Almost sick, vball disappointment, good cs
Ali started feeling sick on Friday morning. By the time she got home she was really feeling crappy. Worse yet, I started to feel sick as well with a developing sore throat. Since I was supposed to play volleyball the next day, I was concerned I too would wake up the next day feeling like hell. The first thing I did was go gargle with listerine, I have no idea if it helps but I figure it can’t hurt since listerine burns like a mother and hopefully also kills the little bugs that make you sick. I still was pretty sure my condition would degrade so I called my vball partner and left a message, saying if he knew someone else available to play, it may be a good idea to call them. I hoped to hear back from him during the night so we could talk about it.
I went to bed late, unsure of what the next day would bring. Ali and I were startled out of our sleep at 4:30 in the morning by the phone ringing. I instantly assumed it was the automated system from work calling to say the power was out or something. So just as Ali picked it up, I told her to not answer it and she hung it up. As I lay there, annoyed, I thought to myself about the outside possibility that my vball partner could have been the one on the other line. Nah, can’t be, why would he call so early…
So I got up with the alarm at 5:15 am, feeling extremely sleepy but without the feeling of illness I had the prior night. Cool. As I went out to the kitchen to start prep work, I checked the caller id and was surprised to see the 4:30 am caller was indeed my vball partner. Oh geez. Well I waited a bit and then called back but got his voicemail and told him I would be ok to play. I didn’t understand why he would have called me at 4:30 but later found out he was up all night dealing a poker tournament. Not good.
I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed across the state. The drive was a bit more manageable than last week. I like the beach at Hollywood, it’s old fashioned, small and has a very simple appeal to it. I was suprisingly energetic and pumped up to play considering the prior 24 hours. I really wanted to do well. I expected to do well. We didn’t do that well.
Our first match was against two younger kids. (I must be getting old when I call people in their early 20’s kids) I think they were both brazillian. One kid was tall and lanky. They were good players but we should have handled them. They were frustrating because they were constantly going over on one and two even though they were quite able to use 3 hits. I never saw young kids with talent play this way, it is the sort of thing normally old players or guys with little skill resort to. We lost a close game. Yet another bad start.
The next two matches were tough. We squeaked out wins in both of them but is was far from easy. We were unable to have a consistent period of good play to build a sizeable lead. We would make a great play but follow it up with unforced errors, giving the team a point and keeping them in the game.
But after 3 games, we were in the same position as the prior week. If we won, we would be in the playoffs, if we lose we were done. Just like the other games, it was close, there were great plays, but there were even more miscues causing us to drop the game and be eliminated. I was frustrated and let loose with an obscenity and whipped my hat towards the sidelines after we lost on yet another unforced error. The frustration was building from the errors and me not getting a chance to hit enough to get into a good rhythm. I just had to let a little steam release. Afterwards , after a few minutes of silence, I relaxed and it was done with.
Throughout my vball playing days I have almost always been the one that got served less, if for no other reason, I was almost always the taller player. That is why I really enjoyed playing triples or quads because it didn’t matter who got served, I still would have the opportunity to hit. Hitting is the best, most enjoyable part of the game for me. I enjoy making a good dig. a strong serve or giving my partner a good set that he hammers for a point too, just not nearly as much.
However the bottomline is volleyball holds a much lower rank in my life than it once did. It used to be commonplace for me to play 3 or 4 times a week. My performance during play was extremely important to me. I felt like if I didn’t play twice during the week, and had a tournament that weekend, I would be rusty. Now the only time I play is during a tournament. There is no interim practice, no excessive worrying about the results, so I shouldn’t expect all that much. I’m 7 or 8 years, 2 knee surgeries and 1200 miles removed from those days. However there still is a part, a small part of me that burns inside when I don’t acheive what I want to during the competition. I don’t think that is a bad thing.
On Friday I had a nice customer service moment. My dress watch has had a dead battery for a few months. On Friday I skipped the gym at lunch to give me a day of rest before the tournament. I decided to go to the mall to get the battery replaced. I went to the fast fix jewelery repair place. He said it would take 45 minutes, which was longer than I expected. So I walked the mall a bit and spent 2 twenty dollar gift cards I had in my wallet forever. I bought some clearance shirts at Old Navy and some hot wheels stuff at the toy store. I returned to the shop 5 or 10 minutes early, hoping it was done. Yep it’s done, ahead of schedule. He handed me the watch and I noticed he set it to the correct time and date. Wow. That simple, little act made a big difference on my perception of the transaction. It’s so easy to provide good customer service, it is sad that more people can’t do it.
You haven’t heard any updates on the diabetic cat because she has made more or less a full recovery. She gets more canned food and gets different insulin now. She has been acting normal, the vomiting issues have been greatly reduced and she seems content as a pig in mud to still be among the land of the living. She hasn’t used 9 lives yet but there were 3 or 4 near misses so far.