Ohhhhh

Friday 13th was a good day. It had two highlights; one was Jose coming into big bad Inst and talking in assembly about Exodus. And it was such a good talk. He just got stuck in, and somehow got the attention and interest of all 1000 people in that hall, even though he was in reality talking about a Christian ogranisation....nice one Jose! Second highlight was orchestra, when who else but Nick had a big bag of Haribo, and proceeded to position gummi bears on the edge of my crash cymbal, so that they would get projected nicely up into the air mid-song. So after a few tries, at which point most of the orchestra were interested, i managed to (while playing through a song), hit the cymbal, shoot the gummi bear about 5m into the air, and catch it in my mouth, and keep playing. Mr B. didn't have a clue what the hell all the random cheering was about. But honestly, it was one of the most legendary things ever, and i feel very fulfilled now. Hah.

Saturday 14th was an even better day. Of course, at open day the jazz band was screwed with only two trumpets, but who really gave a crap? Davey Howell sure didn't. From that led onwards to the swimming pool for the Ulster Schools. After 4 hours of sitting about, i finally raced, made the final of my 100 freestyle, then went and did that final. And managed a nice 2nd place, to a guy who i know from Derry. Who goes to tech. Going to tech = all the time in world to do stuff like train for swimming. Point made. Oh yea, and that came along with a personal best, so i was well happy.
That wasn't the awesome bit though. The senior relays are a big one at these things, and the money was on for us vs the Methody boys, and the bets on for a close final in both. So our team spent the next hour preparing for this. Out came the red bull, and down went half a can each before the medley relay final. Add this to the amount of lucozade, water and chocolate i'd had and this was me hitting the roof on sugar. High on it if you so desire. It was good, and the adrenaline was flowing. So we did our race, i went last leg about half a second ahead of the Methody guys in second, and i thought it was going to be a toughie. But we ended up completely trashing them, and breaking the Ulster record by 2 full seconds. It was a slaughterfest, and a right fun one too i must admit. So then there was the freestyle relay final, and again came out the red bull (which i never ever drink!), and that resulted in us borrowing one of those swimming pool dummies, dressing it in an Inst hoodie, swimming cap and goggles, and then me carrying it up to the starting area, where he was placed up alongside the diving boards as our "Unofficial Mascot". If that wasn't taking the piss i don't know what is, but we won that final too, and took another record with it, in what was possibly one of the best days of swimming i've had in quite a while. Good craic like that is the reason i enjoy the schools galas. And also the reason why i sometimes enjoy swimming. But next time i go for training, i will hate it again, so don't worry.....

On the side, One of these days by Pink Floyd is one of my favouritist songs ever. One of many favourite songs ever actually. Nonetheless, it makes Pink Floyd look even more legendary than ever, and makes the thought of going to see The Australian Pink Floyd Show in March pretty awesome. They are highly recommended. Anyways, i'm off to Dublin Feb 3rd