Pointless Things on the Gunn Swim Team 2.0 (updated whenever needed)

1 Team warm down
2 Push ups on last race
3 The binder full of thousands of papers you have to print just so you can know "swimming strategies"
4 Saturday morning practice
5 Saturday morning practice at 8:30AM
6 Swimming after practice is over
7 Attending every practice is mandatory
8 Waiting outside the pool in a huge line to dive when you could wait in the water
9 One paper in the binder-"on vacations you should find a pool and do your favorite sets!"
10 A goal sheet with your academic and swimming goals. Includes an inspiring quote and an inspiring song
11 Finishing a set after practice has ended, get a ten minute talk, then do another set, a 100 easy, then another talk
12 During meets, snack can only be eaten after the meet has ended. People were starving through the meet and now its dinner time
13 30 talks on thursdays and fridays about the same exact thing each week (okay whens wake up swim? 6:50. Whens the meet start? 2:05...)
14 Friday morning practice at 6:15
15 Swimathon(!!!) We swim a lot (like always) for a week while collecting money from neighbors and friends. Everyone is expected to have $200.
16 Swimming nothing at meets but still having to warm up and down
17 You have to know the score of the meet at all times
18 the position of locker rooms. girls have a door right next to the pool that is always open. boys has two on the other side of the building that are sometimes closed. If one is closed you have to walk even farther to the other one, freezing and wet. when they are both closed you have to go back and get the keys from the coach (which takes them 10 minutes)
19 During all talks they keep us in the water. We have stopped moving and are now shivering. Why cant they see our pain and talk to us while we are changing and drying off?!?!?
20 our sweatshirt says swimming and diving. I am not a diver.

The Benchwarmer Without a Bench

Thursday's swimming practice was one of the worse. When our hour and a half was up, the coaches talked to us some more. Then we did another set. Then more talking. During talks, I shiver and freeze. 20 minutes later we changed the lanelines. They said they needed the whole team, but half the team was sitting around freezing. Finally we got out 30 minutes late. Today, Friday was the meet against Paly. Slept in again. Finally at 2:05 I got out early. Got changed and went to check my events. On the swim team, the coaches choose your events. Meaning you can do something you suck at, or just the hardest event, the 500 yard freestyle (20 laps). Ready to swim and try my best to beat our rival, I checked my events. 2nd race of the match, 2 laps of backstroke of a 8 lap medley relay, and thats it. I thought I would do so much more than that. Disappointed I did my warm up (15 laps?) Got out and waited for my race to come. It took a long time, because the buzzer broke. So they had a whistle. I got next to the starting block. They whistle. I get in the water and get ready. A few seconds. I start thinking When are we starting? Do they say anything? They whistle. Everyone starts. I realize what happened and start late. I do a lap then my goggles fall off. Swimming as fast as I can while balancing my goggles on my head, I finish. My relay team lost. I get out, wait 3 hours, then I have to get back in for team warm down. I HATE TEAM WARM DOWN. I'm already warm outside the water, then I have to jump into the water, get a talk, swim 20 laps, get ANOTHER talk, put on the pool cover then get out. I guess it can be worse, some people didnt swim any race and the coaches still made then warm up and down. But why do so many things on the Gunn swimming team have to be pointless and annoying?

My Teacher is the Beast

My english teacher hates me. On Sunday, a friend and I headed to Mitchel Park so we could make a movie for a project for her class. It was supposed to represent savagery, but I guess we went a little too far (fake blood EVERYWHERE). Anyway, it was a low budget film and it was finished that night. We had troubles with it, like finding a stuffed animal pig, but in the end I think it turned out pretty nice. Yeah, I know you can see the string pulling the pig in every scene and at one point you could see the person pulling the string (I covered it up with editting), but it still looked good. Upon finishing it, I realized the file size was too big for a CD. So I got my dads iPod and used it as a harddrive. I copy a low quality and a high quality version of the film and I was done. The Next day, first period, I had her. Knowing that copying the movie to her computer might take a few minutes I raised my hand and told her. "It could take a few minutes to put the movie on your computer through my iPod. I couldn't fit it on a disc." "iPod? That's not an availiable option to turn it in. How will I watch it again?!?" "I'm using the iPod as a harddrive so I can copy it on your computer." "But then my computer will crash!" What is she talking about!?! She had a mac OS X so unless her hardrive was full, there is no way it could crash. "Well I have a low quality version too..." She turned away from me. "Class, I am upset right now from the unpreparedness. Unprepared! Is it my fault you are too imcompetant to operate your computer?!? Or is it my fault that your computer can't handle a simple procedure like transfering!??! Well soon it was our turn to present. I set it up, nervously. Something I had done millions of times I was stubbling through. I knew my grade depended on doing this right. Finally the low quality was set and we watched. At the end, I unplugged the iPod (doing it wrong btw). I start to get up, but she set up the computer half off the edge. It starts to fall. I caught it just in time, knowing if it fell, I got an F. Today, she already graded it (what does she have nothing else to do?!?) My grade was a B+. Here is her reasons for the grade. Throughness was a 7/10 because "doing it the way you did doesn't allow for volume control or proper review." What?!? The volume was a little messed up but I left the movie on her computer! She can review it anytime! Creative thought and ingenuity was a 7/10 because parts were innappropriate. I will give her this one. Overall effort was a 10/10 but she said we needed equal roles. I was the main character. But that doesn't mean my partner didnt help. He got supplies and stuff. Under comments she wrote "how am I supposed to review this later?" BY DOUBLE CLICKING ON THE FILE IN YOUR DESKTOP!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG I just want to punch her! Yes I know a B+ isn't a bad grade, but she took off points because od her incompetance. I would've had an A. Is this the only reason why she hates me? My friends says I ask too many questions. Today I saw on her study guide a question about something under chapter 12 that happened in ch11 and decribed in detail and mentioned in ch12. I asked "why is it under 12? didnt it happen in 11?" "yeah" "so why is it in 12" "because its mentioned." I just want to punch her so much, and she probably feels the same for me. btw, the title is a reference from the lord of the flies, which I read in her class.

First Meet and Cold Feet

Friday was Gunn's intrasquad meet. I was looking foward to it as much as I look foward to every single practice. The day started out great. Friday morning practice was optional and I had a prep first period, so I slept in. Next period was video production, where the teacher pushed the due date of our project to Monday. Desun and I were already finished, so we just went on youtube the whole period. At the end of the period, some kids in our class found a mike turned on some music and started doing karyoke. The day was pretty average from there until swimming. After school I got changed and headed to the pool. They told us it started at 3:30, but it was 3:20 and everyone was swimming. I sighed, hopped in the pool and did my 15-20 minute meet warmup. Then I did some dives and sprints and was was done with warmup. I got out and notice Tarina was watching. I really had no one to hang out with so I hung out with her. (She had originally come because Ben asked her to, but who wants to see Ben? She said ew everytime she saw him.) While waiting on the deck for my first event, I had no shoes. The ground was an extremely rough cement, and felt like spikes. It was also cold, and soon my feet were numb. After a while Juliet and Ranier came, so I had more people to talk to. Then I heard my name called. My race was about to start and I wasn't there. Normally this isn't terrible but our coaches had a bet to see if everyone could make their races. I made the coach saying we could lose. I ran, grabbed my goggles, and rushed to my starting block. With adrenalin pumping, I jumped in the pool and started my freestyle as the buzzer went off. I could feel my feet still numb in the water. I zoomed across the pool and back. Before I knew it it was over, and I got first. I also shaved 2 seconds off my fastest time. I got out and my towel was wet and freezing. I was shivering. Time passed and soon I had my other race, breaststroke. I made sure I didn't miss it, but I got second or third. I got out and my towel was even colder. Soon my feet started turning blue. It took until, 6:30 but finally the meet was over. But I wasn't done. We have to do the Gunn warmdown which is so stupid. I had to do 5 times what I did in racing. I had to get wet again and cold. Why do we have to do it?!? Anyway, after was a potluck, then I went to Asun's suprise party. It was a blast, and I'm sure he loved his present. I left at about 10 and went to bed around 12:30. Next week, we are up against Paly. But my Gunn suit didn't come yet, so I have to wear my green one...