow squalls -- yes, on May 9th! A week later, here I am for First Dunk 2020. (Granted, the water was only 69 degrees, but it's a start!)

Swimsover 2019

I wasn't sure when I was going to get my last swim in, but the weather cooperated today (mid-70s) and, after turning over the tomato beds (that season is over too), I was warm enough to jump in. The water was 66 degrees -- too cold for Laurie but okay for my own version of the Polar Bear Club. Tomorrow, the pool gets closed for the winter and I'll start looking forward to First Dunk 2020.

First Dunk 2019

I was starting to wonder if it would ever stick in "late spring" mode long enough for the pool to stay warm. (We had a night in the 40s earlier this week.) Well, today the temperature team agreed the pool was at 70 degrees, so in I went. Summer's here!

Papa & Alex "Photo Booth"

Posing

Superheroes

Dinosaurs

Silly

Worn Out

Swimsover 2018

  Summer blew out of town sometime Thursday night as we appear to have seen the last of weather in the mid-70s (with temps not much cooler overnight). Friday night is forecast to drop into the 40s.
  With the pool closing scheduled, Swimsover 2018 was going to happen sometime in the next few days. Though I usually wait till the day before (or the day of) the closing, I decided to take advantage of the water still being in the low 70s -- and about ten degrees warmer than the air -- and take the last swim this afternoon.
  One extra note for this pool season, my last "midnight swim" -- a dip after an evening of volleyball or when it's just a really hot night -- took place on Wednesday, far later in the season than I've ever done before.
   So that's it for 2018, but we're only about six months away from First Dunk 2019.