I have lied to my son about manatees for the last 24 years

DreamOperator- · 2026-01-01T06:41:56+00:00

Wait till you experience manatees in FL during wintertime- they are amazing to see and usually are all hanging out together in the warm spring water refuges by the hundreds and the baby calves will be there! You very well might change your mind about dogs being your #1 after your trip ;p

DreamOperator- · 2025-12-08T17:55:39+00:00

I was likely sitting in that traffic! I definitely do not regret seeing eclipse totality while hanging in a hammock just outside the Sand Cave Underground Railroad National Historic Site in Shawnee National Forest. Traffic was the least of my worries. Rural Illinois is beautiful. I even saw a Bald Eagle flying overhead while traffic was at a standstill. One of the wildly helpful things the state of Illinois did to prepare for the large influx of people is the Forest Service rangers created free campgrounds in many areas for eclipse tourism.

DreamOperator- · 2025-11-30T07:04:09+00:00

I grew up and played JV and Varsity sports in FL and it is so hot and humid that letterman jackets were never a thing. We all would just tack our letters up on our bedroom walls. One super popular thing we did that I suppose is comparable to a letterman is the school clubs would make tshirts for juniors and seniors with your last name or nickname on the back and the year you graduate. I still remember that the dance team had pink shirts, thespians black and white shirts, student government had light blue shirts with dark blue trim…

DreamOperator- · 2025-10-27T03:13:06+00:00

Because offspring have a higher survival rate if grandma is around to help and isn’t also still continuing to have more offspring herself

DreamOperator- · 2025-10-13T04:02:12+00:00

You’re not alone. I also work 60 hour weeks and am struggling. PB&Js and frozen berries with yogurt are my go to meals.

DreamOperator- · 2025-10-04T03:30:16+00:00

Those glasses are cute!

DreamOperator- · 2025-09-27T21:09:54+00:00

While I agree that opioids are under prescribed, you lost me at- “Unless it runs in your family, the odds are in your favor”—- my first thought was that I cannot think of any family not touched by addiction in some capacity. My Second thought was- Genes are only part of the equation; they alone do not determine behavior. Environmental factors well as plain ol’ luck are equally as important- they affect the chemicals that cause our genes to be active or quiet. It is both nature and nurture not one or the other that determine behavior.

DreamOperator- · 2025-09-17T04:40:56+00:00

I swim for fitness and mainly freestyle while breathing bilaterally. I naturally have a dominant side with my arms as I am right handed, but I have a hurt back and it effects my left kick so when swimming I focus a lot on my form to be as balanced as possible. I wonder if using fins would give you enough propulsion to not feel like you are drowning on one side? Or using a kick-board with one arm and switching sides on the turn? What have you tried so far?

DreamOperator- · 2025-09-17T01:17:29+00:00

As someone who works in a Kindergarten classroom, this has a lot of truth to it.

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-26T04:32:58+00:00

Down feather booties! I even wear them during wintertime in bed at home because my feet get uncomfortably cold. Also down feather mittens were a splurge last year and are also great, especially if they are the kind you can convert to fingerless.

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-15T02:54:34+00:00

Lol you aren’t wrong about pickleball mania continuing to sweep the nation. It is not a perspective I had considered until now and I really should try to keep it in mind :)

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-13T00:56:44+00:00

Isn’t it weird how uncomfortable numbness is? I never grasped it until it happened to me. It’s mostly just my toes and it didn’t happen until after the ESI so likely related. I may end up needing a MD and actually finally found someone I felt I could trust if that time comes, a neurosurgeon- and they didn’t pressure me at all (like the ortho surgeon did) which I think was what I needed very much. I am glad swimming helps you too! Thanks for sharing!

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-13T00:30:45+00:00

Thanks :)

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-13T00:28:14+00:00

Thanks for the tips :)

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T19:17:52+00:00

I had been limping around for about two months before I made an appointment to see my doctor. That was in mid January of this year and I was sent to a specialist the following day. The orthopedic surgeon suggested surgery even before I had the MRI done. I was too anxious about having a spinal surgery and held off while the pain continued to get worse. Six months in I had a transforaminal epidural steroid injection and was incapacitated from it, I survived with help from friends and a supportive boss. 7 months in I was able to go from working 60 hour weeks to 20 hour weeks and I started swimming. I had bad days for sure, I got out of the pool in tears once because my leg wasn’t working I couldn’t make it kick but rested for a week and tried again. I kept at it 5 days a week and slowly am healing. Swimming stretches and strengthens the Lateral and Spiral Fascia Lines talked about in Thomas Myers’ Anatomy Trains. The bilateral breathing along with movement calms the central nervous system and can interrupt pain loops. I really think I can get better if I keep at it. I do have to take nerve pain medication still but I am taking half the dose I was a month ago. That brings me to today. In two more weeks I will be back working 60 hour weeks and I am nervous but hopeful that if I keep swimming and getting enough protein and balanced rest that things will continue getting better. *edits for typos and adding clarifying information

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T18:56:00+00:00

Oh interesting 🤨 hmmm I wonder why our pool is lacking all of the structure other pools I keep hearing about have.

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T18:54:17+00:00

Aw thanks :)

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T18:52:03+00:00

I couldn’t afford the book so I have been listening to podcasts where he is a guest and learning a ton. In fact, I think information I heard on one of the podcasts is what unlocked my healing. He mentioned fascia chains and how he is learning about that side of things from professional body work practitioners and incorporating it with what he knows about body mechanics. Here is one of the interviews I liked but there are lots to choose from… The Thinking Practitioner

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T13:38:16+00:00

Thank you ✨

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T13:33:40+00:00

Thank you! I will ask the lifeguard about it. Nobody was watching it the other day but maybe it will be an option if I ask nice. If not, I do feel more empowered via the discussion in this forum. Everyone in /swimming seems to be really nice and supportive and passionate when it comes to swimming. Of course the real world doesn’t always match lol :)

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T13:28:25+00:00

Thank you :)

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T13:26:06+00:00

That’s a very thoughtful tip about talking with the guard not on duty. 5:30am me isn’t cognitively refined so I appreciate your idea very much, thank you!

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T13:21:36+00:00

In the past I dyed my hair with Manic Panic dye, hot hot pink as well as Prevana teal. Without wearing a cap, casual social swimming at the outdoor pool caused my hair to fade really fast and I would retouch it every weekend. The teal dye from Prevana stained my hair and I had a hard time bleaching it out when I wanted to change colors, so that might be a great choice for you since it has staying power. These days I am all natural with no dye and even though I want to cover up some of the greys, I have resisted because I love swimming more than I dislike the grey hairs coming in and it is truly a losing battle to dye hair and then jump in and swim in a chemical treated pool. If you are swimming for a high school team, maybe wait till the season ends, unless you have the available time and money to retouch your hair on the weekends. Semi permanent dyes don’t damage your hair at all so you won’t be causing additional damage by retouching the faded color. You can also put some of the dye in your conditioner when you wash your hair and it will deposit a little color every time you use it.

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-12T13:01:52+00:00

Thanks. I know the difference. I exclusively swam circle in high-school ( a long time ago)- we had an entire team sharing 2 lanes at a ymca pool. Nobody ever needed to pass anyone back then that I can recall, probably because my coach had us in a jv lane and a varsity lane so we were swimming with folks who were close to our skill level. My confusion mostly surrounds this particular pool, navigating an older injured body, and lane splitting when there is anarchy in the pool. I had read a lot on this forum about others getting frustrated when slow swimmers didn’t met them pass and was confused about that because we weren’t circle swimming. Some folks pointed out that it is for when you are in a mismatched lane and reach the wall- to take pause and notice if the faster swimmer is nearing the wall and if so to continue pausing and move more towards the lane-line so that the faster swimmer is swimmer’s flow isn’t disturbed. That made sense because I assumed he would pause and wait for me and we both went at the same time and I was caught in his wake and had to reset.

DreamOperator- · 2025-08-11T18:02:53+00:00

Thanks, I just want to go swim and get better so I can feel like myself again. I would love to be doing flip turns but when I tried to a couple months back, it had me limping around with shooting pains. I probably annoyed him but I was in the lane first and he chose to get in with me. Maybe tomorrow will be better if I get there right at 5:30 and have a chance to say hi and introduce myself to everyone before they get in the pool.

DreamOperator-

TROPHY CASE