Thursday…my nice day of office shifts, and no water time. Now don’t get me wrong; I *LOVE* my water time, but I also enjoy interacting with parents/kids from behind the desk or on the pool deck as well! This Thursday was different, than the six previous this Fall session. How you might ask, over at Lakeville we had an after-school group come down from Bloomington to have some fun in the water.

For most of these kids it was their first time at any kind of swim lessons; but I did see one of my Big 4’s from my Saturday morning class It started when they walked in the door. All the smiles, all the looks of uncertainty of what’s coming next. Trying to corral 30ish kids was an interesting task for Graham, Melanie, myself and the two teacher’s that brought the kids. Figuring out lane assignments, peering to see who gets who as an instructor. All the things as adults we still do, but don’t think about much anymore.

Once we had everyone in their classes, the true fun began! We had six instructors in the water for this group, PLUS our two normal once a week/camp instructors in the water at one time! Eight! Eight awesome instructors in the water at the same time. It was a slow and quiet start, but about six minutes into the lessons, everyone started to get more excited, and louder. Till about ten minutes into our classes we had the pool area to a very loud ROAR! It was FANTASTIC! There was so much energy pouring out of us; but not just us! The kids were having an absolute blast! Laughs could be heard from everywhere in the pool area! From the Little 1’s to the Big 1’s! The 30 minute lesson flew-by so fast, and even hours after that one class, I was still so full of energy, and excited about teaching with such awesome instructors! that I’m writing this at 1:15 a.m.!

What made today such a great day, was the energy that *every* instructor put forth to get the kids involved, wanting to participate, and laugh; but that energy goes further past just the kids! It reaches the parents of our students, *AND* other staff members. I’m not one to use big words often(due to spelling errors :-p) but what today proved is that synergy is an AMAZING thing! When everyone(Foss staff, parents, and kids alike) are involved/included in the amazing things we do everyday, it just makes it *that* much better!

Contributed by Erik  Olson, Foss Swim School Instructor/Shift Coordinator

FOSS: How many races did you do this summer? How much gas did you save by biking to work?

Melanie: I competed in one full tri this summer and cut about 5 minutes off my time from last year. Then 3 of us from Lakeville did the Lakeville Triathlon as a relay (I biked) and we came in 3rd place. That was a fun event!

I’ve never really calculated how much I save in gas by biking, too much math:) but I probably put in at least 600 miles on the bike this summer. My goal is to keep biking until the end of October, if not into November. Last year my last day of biking was November 16th!

FOSS: How’s Yoga Instruction?

Melanie: With all the activities I do, Yoga is still my favorite! I teach at 2 different fitness clubs, and typically have the same folks come each week. It’s fun to see them try new poses, get stronger, and leave feeling amazing. There’s nothing quite like a “yoga high.” It’s very nice to make a little extra cash doing something I love! I feel extremely lucky to have found jobs that suit me and that I enjoy (FOSS included of course!).

FOSS: How long does it take for the layman to achieve reasonable balance?

Melanie: Whenever you’re trying to balance, focus on one unmoving object. This helps to quiet the mind, its called “drishti.” Most of the balance comes from the core, so try and tighten your stomach and keep length in your spine.

Some days I could balance forever, others I completely suck. I balance better on my left side than my right; there are all sorts of weird things that affect it.

FOSS: What book(s) are you reading right now?

Mike W.: Vince Flynn- Protect and Defend (Vince is a fellow Tommy whose house I lived in after college!)

FOSS: What did you like about the book?

Mike W.: I like the patriotic, tough American, Ironman connection. Makes you feel good about America! My own connection is very interesting also. Eric Rapp (Mitch in the book) is the total reason I got into triathlon. Of course Eric is a St. Paul native who ended up marring one of my ex-girlfriends. They now have 3 kids and have swam at Foss Swim School.

FOSS: Speaking of Ironman, how did your racing season end up? Are you training for anything now?

Mike W.: Not a very good season. Didn’t want to suffer during training and racing. Made for sub-par performances. I am starting

FOSS: What is your recovery time like after doing these intense physical challenges? Do you need to practice Tai Chi, special stretching like Dara Torres, or does R & R do the trick?

How long does it take for you to prepare for these races?

Mike W.: Ironman will be a 36 week training program. This assumes high fitness going into it. It usually take 1 month to fully recover from Ironman. I am actually less sore after an Ironman than a marathon due to how much you get to warm up for the marathon in Ironman. By that time your body is pretty loosey goosey and you can’t really hurt anything. Whereas in marathon, you usually aren’t warmed up until a couple miles in and if you push too hard, you hurt cold muscles, tendons and ligaments.

FOSS: Tell me about the P.F. Changs Marathon, Jan 17th and going to Madison September 12? Are you fund raising or is this a pure punishment event?

P.F. Changs Rock’N'Roll Arizona Marathon

Ironman Wisconsin

I’ll bookmark my calendar to cheer you on and send good thoughts your way. In other words I won’t be signing up to join you.

Mike W.: Yes, I believe those are the dates. No fundraising, I pay to punish myself.

My wife needed her oil changed the other day so I switched vehicles with her.  There were a few other items needing attention on her vehicle so I skipped the quick lube options and went to the dealership.  I would have preferred the quick and inexpensive route but an ounce of prevention = a pound of cure phrase was in my mind (as well as happy wife = happy life ).

Bringing the car into the dealership has become an unpleasant experience.  Don’t get me wrong, I realize I have options and can bring my car anywhere but I choose to bring it to them because in spite of the irritations they are very good and thorough.  My wife and I, like many others, rely heavily on our vehicles for the success of our daily obligations.  That said, I think service departments have figured this out.  For example a news report stated something to the effect that 20 years ago an average fender bender cost around $80 to fix and is now around $700.

So, I called the dealership and explained what I needed.  They said “come on in!”  I mentioned I didn’t want to get caught up in spending hours waiting and they said “we don’t have a line and we’ll get you in, come on in!”

I understand their sense of urgency from a business perspective: getting the customer in generates business.  And, I’m sure they have reams of statistics/data supporting an average amount to expect from callers like me and subsequent commissions for those who take the calls.  So, knowing this, knowing it will cost some uncertain amount, and probably take more time, I commit to coming in and getting my task taken care of.

By the topic of this article you already know the direction this is going.  It ended up costing more and taking a lot more time.  Three separate up-sell times: 1) when I handed them the keys, 2) at a 45 minute later consult, and 3) a “discovery” once it was up in the air on the lift.  I tried to protect myself by asking the right questions ahead of time but still ended up getting reeled in.  The problem I have is they have you trapped!  They have your car and it needs stuff done.  They told me it needed other things and there is this do-hicky and some other things that if you don’t do will put you at risk!!  Look, my cars are 2 years old; I bought them from this dealership.  Don’t try to refurbish it every time I bring it in.  It is going to naturally have wear and tear but won’t need to be completely refurbished at every oil change.  I get it that cars cost money and require maintenance, it is a fact.  I’m irritated by constantly being dinged by costs that I have to determine if they are necessity items when I’m not a mechanic.  It is one of the reasons why we have extended warranty’s – which I thought covered everything when we purchased them (or at least was assisted in thought of believing it was) but there is a deductable and a few other items, I’m finding…

Why am I sharing this with you?  In the hopes you don’t ever feel like you are pressured and we’re going to ring up the bill on you.  For the record: our staff isn’t on commission.  They have quality score incentives based 80% on your experience and 20% from the management group. We will try to reel you in but our price isn’t a mystery and your lesson time is defined. Come on in and enjoy your time, we’ll work to make sure you do.