Author: andrewlenz (Page 180 of 329)

Thursday, October 28, 2021 (Court Day #427)

This was a very unusual night in that it was warm and humid. I arrived at 7 p.m. and there was still a faint bit of natural light yet but the court lights were needed and on.

With the exception of two and a half games late in the evening, I played everything left-handed. One early game was against Maia and Nancy with Catherine as my partner. She and I won.

Janet complimented my play as on observer somewhere along the line when I was playing lefty.

End Games

Tim and I played two games (right-handed) against Paul and Matt. After paying a handful of games against them now, I’ve come to the conclusion that Matt is the better player of the two. Tim and I won both games 11-4, 11-3. They both have good hand-eye coordination and made some good shots but have a ways to go in the soft game and strategy.

Tim and I were leading against Josh and his friend Jason 8-4 when the lights clicked off at 9:30.

I felt pretty good about my play, but that’s easy when the competition isn’t 4.0+. I made three attempts while playing righty on poaches while leaping to my right. Two went great. But one sailed unceremoniously a good foot past the baseline. You always feel a little sheepish with your partner when that happens! Oops.

Home, then icing my arm.

---

Friday, October 29, 2021 (No Play)

Sigh. This is my home town. About 50 yards from the Derby tennis/pickleball courts is a where this news article takes place.

Santa Cruz is a bit too drug friendly. It seems someone is dying of an overdose every few months.

On a happier note, the SCPC had it’s Halloween Party this morning. I’ve been so busy, I had completely forgotten about it . . . I wouldn’t have been able to attend this year anyway with staff on vacation and out sick.

---

Saturday, October 30, 2021 (No Play)

Pickleball has been going mainstream. This past week, an article appeared in Vanity Fair magazine.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/10/how-pickleball-won-over-everyone

And, somehow, I missed this from May this year…

Cubs pass the time by playing pickleball in the bullpen
https://www.mlb.com/cubs/video/the-cubs-play-pickleball

Number of days on a court: 427
Number of total hours: 2,113.5

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021 (Court Day #426)

Today sucked. With one of my staff in one department on vacation, another called in and couldn’t work. I had to deal with three complaining customers—one who thought one of my kindest female staff members had smirked at her, another complaining that the products she bought in our brick and mortar California store weren’t as cheap as an online store based in the middle of nowhere with cheap rent and cheap labor, and another complaining about how his custom framing project is taking a long time (we have a sign posted that COVID-impacts have caused long turnaround times and due dates are very approximate). And one of my my part-time staff gave two week notice just as we are on the cusp of the busy holiday season. To top that all off, my aunt Mary Jo—my dad’s younger sister—passed away this afternoon. She moved to Florida so I hadn’t seen her for many years, unfortunately. She’s the first relative of my parents’ generation who we’ve lost. She had a big heart but had bad taste in men—ones who would punch holes in the wall or otherwise cause trouble in her life. I believe she’s in a better place. May she rest in peace.

Dad’s

Pickleball would be a good distraction for me. I stopped by my parents’ house on the way to Scotts Valley. My younger brother John was already there and my sister Diane arrived not long after I did. The lost really hadn’t sunk in yet for my dad. “Check with me in three days,” he said as I left. He was still processing. He appreciated us being there.

The Courts

I pulled into the Skypark parking lot a few minutes after 7 p.m. The courts were full, portable nets were on all striped courts. Dan had texted earlier asking if I was playing tonight and I told him that I was. He beat me there and was already in a game.

Paul and Matt

Janet and I played two games against Paul and his buddy Matt, who had been playing singles off by themselves. Those were two very close games. We won both. Paul and Matt are mostly bangers but can sometimes pull off some dinking. Janet said I played well. I made mistakes, but I agree, I played well.

The Return of Clayton

Clayton was back. He was playing with a man named Scott—a Scott whom I’d never met—and Clayton said they were doing a tournament this coming weekend. I played with Maia who is a relative newbie. Maia played all right, entry 3.0 level. I was playing pretty well. She and I won. Clayton and I were the strongest players. We did a “rubber match” and Maia and I won again.

I played a couple of games against Casey (my former PT doctor) and Dan (Casey’s PT assistant). The first game was with newbie Louique—I’m guessing on the spelling, he said it was French—as my partner and the second was with Scott (the Scott I’d seen now and then at Skypark). Scott is a much stronger player than Louique and unlike the first game, Scott and I won the second.

Casey is getting pretty good. He’s slicing his service returns. I wasn’t expecting that and he got me on a couple of them, winning the rally.

I was in some other game when the lights snapped off. Ah. The city fixed the 9:30 timer for the lights! Hopefully, that will keep the psycho neighbor guy at bay.

Dan offered me my Prince paddle back but I told him to continue to hang onto it for now.

And?

I played the entire night righty. It was not 100%. I could feel it a bit, but it was not bad. It got a healthy dose of icing when I got home though.

---

Wednesday, October 27, 2021 (No Play)

Hmmmm. My tennis elbow is a bit more noticeable in routine activities such as closing a door, tapping on my iPad, some other things. Worrisome.

Number of days on a court: 426
Number of total hours: 2,111

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.

Thursday, October 21, 2021 (Court Day #425)

It started misting on my windshield as I drove from work to Skypark. Drat. Would it get worse? But it proved to just be a mild annoyance though it did keep attendance down. With rain predicted on Sunday, this might be it for play until Tuesday or maybe even a full week from now.

I only got two intermediate games in tonight—and for those, there was one obviously weaker player whom I think I met once before. Those two games I played mostly right-handed.

The rest of the night was rotating through games with newbies. Even playing lefty, I had to back way off avoiding hitting winners and instead focusing on keeping the ball in play.

It thinned out and I was left with two options. Leave or try to break into either the two games among the younger guys. They’d no doubt left me in, but I figured that I’d just let them continue in peace and no force one of them to sit out. It was only 8 p.m., but I headed home.

Number of days on a court: 425
Number of total hours: 2,108.5

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.