I didn't sleep well overnight. I kept waking up and was getting too hot during the night. Sean and I had arranged to rendezvous at 07:30 to take a trip to Asda to get supplies, so I was up just after 07:00. What's the weather like? Well.....it couldn't rain any more if it tried! I looked up at the clouds and thought I saw one of them with face creased up with effort pushing out as much rain as it could. Lovely!
Anyhow, Sean appeared promptly and we waded down to Asda. When we got there it was well and truly closed and would be for a further 20 minutes as it didn't open until 8. Great start to the day. We decided to wait it out. A quick whizz around the aisles later stocked up with bananas, milk, Jaffa cakes, oaty cereal bars and other good stuff, and a second raiding party of smart Jersey uniforms appear at the tills. We're keen if nothing else!
We got back, got our bags and then waited for the coach to the sports centre which took a while to arrive, so in the meantime it's milk and croissants eaten on the pavement. The rain is bucketing down and I think of lot of us are wondering what's going to happen - are we going to play in this? We get in the changing rooms, and I go and deal with my nerves in the small room. This is the sort of time Imodium comes in handy, luckily I brought some! My preparatory planning is just too good!
News arrives that the pitches are waterlogged and we won't be playing for a bit. So we all go up into the bar area, commandeer a table for the team, and set up camp for the day. It seems it may actually be the whole day as well as looking on the Meteox web site the radar shows rain in a large band coming in and looking endless. We have an announcement and are introduced to 4 girls who are studying at the chiropractic college and are here this weekend to give free massages. Orgh - is that my old ankle strain coming on again? Must get that seen to...the pain is right to the very top of my leg...
The rain keeps coming and coming. It's like when we had rainy days at school and had to stay in and go in the hall and play our wet weather games. I've always been naff at card games...
The GB guys are out in it though, taking some coaching session with some groups of school children who have come down. They appear to be having fun, but return soaked to the skin as their Kukri tops aren't the waterproof ones like the Jersey team's. It's like some freaky wet T-shirt competition as they peel off their layers!
Some sports news just in.... Tels and Andy managed a couple of birdies and a hole in one!! (on Beer Golf on Facebook!).
In all the boredom and restlessness, some of us get talking to a couple of the Irish team. We find out about each others softballing jurisdictions and they mention that they were part of the team that went to the Ad World Series in Las Vagas last year and are going to the Phoenix one this year.
Anyway, provisional plans come and go, and in the end we get a final announcement that if it doesn't clear up by 3pm then the day is called off. Looking on Meteox again I can immediately see how this is going to go!
3pm arrives and the day has been cancelled. This means we're up ultra early tomorrow and facing GB in the new schedule starting at 08:30. This is a better draw for us because although we were due to play them today anyway, it would have been our second game of the day and only their first so they'd be fresh, so it brings things our way a little tiny bit.
So we go back to the hotel, change into civvies and hit the nearby shopping park to pick up a few things, like some proper footwear for me - i've been in my beach sandals all day as I didn't bring my trainers. After getting back to the hotel, we head out for a bite to eat. Meeting in the Ibis hotel opposite, we stumble on a battle of the titans over the scrabble board with Tels vs Andy in full literary fury. Andy was lacking his previous flair and so we didn't learn how to play 'shaft' and 'Sheep' together to get a triple word score! Tels play of the day was a 75 pointer in the form of the word 'loiters'.
Our earlier liaison with the Irish revealed their favourite watering hole and an invite down there, so we decide to find that and eat there. On finding the place we see there are pool tables and don't waste any time cueing up. We order food as well, and Sean manages to eat a bit of his bone (!) which appears to be taking it's time to get to his stomach. Tels looked at bit concerned at one stage as Sean didn't look comfortable, but not half as uncomfortable as when Tels asked if Sean needed him to do the Hind Lick manoeuvre to clear it....or should that be Heimlich manoeuvre?
After dinner we hit the pool table again, and after some negotiating end up in a full on game of killer pool, with Jersey vs Ireland and two of the softball blus presiding over proceedings! After about an hour of play Jersey Julie comes out winner after some foul hand ball plays from the fuzzy haired Irish geezer! Nice one Jules!
So, here's where we're at now. I'm just about to hit the sack ready for tomorrow's play that starts early. The weather report on the telly has just said something about a months rain in the last 48 hours, so we appear to be well and truly in the land of the Liquid Sunshine!! I'm not sure what is going to happen tomorrow. The organisation is hopeful that we'll be playing, but after the drowning that the pitches have had today and without some remedial action to try to drain them and dry them out I'm not so sure we'll be starting as early as we think we are. I've just checked out of the window and the rain looks like it has stopped!!! Yessss! There may be hope yet. I'll keep you posted.
Good night!
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