The Swimmer

I thought there were a lot of interesting things going on in this one. I've seen a few other people on here talk about the passage of time, but I had a few ideas other than that too that kind of go along with that. Time seems to be moving at an irregular pace throughout the story, but I almost wonder if it's actually time moving differently, or his perception of it. He has a drink most places he goes, so I was wondering if it he'd maybe spent most of his adult life drinking, and just woke up one day to find his life completely different than he thought it was, not paying attention or being sober enough to comprehend how much time had actually passed, and that maybe he wasn't as young as he thought he was anymore. That maybe his house had been abandoned for years and the alcohol was preventing it from sinking in. So I also wonder if Cheever was also getting at wasting youth and life on being selfish and irresponsible with your time.