Thursday, July 20, 2017

Yesterday afternoon, I emailed Janet’s husband Bruce to see if he’d be interested in playing in a tournament in mid-August up in Concord, CA: The Golden State Games. Some weeks ago, I had asked John P. about being my partner and he said not only would it be very hot in Concord, he already had conflicting plans.

Last night, Janet emailed and said they were having a drill session at 6:45 p.m. But my back was hurting. You know it must have been if I passed on drilling!

My back ached during the night and I woke up with it causing a lot of pain. My wife said her doctor had recommending taking three Advil when she had a very sore muscle. She also gave me one of her smelly adhesive muscle patches. My back hurt so much, I convinced my wife put on my socks. She wasn’t thrilled, but she did it. “Don’t expect this every day.” As if.

Alas, Bruce got back to me this afternoon and said he felt he wasn’t ready for a tournament. I mentioned the tournament in passing to Eric a few weeks back over a post-pickleball lunch with him and Ted—not specifically asking him, just offering the opportunity for him to say, “I’ll go!”—but instead Eric suggested that I treat every game here with the club “as a tournament”—reading between the lines, continue getting better with the opportunities at hand.

Friday, July 21, 2017

At least I could put on my own socks today. It’s not a pain-free process, but it wasn’t agonizing.

I skipped playing in Scotts Valley last night, which proved to be very wise as of this morning given that the muscle in my back—though improved—still hurts. Sunday morning play is questionable at this point. I’ve already informed my softball team that while I’ll be at the game tonight, I’ll only play if it’s absolutely required to fill all the positions. (We don’t want to have to forfeit—even an ailing body is better than no body!)

GoldenStateGamesLogo

On the Golden State Games information page, it shows a member of the Santa Cruz club is looking for a partner but it’s for the 4.5 level, so that won’t work. There’s another, a 71-year-old man from Chico, looking for a partner in 3.0. I might contact him. Maybe. Maybe not. Undecided. I’d rather play with a local person. Though right now, I’d just like to play any game period!

Number of days on a court: 46 (still)
Number of total hours: 133.5 (still)