Hamster Cage?

Backblipped on 17th July 2012

Yes, this is a hamster cage! Although not what I'd have ever imagined one would be like! The story of how I came about it is a rather bizarre one!

I decided this morning that my back was feeling sufficiently better for me to start swimming again. It was still a bit fragile, and I was also feeling slightly fragile - MiL was poorly, we'd decided to cancel the party we'd planned for our 10th Wedding Anniversary this summer, and life was, to put it mildly, feeling a bit tough.

However, I'm no quitter, so off I went to the pool. On the way in, the pool lady and lifeguard said they hadn't seen me for a while. I explained that I'd had a bad back and would probably only be doing a few gentle lengths.

However, things didn't go to plan. Only a length or so in, a bloke decided to swim into me, kicking me hard. When I turned round, ready to say "sorry", as people usually do in such circumstances, he gave me a gobful of abuse, told me I was swimming in "his" lane (it was a public session - there were 4 of us in one half of the pool, and he had the whole of the other half), and laid in to me.

I burst into tears and headed for the exit. Another sanctuary from the shit of life was now ruined.

I was intercepted by a couple of gentle women who stood up for me and calmed me down and got me to swim with them for a couple of lengths. The bloke got out, and the lifeguard came over to see what was going on.

I really just wanted to get out and go home.

I got changed without showering, then when I was on the way out the pool lady and lifeguard took me into the office because they thought I wasn't in a fit state to drive. They made me a coffee and then chatted to me about what I'd planned to do during the day. I explained that life was pretty tough at the moment, but said I was planning to clean the hamsters out when I got home.

Then the pool lady's husband came in. When he heard me talking about hamsters he said he had a hamster cage in the garden, waiting to go to the recycling, and asked if I wanted it. I said yes.

And this is what appeared. Well, it was dismantled and full of leaves, but I cleaned it up and with the help of Google images worked out how to assemble it.

I still haven't actually used it for a hamster - it's currently sitting on our spare bed acting as a modern art installation. NB: spare bed has never actually been used as a bed, owing to too much stuff on it!

As for the rest of the day, I came home, cried some more, and then cleaned hamster cages.

All rather bizarre.

I've not yet (on day of writing, in July) been back to the swimming pool. Too many other things happening, too difficult.

Last summer it was a refuge, where I got exercise and sorted my head out. Doesn't seem to have worked out this summer.