Wimbledon 2007 - Day 14, July 6th

Friday morning and I am still waking up before the alarm goes off and without provocation.  At least this time it wasn't a siren or construction. ;-)

Chose yet another new method to arrive, though this one I believe is my favorite.  I walked a little over a half mile to the South Wimbledon Underground station and caught a bus from there.  It let me off just the other side of the Indian Restaurant, and I walked a little under a half mile down to the grounds.  It was nice.  I was alone again, and just me and my iPod.  This bus ride was the first I'd been asked to produce my Oyster.  A gentleman came up the stairs (I was on the top deck) and flashed a badge and pulled out a reader.  He proceeded to verify that everyone had a valid ticket or pass.  I was impressed, considering I hadn't seen that to this point.  I imagine it would do a reasonable job of catching people that were trying to avoid paying fares.

Today marked a clear bright day for what is unquestionably the first day of the tournament.  We had 9 solid hours of play and completed large amounts of the tournament.  I felt for some of the players, as I saw one doubles specialist that literally had three matches in a single day and likely was asked if he'd play a fourth.  I guess he was lucky to not have won the second men's doubles match as that would have meant another busy Saturday to cope with as well.  Still, it meant our glimmer of hope had now blossomed into a full fledge chance that we wouldn't have Monday play.  If nothing else, Tuesday play is definitely off the table and that means I won't have to adjust the booking for the bus tour that starts our vacation.

I chose to hedge my bets this time and not eat at the venue.  I was rewarded by getting a chance to go out and have Indian for dinner.  It was well worth it.  Colleen called and I was glad to hear from her.  We're really getting down to the wire now and I want to be able to make sure she gets off safely.  I am so looking forward to her arrival.

We went from the Rajdoot to The Dog and Fox to meet some of the IBM UK people.  Unfortunately, it became clear to me that I was the only one in the bar in our party that wasn't staying within walking distance of their bed for the night.  I don't know why, but the premise of not knowing how I was getting back and having to do so alone really didn't appeal to me at my age.  So, I swilled my pint, said my good-byes and wandered out.  I decided it would be easier to walk down the hill to begin with.  So, off I walked.  When I got to the town center, I decided I needed to go ahead and catch the 93, the same bus I took in that morning.  It was a 24 hour route, and I didn't know how often the overnight ran.  That meant I had a walk of more than half a mile on the end of the ride through what would be predominately deserted parts of Merton.

Really moved some butt and got back to the room just after 1 AM.  I took the chance to call Colleen one more time as I was really missing her and I am worried about her getting here safely.  Drifted off to sleep knowing that she's about to fly here and will be here on Sunday!

Cheers!