Diary

It looks like Nadal won’t attempt to defend his US Open title. He has confirmed that he will play in Madrid which will be part of his preparation for defending his French Open title. Madrid starts the day after the US Open finishes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/53324986

The ATP has come up with a revised system for the world rankings.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/53313303

Alex Zverev will give David Ferrer a go as new coach.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/ferrer-zverev-coaching-trial-july-2020

Sue went to Tesco this morning. I was interested to know how things would be now that they have done away with most of the social distancing controls. If she is doing the shop I usually drop her off at the store and then go to pick her up with the shopping afterwards. The store is only a couple of streets away but it’s a tough walk with a few bags of shopping. There was a small hiccup at the start of this plan. We got into the car and I pushed the start button. It wouldn’t start. The mechanic has been telling me for 2 years that I needed a new battery. I had said that I didn’t agree. It was just that I only make short journeys. I take it out for a drive sometimes just to boost the battery charge but haven’t done that in the last few months. To be fair it has been fine. I had been leaving the engine running when I went to pick Sue up from work. I can be waiting outside the hospital for 15 to 20 minutes as its a good idea to get there early as there aren’t many spaces in front of the main entrance.

The battery had struggled a little on Tuesday when we went to see the kids but I ignored it. I have a battery jump starter box in the boot. I had never used it. They usually come fully charged. This one didn’t of course. Sue set off walking to Tesco. I told her to give me a ring when she was done and I’d walk down and carry the shopping home.

I went inside and but the jumper box on charge. According to the instructions it takes 4 to 5 hours to change. Great. At least I am finding out now rather than when we go to Devon for a few days. I had intended to get a new battery before we go there. I also need 3 new tyres!

I use a site called ClickMechanic for anything to do with the car. I tried them a couple of years ago when my usual guy put his prices up. He wasn’t even that good! I had needed 2 front brake pads fitting and he said it was a cheap job and he would do it for £170. ClickMechanic quoted me £95. For that the guy comes out to collect the car, does the work and drops it off outside the house. Anyway I have booked the same guy to replace the battery. They aren’t charging me much more than it would cost to get a battery from Halfords. Fitting a battery is simple enough but I like the convenience. He’s coming tomorrow morning around 8 am.

Sue rang to see if i had got the car started. I said that I hadn’t and if she waited a few minutes I would come and meet her. She had started walking home with the 5 bags of shopping. Apparently Tesco was very quiet. Actually I have noticed that everywhere is quiet since the lockdown was toned down. Even the pub has been quiet when we have walked past on the late dog walk. Maybe people are scared to go to Tescos with no real controls in place.

I’ve had some positive feedback on the Flow chart that I added to the members pages. I had a suggestion to change the font to make it easier to read. The site I used didn’t offer a different font but I have increased the text size and bolded it. I’ll see if I can do one for the second set and maybe for some of the strategies.

Stay safe.

   

It can sometimes be difficult to know the latest details of the lockdown rules. As I have said before due to Sue working on the Covid ward we have been extra careful especially when it came to Michelle, Paul (Son in Law) and the kids. Sue had arranged to go and see them this morning. She had initially said that as only one grandparent was allowed to visit inside the house could I drop her off and pick her up later? That didn’t sound right to me. It wouldn’t have been the first time she had got the rule changes wrong. She announced that the social distancing rules had changed to 1 metre about 3 weeks before it actually changed. A quick google search showed that it wasn’t just 1 grandparent. You can visit another family in their home. I knew she wanted to have time with Michelle on her own so they can catch up with all the family gossip etc so I agreed to drop her off. On Sunday Sue said I was allowed to go into their house when I went to pick her up. If I went after 3 pm I could see Ella when she got home from school.

I arrived just before 3. Michelle had gone to pick Ella up. I called Sue to check I was OK to go in. Her and Michelle have always been like a private girls club. They arrange things between themselves and are both control freaks (though to different degrees). I don’t know if that is also the case with non step parent families but I just go along with it after all these years. Maybe its just step dad’s who get the mushroom treatment. Anyway I walked into the hallway and 3 year old Ivy came running down the hall with her arms wide. “DADDAAADD!” As far as I knew we were still keeping a distance. I didn’t want to upset her by pushing her away. Sue called out from the living room. “We’re allowed cuddles!”

I wasn’t arguing. Lockdown hasn’t been that bad for me but something I have REALLY missed is these two little girls. Ivy was clearly very happy to be able to climb all over her personal climbing frame again. It was an amazing feeling. I had about 15 minutes to play with Ivy before Ella got home. Ella also likes to climb granddad but also starts her hugs with a running jump. She has knocked my over a few times when I was kneeling down and wasn’t paying attention. I was paying attention today. I caught her and she wrapped her arms and legs around me. After a few minutes it almost felt like the last few months never happened.

The only matches today that seemed to be worth posting about were at the Thiem’s Seven Exhibition. There are some decent players taking part so check the blog for those this week.

Apparently Tesco are removing social distancing controls from store on Wednesday. There will be no controls of the number of people allowed in the stores. No one way system around the store and no control of the queuing at the tills. There is still the “one metre plus” rule that, let’s face it, the majority of people are going to ignore. I’ll try to stick to the quieter times to shop which is usually what I do anyway.

TradeShark members should look out for something new that’s coming to the members pages. If you want a sneak peak here is the link. You will need to be a Tradeshark members or a subscriber to the trading tips emails to access it.

Stay safe.