Some mornings I get up early and go for a swim before work. It makes me feel good, and given I spend most days sat at a desk or in meetings, the exercise is appreciated.
(Park life)
But meetings are being scheduled earlier and earlier, and the day stretches on later and later - I struggle to make time. Could I combine my futile swimming with a short commute to work, thus saving time?
So, this is a road vehicle with a swimming pool. One of those exercise pools where you swim and swim against a current. As I swim along, my swimmy-motions control the speed and direction of the vehicle. And I arrive at work exercised, refreshed, and on-time for my first meeting. Wet and in my swimming trunks.
(All the people...)-- Frankx, Nov 27 2019 Goldfish can do it now. https://youtu.be/WAuaCBmHa3UGoldfish driving a fish-tank [Frankx, Feb 07 2022] Roaming_20Goldfish_20Bowl [Frankx] annotations on this linked idea mentions exactly that principle, a camera watching the bowl to translate fish movements into bowl movement. [pocmloc, Feb 07 2022] "Unit 23, please attend RTA at intersection of 5th and Madison; three casualties, one possible drowning."
[+]-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 27 2019 I'm not sure about the swimmer being the one controlling the vehicle, but a bus with a lane pool could actually work. Sloshing could be a problem in the stop-start commuter traffic. Perhaps use something thicker than water instead (which would also mean swimming is more difficult, therefore more work-out in fewer laps). (Funny coincidence: I recently saw an episode of The Simpsons (which I hardly ever watch) which had a mobile swimming pool.)-- neutrinos_shadow, Nov 27 2019 A 4m long x 2m wide x 1m deep pool would only be 8 tonnes, so practical for a road vehicle.
There must, of course, be a diving board ...-- 8th of 7, Nov 27 2019 You'd need a diving licence to drive it though.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 28 2019 Why not just get a job which is conveniently located across a lake or along a river from where you live?-- pocmloc, Nov 28 2019 Because there are laws against putting toxic things in watercourses, [poc] ...-- 8th of 7, Nov 28 2019 This would work better (or less worse) as a train carriage. Hopefully, water sloshing forward and backwards in the train carriage pool will create waves large enough to surf on.-- hippo, Nov 28 2019 What causes the water to slosh ?-- 8th of 7, Nov 28 2019 Braking and acceleration might cause sloshing. More sloshing could be caused by tuning the pool length so that its resonant frequency was similar or a simple multiple of the 'kick' that the train's braking or acceleration gives. Less sloshing can be caused by increasing the viscosity of the pool liquid.-- hippo, Nov 28 2019 // acceleration //
Not a passenger train on the UK mainline network, then.
It could presumably be done on heritage railways, however. Speeds of up to 30 mph have been observed, and heritage services often run close to schedule, too -another feature absent from the public systems.-- 8th of 7, Nov 28 2019 8th using freedom units??-- Voice, Nov 29 2019 Traditional units are used on heritage railways, in keeping with the the ethos of preserving or re-creating a past era, when things were better*.
*Trains ran more or less on time, weren't unreasonably crowded, had staff who would not only acknowledge the existence of passengers but actually speak politely to them, and it was possible to purchase comestibles that were not only edible but nutritious.-- 8th of 7, Nov 29 2019 swimmy motions?-- po, Nov 29 2019 Yes, the inevitable after-effect of eating the sort of "food" served on contemporary trains.
There are a range of medications that can assist with the problem, or in extremis, adult incontinence garments.-- 8th of 7, Nov 29 2019 // I recently saw an episode of The Simpsons (which I hardly ever watch) which had a mobile swimming pool. //
That happens to be the only episode of that show I've ever seen. Bart wears like 50 swimsuits at once (layered) and the other kids tear them all off of him?-- notexactly, Dec 01 2019 It wasn't Bart, it was the annoying nerd/upper-class kid whose name I don't know (who eventually got his own better pool, so the Simpsons pool went empty).-- neutrinos_shadow, Dec 01 2019 // It wasn't Bart //
Not surprising—I was deliberately not paying much attention. The only other thing I remember is Lisa having a telescope.-- notexactly, Dec 02 2019 random, halfbakery