Every year children drown in swimming pools, lakes, baths, rivers, etc. It really breaks my heart to hear or read about this. I’ve been a lifeguard for over 10 years and fully aware of the dangers in swimming pools or any other place that has water. It has always been a big fear that one day someone would drown during my shift. Fortunately I’ve always been alert enough to prevent this.

The one thing that always makes me mad when I read in the newspaper that a child has drowned in a swimming pool is that every one immediately points the finger at the lifeguard. Where was the lifeguard? Why didn’t he pay attention? Why didn’t he perform a rescue, etc? Another comment that people made to me on a regular basis is; “You got yourself a nice job sitting on your ass or just walking around doing nothing!”

People are genuinely surprised when you tell them what you have to do to become a lifeguard. Most people think that you can just grab someone of the street and put him in a swimming pool and let them ‘watch’ the pool. As a lifeguard you learn how to watch a pool, where the dangers are, what to look for, which people you have to keep an extra eye on, etc. You also have to go through a course where you learn how to perform a rescue, first aid, resuscitation, the plant room, water quality, dealing with people, anger management, problem solving, etc.

When you are a qualified lifeguard, most of the time you can prevent a rescue. The job of a lifeguard is not only preventing or performing rescues, but also keeping the order in a swimming pool. It’s almost like being a police officer sometimes. “You are not allowed to dive in the pool because you can break your neck” or “You can not go down the slides backward” or “You have to stay with your child and supervise it” and I can go on an on.

Lifeguards usually don’t get the respect they deserve. They are there to assure that your day in the swimming pool goes smoothly and you have a lot fun. Yet a lot of people don’t listen to the advice a lifeguard gives and when something does go wrong it’s still the lifeguards fault. Fortunately not every one treats a lifeguard like this.

Now where I would like to go with this story is this; whenever I read an article about a child that has drowned, I wonder too where the lifeguard was, but I wonder even more where the parents were. Read the rest of this entry »

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The last week I have been pretty sick. It all started when DH got sick. At the time we put it down to his medication playing up, but looking back he must have had the flu and passed it on to me. Instead of enjoying the long Easter weekend we’ve both been laying or in bed or on the couch watching whatever was moving on TV.

We didn’t eat chocolate eggs at all and I had really been looking forward to having a cheat day where I could eat chocolate. But it wasn’t meant to be; I could not even keep my food down. The positive news is that between all the vomiting and diarrhea I lost weight - about a kilo. The bad news is that I still have way to many other kilo’s to lose.

I absolutely hate being sick. It makes me feel grumpy that I am not able to do the things I want to do. Not only does feeling sick making me grumpy, but it also makes me incredible depressed. Oh well, at least I am starting to feel a little bit better now.

… about one of my best friends. It’s a secret that I am not supposed to know. I wish she would have told me herself, but I guess she will when she is ready for it. The information comes from a very reliable source and I know that it is 100% true.

The secret is that one of my best friends is gay.

I don’t care what her sexuality is, although I think that instead of just being a lesbian she is bi-sexual.  She’s had a crush on a guy from the sports club for ages and was absolutely crushed when he started to date one of our team mates. She might have a ’secret’ girl friend now, but I don’t believe that she never had any feelings for guys.

I am not going to confront her about it. She will tell me when she’s ready to tell me.

Why is it that things seem to take forever when you are waiting for something? My brother and his wife are expecting a baby and she was due on the 17th of March. I am eagerly waiting by the phone to hear some good news.

I have some mixed feelings about it; I am excited to become an aunt again, but  on the other hand it is making me so homesick. I want to be there when the baby is born. I want to hold it and take a million pictures, etc. But unfortunately I will only see the baby on pictures send to me by email and/or through the web-cam. It kind of sucks.

The cool thing is that my family have chucked in some money for DH and me to fly over to Holland. Unfortunately we won’t be able to go until the claims for DH’s work accident and our car accident are finalised. This could be another couple of months…