On me, on you, Ennui.

I ran across a word while doing my daily crossword puzzle. Ennui.

Listlessness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest; boredom.

A near-perfect description of my mood lately, with emphasis on the dissatisfaction part. It doesn't seem to matter. What? It. The Hopi call it Koyannisqatsi - Life out of balance. It contributes to ennui, because we realize that the more we care, the less it matters.

Then, I read a little story about a 12-year old who allegedly didn't take off his Brett Favre jersey for 1,581 days. Sure, I'm about to believe that. First, the kid is 12. When I was 12, I wanted to wear Beatle boots and Nehru shirts all day, but I had parents.

David Witthoft, who rose to national prominence in 2005 after he revealed during TV, radio and newspaper interviews that he had worn his No. 4 jersey ever day since he received it for Christmas in 2003, donned his favorite player's colors for the final time April 23, the Green Bay (Wis.) Press-Gazette reported Tuesday."His last day wearing the jersey was April 23, which was his 12th birthday," said Chuck Witthoft, the boy's father. "It was tough for him for awhile but now that he's 12, he is a little more concerned about his appearance. And the jersey barely came down to his beltline."

I had parents who figured that a 12-year old who wore what he wanted would look like a smacked ass. Now, the Beatle boots are replaced by football jerseys, and we're supposed to believe that a kid hasn't had an opportunity to take a football jersey off in over 5 years? What kind of idiots do you think we are? Don't answer that, because I already started asking what kind of idiot are the kid's parents who allow him to do whatever he wants.

I'm not sure what is worse: Allowing the kid to wear the thing for 5 years or that he "rose to national prominence".
I don't have a 12-year old kid (only a 17-year old cat) but I can damned well assure you that if he wanted to wear a football jersey every day, I'd find a way to place it in the local incinerator and advise him that he is acting like a jackass. Expect to see him on America's Most Wanted in 6 years.

Afterward, I received a letter from my condo association, telling me that the pool renovations would be finished by May 24. Hoorah. Now, I can continue to ignore the pool as I have in the past.

What followed was this little blurb in the letter, reminding me why I don't use public pools:

During my heated discussion with the condo president, I wish I had known this little tidbit. When he told me, "You should try the pool, you might like it", I could have replied, "No, I prefer forms of recreation that don't involve regurgitating children and their parents who allow such behavior in public, thank you." How many chemicals does it take to remove child vomit from standing pool water that is already treated with chemicals? Not enough for me.

The procedure that would suit me is a total removal of the pool "water" (if that's what you call chemically treated water), scrubbing with an antiseptic cleanser (twice) and re-filling the pool with clean water. Treating chemically altered water with more chemicals isn't the correct path, and it only serves to reinforce my opinion of pools.

I really hate being right all the time.

What are the odds that the sick kids show up at the pool in football jerseys?