the end of an era

This past Saturday was my last day in official capacity at my job at the old UBC AC. I'd use the word 'work' pretty loosely for what I've been doing the past couple of weeks - my replacement started three weeks ago, and after a week and a half or so of training, I pretty much sat back at let him do everything, just being there to answer questions and intervene in absolute emergencies. With a little more than a week do go, my alarm went off at 4:35am for the last time. I rolled over and looked at the alarm and then said to my self, "fuck that." and went back to sleep. Anyways, it's all done now, and the staff did their best to send me off in style. I used to always make breakfast for the staff on Saturday mornings, and so for my last Saturday they put on an extra deluxe breakfast for me . . . pancakes, waffles, scads of fresh fruit, whipped cream, tea, and I drank four mimosas before 10am. It was pretty much one of the best days at work ever. Sunday I went in for my last staff inservice, and that was quite the fiasco. The staff presented me with some tokens of their appreciation - a cookbook they had made with recipes they had contributed with personal messages written on the backs of each recipe, one of the UBC Lifeguarding shirts that the staff had made (not uniforms, just shirts they wear around. it's weird, I know.) with my nickname 'the enforcer' put on the back, and a gift certificate to the campus bookstore to help with my texts come September. One of the staff brought me a 'special drink' in a water bottle which definitely wasn't water . . . and so it began. I knew there was a very high probability of getting tossed into the pool (it's just what happens on your last day) and so I had been carrying around a spare change of clothes for my final couple of days, and since inservice rolled around and I still hadn't gone in, I knew that was the day for sure. And tossed in I got. Twice. Well, once tossed and once carried in officer and a gentleman style. My strategy of just lying down on the ground and going completely limp when I saw them coming for me wasn't so good. Well, maybe it would have worked if it wasn't three buff young fellows doing the tossing.

Then things got ugly. The staff went out to a nearby watering hole for some drinks and appys. This would be the first, and last, time I went out with the staff. It all started out innocently enough with Dan, my replacement, buying me a 'muff dive' which I finally agreed to do from Xta's crotch (thanks for stepping in!). Next was the 'mine field', 10 shots of clear liquid lined up, 5 of which were water, the other five gin. They were shot 30 seconds apart from each other. It was awful. I did have a few pinch hitters, thankfully, but I think they mostly took care of water shots, not gin. Then were a few tequila shots, some other shots, more shots, and oh, did I mention the shots? I think it was the mine field on the nearly empty stomach that started the badness, but the thing that really tipped the scales was when they put a pocket mask in my mouth and used it as a funnel to pour beer down my throat. Huge thanks go to Mike Belly for finally sneaking me out there (and by finally I mean at 8pm) and to Tia for not only driving me home, but for pulling over so I could puke on the way. Needless to say I spent the remainder of the evening and the better part of the next morning wrapped around the toilet. This served as a good reminder of why I am glad my twenties are over. And thank god for Gravol.

So that's it, I'm done. The end of an era. I was 23 years old when I started that job. I owe a huge gratitude to my years at the UBC AC for so many things. I made some of the best friends I have, met the man who in just five weeks will be my husband, got inspired to go back to school and was supported hugely by both of the managers I worked with, got amazing experience and leadership opportunities in the industry, and learned an amazing amount from the people I interacted with. I learned things about pool chemistry and the ins and outs of filtration (like which side of the filter tank produces the biggest hairballs, which are better for throwing) that I never imagined. I learned to become a morning person. I dealt with spinals, heat stroke, broken hips, dislocated shoulders, and more heat exhaustion and hypoglycemia than I knew possible. It was all in all a very good experience.

Staying in my position for seven years is the stuff that legends are made of. The job obviously had it's challenges, and there are certainly parts I will not miss, but I'm glad to have gone out on a positive note. For that, I am going to blog my seven favourite things/memories about the UBC AC. Seven things for seven years . . . coming soon . . .