IT TURNS out my age is finally catching up to me.
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After turning 43 on Saturday, I woke up the next morning feeling very sore and sorry for myself.
And not from being hungover.
No, I finally tried my hand at water skiing.
Well, not quite.
My friends took me and the girls out on their new boat so we could cruise the Murray and enjoy a ski.
The only time I have ever tried water skiing was about 20 years ago on Lake Moondarra in Mt Isa.
It wasn’t a success.
I didn’t even get out of the water – the rope flying out my hands every time the boat accelerated.
I couldn’t understand why. It wasn’t like I was a weakling.
I mean, I went to the North Queensland Games for judo and softball for crying out loud.
In the end, I put it down to the fact the two skis weren’t a matching pair.
Anyhoo, when I got the chance to try again, and this time it was just one kneeboard, I thought ‘how hard could that be?’
My daughters did it with ease and so did my friend, who I could easily have put in a judo headlock.
I shouldn’t have been so cocky. After about 10 tries, I could not pull myself out of the water to sit on the kneeboard.
The force of the water pushing me the other way was just too much for my 43-year-old body.
I emerged from the water 20 minutes later, my pants down around my ankles, my eyes burning red and my stomach full of river water.
And the next morning with arms so limp and sore (from trying to pull myself up you see), I could barely carry anything.
Not used to failing at something, I felt discouraged and annoyed.
Not that the attempt was for nothing.
Turns out, the look on my face – frustrated and straining so hard to pull my legs from the water – was just the entertainment the rest of those on the boat needed.
Well, at least I can still make others laugh at my expense.
Which I need because it’s not just my poor upper strength that seems to be lacking.
I think my hearing is going now too.
I recently moved into the big office at work.
I never planned to relocate there, instead preferring to be out amongst my colleagues so I could keep an eye on them and tell them off when they start scrolling on Facebook or watching the cricket instead of working.
But after having regular Zoom meetings in my old boss’ office, I began to realise how much more work I was able to do in there thanks to a lot less disruptions.
Anyway, the rest of my team do not seem to appreciate the change as much as me – even though I’m only 3m away from them in a office surrounded by glass (so I can still spy on them).
Maybe it’s the regular phone calls asking them everything from “where’s my story?” to telling them “if you use the word currently one more time, I will cut your fingers off”.
I have tried yelling it from my desk instead, but I can’t hear their responses thanks to the glass window.
Plus, I really do enjoy picking up the phone and asking them to “please step into my office”.
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