English Nationals Badminton

On Friday (1st Feb) is the start of the nationals and the start of a three day badminton watching marathon. If you get the chance I would strongly recommend going, they are held at the Velodrome in Manchester. Not sure if this is the case for the players but for the fans it is a very relaxed event and you can find your self drinking coffee with Gail Emms (who sadly has just dropped out this year) or discussing tactics with a national coach

Help Desk

For my sins today I have been on the Helpdesk, (staff shortage since you kindly ask).
So what do I think of my customers?
They are nice, say please and thank you and just want a little help so they can get on with their work.

There is one major difference form my time as a student. They do a lot more group work and of course they need to talk to their co-workers. So in our Drop-in (just under 190 PCs) there is a steady hum of conversation and I can see how it would annoy some people. On the plus side I think these young people are better at communicating then was my generation and of course jaw jaw is better then war war.

Badminton

Do you folks ever think you are going round in a circle? For the last few months I have working hard in the gym three nights a week to get my knee back in shape so that I can play badminton again. Everything was going well, two weeks ago I played on a Thursday night at the club and had some good games, but on Sunday my knee went again and I back at stage one. Lots of knee pain, lots of exercises and the need to see the physio again. Some times you cant win.

Allotments

My wife and I have a new hobby, we have taken over an allotment. Now when you think of allotments do you think of neat rows of veg maybe with some flowers adding a little colour? I wish ours was like that! Maybe one day it will be, but now its a waste land of brambles grass and very compressed soil. Last weekend we removed a seven year old Birch tree from the middle of the allotment now I love trees and will be planting Apple and Pear trees but I ask you a Birch tree. I have a feeling that our plot has not been worked on for at least seven years. But its taking shape it may take a couple of years to get it into shape but who needs to hurry

Weekend in Cardiff Millennium Magic

As well as playing badminton, all my life I have been a Rugby League fan and a fan of Wigan in particular. So this weekend I and few thousand others will be taking the trip down to Wales to see 6 games in one weekend. We play St Helens our local rivals. Its odd how things go in sport, at one time we could not lose to Saints, but now I think its 5 wins on the trot for them. But with a bit of luck its our turn to win.

Badminton or the lack of it

Well folks, I back not playing. I was still having problems with my knee, so off to the physiotherapists. It looks like I have patellar tendinosis. So no badminton for me for a while, and minimise the number of stairs I walk up and down in a day. So I have gone from 40 or more flights a day (I work in a multi story office block and I would normally use the stairs rather then the lift) I hate to think what this is doing to may my general fitness) Lots of exercises from the physio,

Badminton Part 3

On Thursday I will be going to see a physiotherapist about the my knee. Its been on the cards for a while. It will be good to see what their view is