Bagel

Friday, September 28, 2018 (Court Day #205)

As I was driving to Brommer Park, mist was descending on my windshield. A quick wipe with the wipers and it was gone. For a few seconds. Then it got a little heavier. This was no longer light mist. It was a heavy mist, not quite rain, but approaching quickly drizzle. Uh, oh. I decided to gamble and continue on.

A text from one of my staff while on the road. I had my phone read it to me. One of the staff was calling in sick. I pulled off the road. I asked if he could manage to work until 1 p.m. and he said no, he’d been throwing up at 3 a.m. Decision time. Mornings are quiet. I decided to go ahead with a very short session. I let my assistant managers know that I’d be in around 11 a.m.

Wet courts. Barb S. on the far left, Mike on the far right. 

Leslie was fretting a bit over the wet courts. To limit club liability, she limited play to the permanent courts. Permanent courts would be “private play whereas play using club nets would be “club play”. We all limited ourselves to “dink games” until it was safe for play. After about 20-30 minutes, the courts dried enough for regular play.

Mike and I lost to John P. and short Barb S. We were leading by a substantial margin, but they clawed back into the game and won it. My part in the loss was throwing away good strategy and driving too many shots at them while they were at the net. We lost a few points like that. Aside from that though, I was playing quite well.

John and I played against Alan (English accent) and Barb R. It was a lopsided and quick game. We won 11-2.

It was still before 10 a.m. and so skills were all mixed on the sign up board. John and I signed up. Kim and Lora added their names.

As we got to the court, John shared with me, “We’re going to get schooled.” I was more optimistic. I figured we should be in the mix and it’d be a good game. The skill levels between Kim and me is no longer a chasm. We won the first two points. 2-0. The serve switched. We held them to no score. Kim tried a “no-looky” drive passing shot while we were both at the net, but I returned it down the middle for a winner. She smiled and said, “You were ready for that one, were you?” We scored another point. 3-0. Side out. It continued like that until we finished the game. An 11-0 victory. Wow. Shocker.

As we walked off, John told our opponents, “The score does not reflect skill or looks.” We all laughed.

It was 10:15. It was already past time to go. Off I went. As I left, Eric was just arriving, we passed each other on the sidewalk above the courts. Ted/Theo yelled up, “Andrew! Leaving already?” “I have to go to work!” Allan K. also called out after me, something about me leaving early. “Because you smell really bad, Allan!” (We kid each other!)

When I checked my email in this afternoon, there was a message saying the Brommer start time had been bumped to 10 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. Oh, well!

Number of days on a court: 205
Number of total hours: 567.5

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