Tennis, Trains, and Spongebob Monopoly

Saturday was the annual USTA Season Opener event at the club. My duties for the day involved setting up (including rolling three courts dry), inventorying thirty demo racquets and keeping track of them, arranging and running the mens best of five points singles tournament (you read that right, best of five points), overseeing a couple games of around the world, and, of course, cleanup. Although I did get called into running an unplanned volley drill, it all went very smoothly for me this year. I wasn't asked to help set up the ridiculously heavy demo ball machine that I hurt my back lifting last go round; and all the demo racquets were returned at the end of the event.

On Sunday, Rich and I endeavored to take the steam train into Niles for the big Golden Spike III event celebrating the resumption of passenger service from Niles. Unfortunately, both the print and online announcements for the events failed to mention major relevant details. So, despite obtaining tickets stamped for the (nonexistant) 11:15 steam train from Sunol to Niles, we ended up on the noon diesel.

While walking in Niles, I happened to witness the chance meeting of a unicycle entertainer and a kid who just happened to be riding by on a unicycle. At first the kid just rode past; but then they exchanged a mutual look of surprise and recognition. The kid turned back and they enthusiastically began to talk shop. I would imagine it's rarer that two unicyclists pass each other randomly on the street than two MGs. We managed to pick up the 1:50 steam train for the return trip, just in time to beat the rain.

Back in San Jose, Rich, Bob, and I inaugurated the Spongebob Monopoly game. Due to a new rule involving Plankton, we finished the game in less than three hours. Using the standard "buy every property you land on" philosophy, I won the game as Patrick. Rich, as Gary, finished a close second. The game seemed to slight Bob and his scuba equipped squirrel at every turn. He finished a distant third. Oh, and the picture on the rLog really doesn't do justice to the creepiness of the box.