Tuesday, October 28, 2025 (Court Day #867)
I left work and headed to my parents house. My sister and my brother have been working on clearing out parts in my parents house. It’s getting a little harder for my elderly parents to get around, so they’ve been working on widening passageways for them.
I loaded some work-related items into my car, including a couple of portable easels—one brand new—some old sketch pads with no artwork still in them, some old computer, peripherals, an old rotary paper cutter, and some other items.
After about half an hour, I headed to Scotts Valley did to try and squeeze in at least a little bit of pickleball.
Skypark
It was dark, but still 63°F when I arrived at Skypark. I figured that pulling in at 7:29 p.m., my odds of finding a parking space would be pretty good, and I was right, there were there was one parking spot open for me.
I had to wait about 10 minutes to get into a game. But once I did, it was fun.
Daniel, Daniel, Adam
I paired up with lefty Adam Raley against the two tall hard driving Daniels, Daniel Townsend and a Daniel Borlean. (It would be the two ‘A’s versus the two ‘D’s.)
For having not warmed up at all, they played pretty well in my first game. I made a few errors, but Adam was having a really hard time handling their power. It was a lopsided game with Adam and I losing something like 2–11 or maybe 4–11.
Rematch
I wanted to rematch and everyone agreed. But this time I suggested to Adam that we stack. Truth be told, we only did a half stack, that is, only stacking when we were serving. I took my cue from Adam for what he was comfortable with in terms of stacking.
That second game was night and day compared to the first game. Adam and I were leading 10–0 for before they even scored one point. They did go on a bit of a run, scoring, a couple of points, then a sideout, and scoring a couple more points, but we wrapped up the game and won 11-8.
That second game took a long time. It wouldn’t surprise me if somebody told me that it took 25 minutes.
Third Game
They suggested a rubber match, and Adam and I continued to stack. We were up 5–0 before they scored a point. Adam and I went on a couple of runs and we ended up winning 11–4.
At this point, it was 8:25 p.m. and the lights would be clicking off in five minutes, so there was no point in playing another game.
And?
It was quite obvious that in the last couple of games that they were targeting Adam. There were a few rallies where I didn’t even touch the ball once.
Daniel B. turned to the other Daniel T. with a smile on his face and said, “OK, no more hitting hard to Andrew.” This was immediately after he had hit a hard drive down the right sideline and I returned it hard and low to his toes for a winner.
Both Daniels can hit rockets. But I did pretty well tonight handling the speed. I distinctly remember several months ago, maybe it was even 6 to 9 months ago, and playing against the two Daniels, I having a hard time coping with their hard drives. But not tonight.
Pickleball with Elon Musk
Elon Musk has opened $1/hour pickleball courts Bastrop County, Texas near Spacex headquarters as part of community hub called Hyperloop Plaza. The story goes that the courts aren’t much more than concrete and lines, but more courts are more courts!
https://www.msn.com/en-in/autos/news/from-rockets-to-rackets-elon-musk-s-boring-company-opens-1-pickleball-court-in-texas/ar-AA1PUmuq
Number of days on a court: 867
Number of total hours: 3,312.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 179
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