SUNDAY, 4/12/15

We’ve got a light day today. Judy has a big week ahead and digs in on the planning. I took a final look at our US taxes and filed online. Ouch! I had very few deductions this year. I hope next year is better. I’m going to have to make some adjustments in our withholding when we get home.

MONDAY, 5/13/15

Judy heads out ready to face a full week. The first half of my day is pretty much a regular morning. I worked some, did a swim (1600 meters), and then ate lunch. While I was eating, our ayi came in and started cleaning.

After lunch, I rode the bike over to the table tennis park and proceeded to get beat to pieces by an old woman. She played a much different game than most of the others I’ve been playing. She loved to hit backspin, after backspin, after backspin, etc. She delighted in running me around, and I gave her way too many opportunities to be delighted. At least it gave me a chance to work on my own backspin. I left the park about 4:15, and rode to Ditan Park for my TT lesson. I had plenty of time to find a KFC for dinner, before going in and prepping for the lesson scheduled for 6:00.

The backspin queen!

The west gate of Ditan Park, near the TT gym.

The entrance to the Table Tennis Training area. It’s almost hidden.

Staircase leading to the gym.

I walked into a much different scene than last week, when I first found the gym. Last week was a holiday, and the gym was almost empty. Tonight, the gym was full of kids and parents, and the training was serious. There were lots of great young players and coaches watching and drilling them. I’ll post a short video I took. I tried to take some better video, but the camera didn’t work. Maybe next week.

Table Tennis Gym video link

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vf3hkq5j95c999a/15.4.13.TT%20gym.MOV?dl=0

The lesson went well. My forehand needs the most work. My backhand was the most solid stroke. My backspin shots were the most improved (thanks to the little old lady earlier in the day). We can’t converse, but I could see he was ramping up the speed of some of his shots, trying to push me.

After the lesson, I went out, climbed on the bike, and started home. My brakes weren’t working? After closer inspection, I found the rear brake handle had broken, so no rear brakes. Someone, or something must have bumped my bike while I was inside. It was fine when I parked it. I rode home very slowly, making sure I kept plenty of distance in front of me. The front brake works a little, but won’t stop the bike by itself. I arrived safely. Whew!