ICE HOCKEY?

At 59?

Are you serious?

Probably mentioned it before, but my eldest has been playing for 4 or 5 years.  At the end of the season they have a team Vs Dads/friends/partners game.  She has asked before, but this was her last season as she'll be at University..

So I was on the ice when a game was going on, and we won despite me.  I even hit the puck, well more it hit me.  Most importantly, I didn't fall and changed shifts quickly enough.

They gave me player of the tournament, clearly referencing the kid getting a primary school medal for finishing last in the egg and spoon race. I now have a pair of skates and at least 3 years to work out how to use them.  Alternatively, I can now retire unbeaten.

And I did get in.at 1 am on Friday and still do parkrun; and didn't lose a penny playing poker on Friday night.  All the positives.

You are a braver man than me David.

Hopefully your Daughter was proud of your efforts.

What Uni is she going to, & to study/read what?

Am more proud of her efforts.  She has an offer from Cambridge to study engineering, she is bang in the middle of A levels right now.  So with a strong tailwind, she'll be playing for the Cambridge University ice hockey team next year.  You should see her "house" for next year if she gets in.

Good luck later today

ICE HOCKEY?

At 59?

Are you serious?

Probably mentioned it before, but my eldest has been playing for 4 or 5 years.  At the end of the season they have a team Vs Dads/friends/partners game.  She has asked before, but this was her last season as she'll be at University..

So I was on the ice when a game was going on, and we won despite me.  I even hit the puck, well more it hit me.  Most importantly, I didn't fall and changed shifts quickly enough.

They gave me player of the tournament, clearly referencing the kid getting a primary school medal for finishing last in the egg and spoon race. I now have a pair of skates and at least 3 years to work out how to use them.  Alternatively, I can now retire unbeaten.

And I did get in.at 1 am on Friday and still do parkrun; and didn't lose a penny playing poker on Friday night.  All the positives.

Good luck Tony.  I am missing this year, but will be at Goliath.  

Say hello to Rob, hope one of you brings home the bracelet and I can carry it on next year.  Would love to be at the mixed O8 tomorrow., one of my favourites.

Thanks David, will pass on your comments to Rob though I imagine he'll see it. Me winning a bracelet would be like Snow Knight winning the Derby, but as you know, Rob has a real chance.

Not sure about next year, will need the Gods to smile on me. Fingers crossed see you at Goliath though. Really enjoyed that last year.

Tomorrow - Omaha Mix (O8, PLO8 & Big O) is a fabulous affair, as is the Big O. Hopefully things don't go wrong, but would deffo consider a  2nd bullet. The Big O has TWO opening flights, so no 2nd Bullet needed there but would consider playing both flights if push came to shove.

You still running 1k per day, plus Park Runs? Winning the battle of the scales?

PS - Oh, when we were in Portugal golfing earlier this month, with, amongst others "typhoon13" (Trevor Pearson) & the twat James Moult, we heard a Cuckoo. Also heard a nightingale, but failed to see either.  

I am the official cuckoo listener this year. Went for a DofE practice walk with my youngest round Grafham Water.  Heard one there too, so 3 different places, and again at parkrun last week.  Don't recommend Grafham in 32 degree heat, but have got myself a splendid sun hat. 

Am still running at 1km a day, was exact yesterday, and still 85.x kg on the scales. I don't know how many weeks in a row I have done parkrun now. I know I miss one in 2 weeks as going to the tennis.  Kind of glad really, it is getting a bit more gruelling in the heat, so have deliberately slowed down.

Also made my ice hockey debut at age 59 on Friday. I was the most shit there by a margin, but didn't fall over.  Was fun, but kind of terrifying. 

Just a quick update before Wimbledon.

Kartal is out for the grass season.  Raducanu has suffered through illness for a couple of months, but is due to play Queen's next week.  There were rumours she'd play Birmingham in the Telegraph, but it didn't happen.  Hoping she flies now she is back with Richardson.

Going to start with Birmingham, as I think they got the women's wild cards exactly right.  Swan has come back with a few ITF tournament wins.  Dart seems to have put last year's unfortunate event behind her, and is now playing well.  You could argue Stojsavljevic or Xu, but Mika has the more recent form. Alicia Dudeney has come off US college tennis and won about 5 ITFs (something people expected.Radjecki to do), and fully deserves her place (must have won close to 80% of her matches?  Give all these five wild cards for Wimbledon and think Fran Jones gets in automatically, so doesn't need one. 

There has been talk of Serena getting a wild card after doubles at Queen's.  Also assume Klugman gets one, as she did last year.  Not sure she deserves one as she is ranked about the same level as 18 months ago.  Maybe one more goes to Burrage over Watson, though not sure either should either. Will see how they do before Wimbledon.  Don't think any of them can have complaints if we only have 5 GB players with main draw wild cards (would put Burrage in above others, Watson hasn't shown anything for 3/4 years.

Men is much tougher to get a wildcard.  Jan Choinski scraped into the main draw on ranking, and Draper gets in as it was decided before he lost this week's points.

Definites must be Pinnington Jones, Fery, Samuel, Harris and Fearnley.  Think a few others have got lucky with Draper and Choinski's main draw appearances or they would be fighting for one spot.

Think you must give one Dan Evans as was near the top quite recently. Felix Gill maybe, as a solid improved, if not more a clay courter.  They gave a wild card to Tarvet in Birmingham, which felt a bit random. Crawford has just won a challenger.  Wendelken has been really solid. Broady hasn't done enough?  Could be any 3 from 10 though, so a good run by any of them in Birmingham, Nottingham or Ilkley could see any of them in.  Am assuming it is unlikely any of them get through qualifying and a couple of rounds at Queen's.

Think Searle must miss out even if he is a bit of a golden boy.

Don't know if any ex-champions are asking for a wildcard this time.

Good luck Tony.  I am missing this year, but will be at Goliath. 

Say hello to Rob, hope one of you brings home the bracelet and I can carry it on next year.  Would love to be at the mixed O8 tomorrow., one of my favourites.

Think it depends on the local Evri people.  Some good, some bad.  They are all in a rush, as time is clearly money for them.  Respect to any who spare time for the lonely people who just want a chat.

I heard no cuckoo this week, so maybe they are settled for the year and don't need to call anymore.

On other bird related news.  There was a big commotion with alarm calls when I went round the back yesterday.  Assumed I had surprised then til I saw a Jay on the lawn with a deceased/soon to be deceased blue bird chick in its beak.  Was getting well and truly mobbed by other blue tits.  Probably wasn't expecting me to rock up and join the party, and it made a swift exit.  Assume other food is in short supply with the hard ground/cold weather.

So rare to see a Jay in my garden, wish it had been in more pleasant circumstances.

Well I can't believe there is one here without a mate so it's at least 50/50 to be the same one.

Then again, I wonder if both sexes call?

I had to Google this.  They both call, but only the males make the cuckoo sound.  So it seems entirely possible it was the same bird.  Though must add I mentioned this to someone else, and they had heard a cuckoo at the same nature reserve as me the weekend before.  Don't know if this makes it more or less likely that he travelled.  Like if he has hung round for a couple of weeks would he be more likely to move elsewhere or does it just show he is lazy?  They do fly from Africa, so 4 miles is nothing.

Edit.  Had to look that up too;

"100% Fidelity: Studies using satellite tracking have shown that all monitored male cuckoos returned to the same breeding grounds in consecutive years, often within just 1km of their location from the previous year."

So this probably explains why I hear them more frequently than you.  But if you hear one next year, you are likely to keep hearing it.  Also think I just need to get out around the beginning of May to hear them next year.

You're doing well Doobs. I haven't heard one for about 15 years.

I could hear one at parkrun this morning.  So 2 in 2 weeks, though it could possibly be the same one? I don't know how far they travel; but 4 miles seems a possibility. 

You're doing well Doobs. I haven't heard one for about 15 years.

Pretty sure I didn't hear one last year, I am guessing my last one was 2 or 3 years ago.  It was in a fairly local nature reserve, but I didn't see it.

We have had a couple of neighbours building in their back gardens.  I was quite surprised how it affected the birds in my garden, but they seem to be recovering after no work for 3 weeks or so.  

Don't we normally talk about cuckoos at this time of year?  I heard my first one today; bad luck for potential mother birds in the area, though if they fall for that they deserve all the bad luck they get. 

Glad you see you got through your setback.  Hope you are still ok Tom, and the recovery hasn't gone astray?  How long before you are allowed on the golf course again, officially or otherwise? 

Just a quick quarterly update.  I have now crept above 85kg, but have stayed around that level.  Some days I am above, some below.  This morning I was above, but was away at a wedding at the end of last week, and it is near impossible to not put on weight with free food and booze.  Will try and get below 85 again sometime this week.

The other big thing is I am now on 8 parkruns for the year.  I missed my PB by 3 seconds last week, so should get that soon.  There is some uncertainty as the course is changing next week.  It will have less hills, but more grass.  Think it should be quicker, as it will also be a bit warmer.  Think the best temperature for me is about 15 degrees, and haven't got there yet.  Just need to get my pacing right and not hit a wall at 4km. 

Finally, I decided to try and run 1km each day on average.  Was on 99km after 101 days after Saturday, so am pretty much on top of it.

Given the choice, would you:

A- Be able to identify all the birds and trees in the UK?

B- Speak fluent Spanish?

I can recognise most birds and have bird up, and trees are a bit meh.  I am not sure I'd use fluent Spanish much, but doing so will be a step change, so that.  If I have to forget all I already know about birds, it would be a different answer.

One on my mates, ( I use the term loosely) professes to be technophobe but posts pictures of everything he eats on our WhatsApp group.

He posted a picture of some crispy bacon and another mate remarked that lt looked good, but he hadn't eaten any for 20 years. When I asked why he said it was carcinogenic.

Now every morning I have two eggs on toast with two slices of thinly sliced processed ham cooked until crispy in the microwave. I've been doing that for perhaps the past 5 years. So I asked Google:

How much would my rates of cancer increase by eating two slices of bacon everyday for 10 years?

Click to see full-size image.

Considering the probable damage already done, the small increase in risk, and the amount of time someone my age has left, do you think I'm good to carry on?

PS- Decision already made, just interested to know what you think.

So if you eat "bacon", you have a 1% increased risk of dying.  But you'll already have accumulated much of that?  So increased risk of dying through eating bacon is about 1/500 for you?  Would just crack on. 

This assumes that it is only the bowel cancer that matters.  Would be other risks through heart disease and other cancers.  Think would just enjoy what you do.  Can recommend losing a few pounds as it has been great for me, but bacon isn't even high calorie.

Egyptian tennis star update. 
https://x.com/i/status/2010369519911608742