Inside the Little Plastic Castle

It’s been fifty-nine weeks and a day since I last swam. My pool has created elaborate routines to minimize infection: one-person per lane in 45 minutes blocks; entry at staggered 10-minutes intervals to minimize shared time in locker room. The pool is part of a cardiac rehab clinic, so they've been open to patients but not exercisers.

It’s delicious to be in the water, and I do remember my routines and my strokes.

Last March I’d achieved a 27-minute swim thrice weekly. I’m too impatient to limit myself as much as I should. I did 16 minutes today and then spent four hours just staring straight ahead. More, again on Thursday and Sunday!

How has your body program changed? Any recent signs of improving access?

One of the good things that happens every week is a pal (massively offline) and I go for 20 - 40 minute excursions: she walks and I use my powerchair. Walking together supports a casual and low-key conversation.

But that's not possible now: neither the sidewalks nor even the bike path that's near my door are wide enough for us to maintain true 6ft/2m separation.

She's just invented: parallel-separated-walk-and-talk PSWAT pronounced "peeswat."

We have a phone date this evening: she's riding her indoor bike and I'm walking my treadmill.

I'll let you know how it goes.

( new pain seeks new management strategies )

Sunday I rolled to the Gulf Coast YMCA branch. The water was deliciously warm at 85°. I neglected to bring my flippers, so only swam 8 lengths in my allotted time, but that's why I exercise to time, not distance.

The pool may be filled with filtered sea water: it's certainly soft enough.

I streamed the first half hour of the final Sherlock to my massive disappointment. As always, plaidadder nails it

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I think that I may fairly make two postulata:

• 1) Whatever about series 5, this episode was designed to be the last episode of Sherlock that Moffat and Gatiss would make.
• 2) It should be.

http://plaidadder.tumblr.com/post/155952044114/the-perfect-metaphor-the-final-problem-and-the

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We walked over Mississippi Sound on the 2 mile bridge connecting Biloxi and Ocean Springs. The view, the sun, the breeze, were exhilarating. My traditional direct attention to the water photo memorializes one stop:

Home to nap, and finish The Final Problem. Wow, that was terrible. (As with most Sherlock canon, there were a handful of wonderful moments, but...thank god for fanfic. I heartily recommend all of plaidadder's.)

We then drove back to Biloxi to assess what was where. The beachside road is furnished with a wide array of architecture: brick Waffle Houses; massive casinos; 1940s apartment buildings; humble 900 sq ft shotgun houses, Frank Gehry's typically bizarre Ohr-O'Keefe Museum, and the Biloxi Visitor's Center, a majestic three-story former mansion.

In my brief time here, I've seen scores of historical markers, displays, websites, pamphlets. Based solely on the ones I've seen, the only people on the Gulf Coast have been the immigrant waves of French, English, Spanish, and "Americans." Africans aren't mentioned anywhere. This is what it looks like to be written out of the narrative.

The third Monday in January has officially been "Robert E Lee's Birthday" in Mississippi, until this year. Twitter shaming played a part in the Biloxi City Council voting unanimously to bring the holiday in line with the Federal designation of Martin Luther King's Birthday.

We finished our day with a promising but ultimately dull meal at Mosaic. MyGuy liked his pulled-pork quesadilla. My ceviche & rice-stuffed portobello was tasty, but not enough to write home about, although I seem to have done so.

Time to swim!

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There is a new conflict in town: employer-sponsored wellness programs and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). On several occasions the EEOC has sued employers for allegedly forcing compulsory and intrusive wellness programs aimed to improve the general health of employees. Is there a possible compromise for employers to foster employee wellness while avoiding unlawful medical inquiries?

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