When is a 25m pool not a 25m pool? When it has a wall which rises from the floor and reduce the pool to 15m.

While many swimming pools will have group classes throughout the day, the Lewis Sports Centre in Stornoway is the only one I know that has a wall rise from the floor to split the pool into two while the class take place. You can be swimming only for an attendant to warn you that the a class is about to start and the pool will be reduced.

You can check the class timetables in advance but I’ve never quite worked out which classes trigger the wall and which don’t. Perhaps, the Isle of Lewis’s most famous descendent can answer: Donald J Trump, whose mother was born just outside Stornoway.

Cost: £4.80 as a non-member.

Facilities: Decent size cubicles and nice and clean changing area. However the showers are right beside the pool and open to everyone so not suitable for a proper wash, only a rinse.

Swimming pool: The lap lane is wider to allow more swimmers but it operates an anti-clockwise swimming lap where you don’t swim back and forth but more in a circle as you swim a few metres to the left or right at the end of each lap.

Other facilities? You can pay extra for the sauna, steam room and jacuzzi.

Busy? At the times you would expect and quiet when not.

Recommended? Yes.

This month we undressed our four-year-old daughter for bed and she had a thousand red pin prick spots on her chest and back. That’s when we started to Google “meningitis” and found the ‘glass test’.

The ’glass test’ is a test as to whether the spots fade when pressed. If they fade, they’re unlikely to be meningitis. If they don’t fade, it could be. To check, you use a glass as how else would you see if the spots fade when pressed? You can’t see through a stainless-steel spoon, or a wooden spatula pressed down. You need glass to see the skin when you press. 

We started with a round drinking glass, but it didn’t work as it only pressed down on the curve and didn’t cover much of the skin. 

“We need something flatter,” I suggested as we rolled the glass over our daughter’s back, and we couldn’t tell if the spots faded or not. “We need to press down on a larger area”.

“How about a microwave dish?” suggested TwinBikeWife before she brought a large clear flat overproof dish. 

“Ideal for the glass test and a pasta bake,” I say.

“Not until after it’s washed,” said TwinBikeWife. 

We pressed down with the dish and the spots appeared to fade. TwinBikeChild wriggled and kicked. The glass was cold on her skin, and no one wants to have a cold medical test and be prepped for an oven. 

“We should phone NHS 24,” said TwinBikeWife, which was a good idea. I’d tried watching YouTube videos about the glass test and they were very unclear as to what a successful test looked like. They showed unsuccessful tests. The glass being pressed down and the spots still clearly visible – and TwinBikeChild was nothing like those, but we’re not sure what success looks like. Maybe, instead of releasing videos to show what can go wrong, there could be videos of what can go right? A glass pressed down and the spots fading away? That would be handy. 

While TwinBikeChild didn’t have meningitis – and recovered the next day –  I do think there is a gap in the market for YouTube videos showing people who are not injured or ill. 

“Have you lost a leg in a car accident? Here’s a video of someone who hasn’t lost a leg. They’re doing the hopscotch. Can you do the hopscotch? If so, congratulations, you have not been auto amputated!”

“Do you have a cold? Can you breath out through your nose without producing a giant bodgey? Watch this! Sniff! See, no bogey! Lovely clear nasal passages! You don’t have a cold!”

To be honest, it could just be a video of one person saying “I don’t have scurvy” or “Brain parasites, not me!” or “Chicken pox, not with these flawless features!”, which I will do until I I’ve ticked off every in Dorland’s Pocket Medical Dictionary.

And if I do it everyday it won’t be long for the YouTube algorithm to reward my regular updates by making me the new Mr Beast, but without the accusations of exploiting children’s love of fizzy juice and sweets with substandard drinks and snacks. I will only offer responsible merchandise like see through glass casserole bowls/meningitis tests.

I think I may have found my Dragon’s Den idea…

I didn’t expect to like this book. That’s why I didn’t read it. I listened to it.

Here’s the thing: I listen to audiobooks I have no intention of reading. Mostly autobiographies as long as they’re read be person themselves. I like to hear their own story in their own words and listening to an autobiography is better than reading it to get a sense of who they are.

Matthew Perry sounded like he hated himself but, also, stories that had sounded harsh on paper when mentioned in reviews, were told more as jokes when read by him. Billy Connolly’s autobiographies are frequently broken by the sound of him laughing while Patrick Stewart had a powerful resonant voice that could make anything interesting but didn’t he know it.

So I started listening to the Hardest Geezer: Mind Over Miles to find out more about Russ ‘The Hardest Geezer’ Cook’s record breaking run from the southern most tip of Africa to the northern most point. But as his story unfolded, I gave him the highest compliment I can give an audiobook – I bought the book and read it instead. The story was too good to only to in the car. I wanted to read it when I got home too.

With a working class perspective and what felt like an open and honest assessment of his own failings, this felt like a truthful account of a hard journey that involved illness, danger, kidnapping and many many miles of running.

Four stars.

Two ‘big races’ for this year.

June

Celtman Solo Point Five

August

The Reckless

I’ve covered Celtman Solo before – see here and here – but The Reckless is a new event: an extreme triathlon with an off-road bike route. As it’s only a couple of hours away and takes places among a stunning part of the west coast I wanted to try it out. However, as I don’t have an off-road bike I might have to add ‘borrow bike’ to my important training goals!