New Bats and Ice Hockey

I have now taken possession of my new bats. I got back from Scotland a week earlier than I expected so I managed to pick up the clubs early, unfortunately I didn't get to use them for 2 weeks. It wasn't the spectacular success I was hoping for,infact I was playing considerably worse than normal. I finished the round on 132; not my worst round but certainly nowhere near my best either. It will also be some time before I am able to use them again as I have been sent to Finland on a job. I am back in Turku; a city I first came to 14 years ago. Although there have been changes, it's still the friendly place I remember. The company where I'm working hasn't changed much either; some of the people have gone due to retirement but my friends are still there and it's been good to see them and catch up. We're all a little older now but the friendship remains. The Ice Hockey World Cup is being held here in Finland and Sweden. We both love ice hockey and always take in a game when we visit, so watching the matches in bars and restaurants has been great. We are, of course, supporting Finland, who so far have won 5 of their seven preliminary games and lost 2, to Canada and the USA. Their quarter final game is on Thursday and will be against the USA again. Hopefully this time they'll win. The mascot for this year's cup is The Hockey Bird, a specially designed Angry Bird, they are everywhere, on T Shirts, hoodies, hats, keyrings, cuddly toys and even boxer shorts! Michelle has bought a cuddly keyring to hang off her bag and has sent Hockey Bird postcards home with Hockey Bird stamps! I've got a T Shirt. I'll be here for another couple of weeks and then I hope I get the chance to play with my new clubs again before heading back to Scotland. I really hope we get some more work out here soon, if not, we'll just have to come back on holiday.

April Fool

On Thursday I went to a fitting session for new golf clubs at Portsmouth Golf Centre. This was an interesting experience. I was taken to the end of the driving range where; behind a locked door, was a veritable arsenal of club heads and shafts. It was like entering an SAS firing range with a multitude of weapons to choose from. For a golfist this was like entering heaven.

For those unfamiliar with the process, it consisted of me hitting balls from a mat with various makes of club and the computer analysing what I was doing. A multitude of figures appeared on the giant TV screen and the flight of the ball was plotted also. I did some of my own analysis, replacing all the figures with a single word; crap! I did find a set of iron I could hit reasonably straight, however, and these turned out to be Yonex. The Callaways, Wilsons and Pings all looked good but I couldn't hit any of them as well as the Yonex. A slight adjustment of head angle was required but I did rather well with them. The Yonex driver also turned out to be the best for me. There seemed little point in buying a big name brand of clubs,which looked aesthetically pleasing, if all I could do was hit the ball onto an adjacent fairway. My new clubs were therefore ordered apart from the driver, which was available to be taken away immediately. I was now looking forward to Sunday and the chance to try it out.

Sunday was another glorious day, just right for whacking some golf balls. On Thursday I hadn't decided on a new putter, so I asked in the club shop if I could try out a few on the putting green. After about half an hour I was much poorer but in the possession of a very fine Wilson Vizor putter. It was now time to put my two new clubs to the test.

The new driver was duly put into action on the first tee. I took a practice swing, my new weapon feeling like it could wallop the ball for miles. The actual shot went low and slightly off to the right, fortunately hitting another golfists trolley which left it in the middle the fairway instead of in the trees. Not an auspicious start. On arriving at the green, however, my latest acquisition did the business with me almost sinking a 20 foot putt.

On the second I managed to hit a magnificent tee shot beyond the tree that splits the fairway; by far the best drive I'd done on this hole, my new big gun doing a marvellous job. I made a one over 6 on this hole with a pretty good putt. It was looking like the driver and putter were making a difference.

The rest of the round went very well,including 3, yes 3, pars! I managed to cock up the ninth, tenth and last 2 holes but finished on a best ever score of 107, translating to 31 points, again a best score, losing by only 2 points.

Reflecting on how well I'd done, in the bar later, I realised the date was the first of April; the whole round had been a joke! All those wonderful shots, magnificent putts were as nought, just a well timed jest from those pesky fairway fairies! Ah well, I'll have to see what happens when the new bats arrive. Unfortunately the clubs may not arrive until next week, when I'm due back in Dundee. I was hoping to have them before I went as there's a chance to play after work up there, mind you with all that snow it would appear to be unlikely.

It looks like The fairies' little joke will continue through April, and guess who's the fool?!

Springwatch

Today was golf day. Ross and I set off for the club about midday, the intention being to do some practice on the driving range and having a bacon buttie before starting our round. We figured that, due to the beautiful weather we have been enjoying the last few days, the course would be fully booked and we wouldn't get to go out until 3 o'clock. As we pulled off the main road and headed for the club we could see the car park was jammed full as we had feared. Resigned to waiting to get on the course we parked in the overflow car park.
We headed for the club house and found that all the cars were due to a private function in the club. Checking the tee time booking sheet confirmed that there were very few people playing we could go out any time we wanted. The good weather must have meant that many golfists had been forced to go to the garden centre by their wives. Ours had gone there together, thus freeing us to bat some balls.

The first two holes had mixed outcomes, I was awful scoring 9 & 10, Ross managed to par both holes. The third was eminently forgettable but the fourth was magnificent. This hole is interesting. The green is actually about 15-20 feet below the fairway and to the right. We decided to drive for the green. Ross went first, the shot flew towards the green but we were unable to see where it landed. I took my shot, it started off left and then went right, again we couldn't see where it landed. We walked down the path towards the green to see one ball just off the edge of the green about 40 feet from the flag. The other ball was on the green about 30 feet from the flag. I went to the first ball preparing to take a shot when Ross suggested I check the ball, it was his. I had actually driven the green! Ross took his shot and got close to the hole. I now had an eagle putt, yes an eagle putt! Unfortunately the eagle swooped down, shit on me, snatched the birdie and was last seen heading over the trees. Yes, I completely blew my putt, missed the next and finished with a par. I would have been happy with a par, now it felt like a bogey.

The next hole is a par 3. My tee shot stayed low, skimming the top of the gorse, or whin as it's called in Scotland according to Ross. It then scootered along the floor and rolled into a bunker. I finished with a 6. The first 9 holes ended with me scoring 62. I needed to improve to get below 120.

The 10th was atrocious, the 11th was much improved, a 1 over par 5. We now had the most difficult hole on the course. Ross said he was going to hit the ball to the left as his tee shots had been going to the right. The problem was if he hit it straight he said it would go into the gorse. I remarked that would be a whin win situation!

The rest of the round was better and I finished with 119, the same as last time. At least I'm not getting worse.

The only bad thing was Pompey losing to Coventry, still we've got Hull at home Tuesday and Burnley at home next Saturday.

The weather this week is supposed to be good, so I think another trip to the club is in order. I wonder if I'll see that eagle.

It's been a while since my last post, I've been in Dundee again and there hasn't been much golf. Actually I have now been home for three weeks as the next phase doesn't start until next month, but there has still been very little golf; well one round,a week ago.

I felt that I didn't play very well; but, considering my lack of practice, I didn't do too badly at all. I managed to get round in 119; which, all things considered, was pretty good actually. This has spurred me on and I went down to the driving range for some practice. There are 50 balls in a bucket, and so armed with a driver, a 5 iron, a 7 iron and a pitching wedge, I proceeded to try and knock all of them as far as I could for the respective club. First up was the driver and I loaded 10 balls into the automatic hopper. It took a few before I was hitting the ball anywhere near straight, or indeed any distance. After the remaining balls, I set about using the 5 iron, hitting the ball from the mat just behind the tee. The jolt of the club on the mat caused the automatic tee to retract and try and reload. To my surprise another ball appeared, which I placed on the mat. Thinking I must have miscalculated, I hit this ball. Again, another ball appeared on the tee. Time after time a ball reloaded after I made my shot. I couldn't have miscalculated that much; load 10 balls, hit 25! Eventually my apparently everlasting supply ran out and I had to resort to using the balls I had paid for. I can only assume some elderly golfer with Alzheimer's had forgotten what he had done and indeed why he was there and wandered off. Still, I had a good time and managed to hit the last few balls straighter than normal, but still not very far. Fired up by this I arranged to play on Sunday with Ross

Since I've been home Michelle has had various jobs lined up for me to do. Amongst them was to replace all the electrical sockets and switches in the kitchen. These were fitted during the house extension and were merely temporary white plastic ones, the idea being to fit screwless metal flat ones. Fast forward 4 years and I took them out of the garage and fitted them, annoying Matt a couple of times as I managed to short the neutral to earth and trip the RCD, thus ruining his gaming activities. The garage has also been cleared, with the help of James & Matt, leaving a lot more space.

The grass has been cut a couple of times, and tomorrow it's the turn of the loft to be cleared out. I've also been running Mum around to the doctor's a lot as she's got a heart problem, seemingly started by an infection. I certainly haven't been bored whilst at home.

It also looks like the date has been set for my trip to Finland, the first three full weeks of May. This will give me a chance to see some old friends from working there before and I'm really looking forward to it, especially as Michelle is coming with me for a while and also the Ice Hockey World Cup is taking place in Finland while we're there.

This weekend is also very crucial to Pompey. After Tuesday's brilliant win(well the second half)we have a must win game against Coventry who are only 2 points ahead of us. This is followed by 2 home games next week against Hull and Burnley. It's going to be an interesting run in, unfortunately I'll be in Dundee for our last 3 home games, but hopefully I'll be back for the away game against Nottingham Forest on the last day of the season. By then I hope that we have not only avoided relegation but liquidation too.

I shall continue blogging after Sunday; when, hopefully,I'll be talking about a magnificent win at Coventry and a sub 110 round of golf.

Oh well, back in the saddle

I am writing this back in my old hotel room in Dundee.

We had a fantastic holiday, the diet was left locked up in a cupboard at home; I had to trick it in there and then slammed the door!

Much beer and fine food was consumed and much shopping was done. The restaurants were of there usual high standard and we also partook of some fast food at the ice hockey. Actually, the burger bar at the rink was Hesburger,a chain we thought had disappeared,as last time we were there all the Hesbugers were gone and replaced by Carrol's. This year there was no sign of Carrol's and there were loads of Hesburgers. Maybe they were brought back by popular demand.

We enjoyed the ice hockey, our seats were right in the front row on the side near the home end goal. This gave an excellent view of the action. If you have never been to an ice hockey game go! It's fantastically quick and exciting to watch. This time we went to two games and it was well worth it.

We did also eat in some very good restaurants, one of which had it's own specially brewed beer, flavoured with spruce. It was brilliant but alas only available at the restaurant, as they have no bottling facility.

On our way home from that particular restaurant, we walked through the Esplanadi park. This is situated between the north and south Esplanadi roads which run down to the main harbour. It is especially beautiful on a winter's night due to all the snow and the lights in the trees. It was here that Michelle carried out a middle aged bit of hooliganism and spelt out 'PLAY UP POMPEY' by walking in the pristine snow whilst I filmed it! We went back the following day to the scene of the crime and took photos. It'll probably stay until the next snowfall or when it all melts.

Unfortunately our time there went altogether too quickly. We did, however, bring back some wonderful souvenirs; namely Fazer chocolate, Salmiaki and Koskenkorva. There were one or two presents for other people and this meant that for the first time ever we were 5 kilos over our allowance, this despite not bringing back as much as previous trips and our little case weighing device saying we were ok.

I am now back in Dundee, tidying things up before the next stage starts. I hope I can get home by the weekend, or at latest by Monday as I would like to go to the home game against Ipswich. This could well be our last, if the tax man gets his way. Fingers crossed a new owner appears before then.

If not I suppose I'll just have to follow ice hockey instead.

Airport Etiquette

Michelle and I have come away on holiday for a few days.

This has meant we have had to get on a plane. This in turn means we have had to go to an airport. In this case; Heathrow.

What is it about airports that turns normaly sane, rational and polite people into utter morons incapable of thinking outside of their own selfish wants and needs?

Today I have seen Brownian motion in action with people. They wander round the departure lounge in seemingly random directions with no sense of direction ;indeed no sense, and get in other people's way seemingly deliberately; certainly with no thought whatsoever for the consequences of their actions. I talk here, of course, of 'Homo Airportensis' a category of Homo Sapiens, with very little of the Sapiens. I have seen goldfish move around with more thought and purpose than these primitive creatures. The humble mollusc has more social awareness. Show these beings a duty free shop and all pretence of civilisation disappears. They do have self awareness, more like a two year old, but any resemblance to a human being is quickly dispersed once a bargain is spotted in the numerous emporia in the terminal building.

I sometimes wonder whether the building is aptly named; in that we are witnessing the terminal decline of human beings.

Fortunately my torture is short lived and we are directed towards th gate where our flight will depart. Unfortunately my fellow passengers are also pointed in this direction. How do the ground staff cope with the incessant flow of idiots, who think they have to get on the plane before anyone else. The social inadequacies come to the fore again. Don't these people realise that,once they and their luggage have been checked in the plane will not depart without them unless they stubbornly refuse to board that is.

The staff had tried to assert some form of control over the flying public and so tried to have the passengers board in a particular order. We were, of course, the lowest of the low and were amongst the last to be called. We saw our more fortunate fellow travellers depart on a bus marked Helsinki. I was slightly worried here, was this a bus replacement service? If so, it was very crowded and there appeared to be no toilet facilities. A three day journey seemed out of the question really. My dismay turned to relief, when the bus we were on stopped at a parked aircraft and the contents of the bus disgorged itself towards the steps leading into the plane.

We are now firmly ensconced in our hotel room in Helsinki where I a writing this. We are both looking forward to the next few days, though I think that I really ought to have applied for a few more credit cards.

I would have liked to be able to travel over to Turku during this trip to some good friends. Unfortunately I don't think that is possible this time. The good news though is that I may well be going there for work fairly soon.

Tomorrow, as they say, is another day and this time there will be a different sort of Brownian motion. This is Homo Shoppingensis, a species dominated by the need to shop, and almost uncontrollable when the word 'Ale' (Finnish for sale)appears in the shops.
We arrived safely, went to our first restaurant of the holiday an finished in the bar on the top floor of the Torni Hotel.

We are both looking forward to the rest of the holiday and the great food and drink. We will, naturally, also be experiencing all the culture Helsinki has to offer, Fazer chocolate, ice hockey and Koskenkorva.

After a few Kosus, I think we will probably indulge in a little Brownian motion of our own, trying to get back to the hotel.

The Countdown has started

Only a few days to go now and I will be on holiday.

In the meantime, however, I'm still in Dundee commissioning. We're close to the end of this stage and should be finished by the time I get away on Tuesday. Once in production there shouldn't be too much standby, so by the time I get home from holiday there should be a brief free couple of weeks before the next phase for some golf.

I'm really looking forward to the break and the chance to lose some more balls. Hopefully the weather won't be too bad. There will be a couple of trips to the driving range required, I've almost forgotten how to swing a golf bat. Once I come back up to Scotland the days will be getting longer and the opportunity to play here will arise. Fortunately there's plenty of room in the boot of the car for the clubs.

I also can't wait to see Michelle, I've really missed her, and the rest of the family of course. We bought our iPads so that we could use FaceTime to keep in contact , but unfortunately the wifi in the hotel has been poor and we've been unable to use it. With any luck when I come back next time I'll be in a room with better reception.

There has also been very little time to blog, and certainly nothing really interesting to blog about. No exploits down the pub, I've been really boring and generally getting back to my room between 9 and 10 o'clock, and even staying in 3 nights a week! A far cry from when I last did this job, a combination of age and a desire not to look like a barrage balloon.

Tonight I've got back early, hence the blog, the downside is that I'm going back into work for tonight's run. It's an important one so there will be two of us in, hopefully we won't be too late as we're back into work tomorrow morning.

Still it will be one day closer to home,