No admittance

I got home after work last night and was pretty wound up. I needed a way to unwind, and since it wasn't too chilly last night, I figured maybe it was time to make another late-night trip to the hot tub.

When I first moved into the apartment complex where I live this summer, the place was virtually empty. It was a brand-new complex, and there were only a handful of units that had been rented so far. So I got a lot of use out of the pool and hot tub. I'd often swim in the morning before going to work, and then sit in the hot tub late at night under the stars. I didn't know if I was supposed to be there or not, but there were no posted pool hours, and I wasn't making a bunch of noise out there. Besides, there weren't many people living in the units near the pool anyway. It was nice.

But I haven't been out there in months. So, I decided last night that it was time to do it again.
So, I put a pair of swim trunks and pulled on some sweats over the top of them, grabbed a towel and headed for the pool.

When I got there, I could see steam rising up off both the pool and the hot tub. It looked inviting. So, I put my key in the locking gate that surrounds the pool, but I couldn't get the gate upon. At first I figured I just wasn't turning the key far enough, because my hands were full, and it was a bit awkward to work the key and the handle at the same time. But on further inspection I found that there is a second lock on the gate, which had never been used in the summer months, and that lock was fastened securely. Apparently there are pool hours and the managers are now locking the pool gate at the end of the day with no regard for us that work unconventional hours!

There I stood, looking longingly over the fence at the steam rising off the hot tub just a few feet away, towel in hand, but I was locked out.

So I skulked back to my apartment without the benefit of bubbling hot water to work out the kinks that collected in my muscles through the course of the day.

Fine. Be that way. I'll show them. Tonight, rather than use their precious pool, I'll just go bowling! OK, so I'm going with friends, and going mostly for the company and the beer. But I'm willing to humiliate myself on the lanes for a Saturday night out with friends.