Never thought I'd see the day

This past Australian Open Joanne got me hooked on Cheesymite scrolls - a delicious blend of spreadable cheese and Vegemite baked until it is a little crusty on top of the roll. I basically had one every day after Joanne introduced it to me. Now I've just moved on to mainlining Vegemite. It goes on a little thicker each day.

I used to think that Vegemite tasted like licking an Australian pub floor around 2am. I think I was being a bit unfair at the time but it is definitely an acquired taste. My only concern now is - why didn't I buy a bigger jar?

Wengen

We made it. Not as much snow as I had hoped, but there should be plenty up on top

I'd rather be skiing

My List of things going to Switzerland (all in one bag):

OUTERWEAR:
Ski pants
Ski Jacket - Both parts
North Face jacket
Mammut fleece
Berghaus fleece
Berghaus pullover
North Face vest
Mammut fleece hat
Mammut wool hat
OR hat
Penguins hat

INNER WEAR:
Tron suit
Long underwear
Long sleeve BR shirt
North Face sweater
REI wool sweater
Blue running long sleeve
4 t-shirts
Long sleeve button down
8 pair underwear
white socks
wool socks
2 pair jeans
1 Khaki
Sweatpants

GEAR:
Goggles
Sunglasses
Ski gloves
normal gloves

FOOTWEAR:
North Face shoes

BACKPACK Essentials:
iPhone charger
Camera
Camera Batt. Charger
EURO power conversion

Wax Moths

This is what happens when you have a weak hive. This was my Russian hive and I have to say I'm not to bummed that the hive is gone. My Russians have always been a troublesome and unproductive hive. As the hive grew weaker as winter approached, the Wax Moths moved in. It's simple; the moth lays eggs, the larvae eat the wax then cocoon in their own webbing. They can destroy a hive in a week. I ended up completely burning this hive - which is a story in itself. Pine, propolis and wax make a perfect source for combustion. Lets just say I lit up the neighborhood.

Really?

I'm skeptical, but Matt says that he agrees. I haven't tried one yet.

Final Scoreboard

Yes, I was standing on the Centre Court grass when I took this photo. No one tackled me.

What?

When you're dealing with international media folks sometimes you have to be very specific. This sign was in the media centre.

Team dinner

After a long two weeks we finally sat down and had a meal as a team.IDS & IBM UK at the fancy and expensive Pizza Express.

Middle Sunday

Middle Sunday is a rare day off in the tennis world. It is something that Wimbledon does that is absolutely brilliant. We all get a day of relaxation during three weeks of stressful work. Unfortunately, Erich has decided that middle Sunday should be used to sun himself in the British sun. Not very attractive.

Still playing

The roof is not just for rain anymore. They will now play until 11PM if necessary. This photo is from around 10:30PM.

Black Snake

I was walking through the gate today to go get the mail and saw a head sticking out of my rain gutter.

It turned out to be a black snake, so I watched it for a while as it crawled back and forth along the gutter and finally started up the roof.

I imagine the shingles were smoking hot from the sun, so the black snake didn't take long to find it's way onto my power line. It eventually made its way to the ground where I picked it up with a pitch fork and took it to the woods.

It will live to see another day. I used to kill the black snakes that were in the yard, but stopped a few years ago after hearing that they eat other snakes - especially copper heads. Plus, the things are pretty docile - during the entire journey on the picth fork (after dropping it multiple times) not once did it try to strike or bite me. This snake was about 5 feet long - probably the largest snake I've seen in our yard. After I released it in the woods, it came right back into the yard. So I grabbed it again and took it deeper into the woods. I'm fairly confident that it came back anyways.

Crumpley

This is Crumpley... Showing off his US Open Golf credential.

Pit Crew Challenge

The start of the Push for the Carolina Panthers team during Media Day.

The finish shown by the Lynx Photo finish system - which I learned a bit about this week.

I haven't been invovled with much, if any, timing software and gear during my tenure in the sports world. This past week was a true learning experience for me. Thanks to Skunk and his team for showing me the ropes!

Court 3

The new Court 3 with Court 4 in the '4ground.' Both will be inactive for 2010.

It is nearly 'Time'

I realized while standing in the Club office that I'll be back on site for The Championships in one month. Not enough time.

In the rain

Monday breakdown is looking like it's going to be a soaker. 1 - 2 inches of rain is forecasted with some of that being in strong thunderstorms. I hate breaking down in the rain - and I hate setting up in the rain.

Some memorable rain events in my career:
1. Ryder Cup '95 - I didn't prepare for rain or cold. It rained on Friday of the event and I was soaked. All I had was a tennis pull over which didn't keep out the rain or the cold - It was about 40 degrees that day. Miserable!

2. Ryder Cup '99 - The hurricane that was supposed to hit Jacksonville (and didn't) came right over Boston and drenched us for two solid set up days. I had all the necessary rain gear but it didn't help. I was still soaked. Miserable!

3. Corning LPGA '08 - Set up in Cold, Rain, Sleet, and even thunder. I was warm and dry, but one of the interns who was there didn't have rain gear or warm clothes. I ended up giving the kid a heavy sweatshirt to stay somewhat warm. Tolerable!

4. Wimbledon '08, '09 - Wimbledon is of course known for its long rain delays. In the two years that I've been at the event we've had a total of about 3 hours of rain delays. I'm a good luck charm. Now that they have a roof, it will never rain again. Awesome!

5. Belmont, NC '05 - First year in our new house and it was the year of the monsoon rains bred from tropical systems. I spent one of my few couple days off digging drain trenches, installing drainage pipe and pumping out the 18 inches of water from my utility space under the house. Later that fall we had to replace the HVAC. Miserable!

Will tomorrow make the list?

SWARM!

I saw bees circling my yard a few days ago - that is a bad sign; it's usually indicative of a swarm. So I marched out into the circling bees and found a group of about 100 bees in the grass with a queen. It was definitely a swarm, but the smallest one I've ever seen. Let's just say that I'm sure that it came from one of my hives, but I'm not worried that it had much impact.

I've added all of my supers (boxes of frames for honey) and they are likely full already. I may spin some honey this weekend and put the empty frames back on to get some more honey. I really need to buy more supers in the off season. I was not properly prepared this year - lazy I guess.

My Golf "Rounds"

My daily rounds each day include checking on the computers in:
- The Champions Room
- The Players locker room
- The Clubhouse lounge
- The Chairman's office
- The General Manager's office
- The Official's room
- Bobby Jones Cabin (Chairman Payne's residence)

Sorry, just a little bragging.

Masters Ping Pong

It's on! I lost in the second round to Matt Ballard. In 2009 I lost
to his brother in the finals.

Addiction

It is official. I am addicted to Coke again (cola that is). The nonstop free flowing supply of CoCola, as it's called in the south, is spawning an addiction that will last through the summer.
- Breakfast: Two Krispy Kremes and a Coke
- Check on Tournament HQ - get a Coke
- Lunch at the officials tent - get a Coke
- Use up my "free" lunch tickets - get a Coke, then go back and get another
- Dinner - WATER - otherwise I won't sleep

I figure that I'll keep the addcition going whilst in the UK and in France - and by the time I'm home in May, the addiction will be too bad to break prior to my departure for The Championships and The Open. When all is said and done, it will probably be the US Open Tennis where the addiction will break. Not because I won't crave Coke, but because they only have Pepsi products on site. I'd rather drink battery acid.