Last weekend on dry land!

This has felt like a busy week, but I guess we haven't done anything too crazy. I actually worked out with my wife on Tuesday, had Volleyfit on Wednesday, and played Volleyball on Thursday. Maybe I feel tired because of this whole "physical activity" thing.

Tonight is a pub dinner, shopping for cruise stuff, then I relax. Saturday and Sunday will both be reasonably busy days, and next week is going to be a crazy week at work. I think I'm definitely going to need this vacation when it comes...

Volleyfit

So, I did my first class of Volleyfit yesterday. The goal is to get more fit for volleyball, and to improve my skills. The workout part of it was pretty rough on me, but the teacher wasn't all that great at explaining things. He had us playing a proper 6 vs. 6 match, but he assumed that everyone was a volleyball pro, and never really explained what we were supposed to do. So now, I've got to check the internet to learn how to play volleyball, when I'm PAYING this guy to teach me. Fun times.

A nailbiter!

Yesterday, we played the #2 ranked team in our league, and we won one game out of three. Thankfully, that may be enough to keep us at #4. This means that we would be in the top tier for the playoffs, and we can't possibly go any lower. So at worst, we would be 4th out of 12 teams in our league at the end of the season. Not too shabby!

The game we won was a nail biter. The score was 23-23 for us, and the game goes to 25 points. I was serving. My first serve went over, and our team did a good job of keeping it over there, so we won the point. 24-23 now. I then flubbed my serve. 24-24, next point wins, their serve. It was a good rally that ended with a light tip that dropped it just over the net. Billy wins, 25-24!

This weekend, my buddy Ll4ma is coming down for a visit. Saturday should be full of videogames, beer, and guy movies. Woo!

Weekend

Bah, last night we lost 2 and won 1 in volleyball. We ran away with the first game, but then we stopped paying attention, and the other team won two. I think we'll probably stick to rec league next season too...

This weekend, I get to put the winter tires on in the rain. Then, I get to put in a couple of hours of work on Sunday to make up for time I took off to go to the Ottawa Food and Wine Show. This weekend is shaping up to be an absolute BLAST, let me tell you. 

If I can squeeze it in, I might play some more Fallout 3. I find it absolutely crazy how much content they've crammed into this game. It's an RPG, so technically I should be following the main quest line and playing out the story. Instead, I'm running around a nuclear wasteland hunting down raiders and mutants, and completely ignoring what I'm supposed to be doing. It's great fun. Gears of War 2 is also really good. If I can catch my buddy W3asel online, then we'll play through the co-op mode together. It's great fun if you have a good friend to play with.

Or, the wife and I may go and pick up Lips for the 360. It apparently released on Tuesday, and I know she was looking forward to that. I don't know how enthusiastic she'll be when she sees that the game comes with two mics, and remembers that I can't sing very well. :)

Zombies

So, the disadvantage to so many good games coming out in such a short period of time, is that I will be forced to leave some behind. Unfortunately, Left 4 Dead is going to be one of those casualties.

Normally, this would hold a special place in my heart, since it involves killing zombies. However, they are FAST zombies, so I won't cry too much.

We have another volleyball game tonight! These may be our most difficult opponents yet, since they are 9-0. The score is off a little bit, since they should have played 12 games by now, but they only have 9 listed. In any case, The BWE will play hard, and we'll see who comes out on top. My intimidating facial hair should also help.

Bastards!

So yesterday, my work buddy S and I decide to go out for a pint at lunch yesterday, and we go to the Royal Oak on Hunt Club Road. I order the "special", which they tell you is a spicy chicken sandwich, but they mean is raw chicken. And I'm not talking about slightly pink in the middle. I mean, this is what chicken looks like in the meat section of a grocery store. I only noticed by the time I got to the centre of my sandwich, because it was breaded and spicy.

Needless to say, I was quite grossed out, and didn't feel well for the rest of the day. I had a great game of volleyball, though. My team is encouraging me to eat raw chicken more often. Don't bet on it, guys.

Under pressure

As you may have already read on my wife's blog, The Billy Whitmore Experience is now 12-0. In our second game of three on Thurday, we were quite far behind. Like, 11-21 far behind, with the game ending at 25 points. We realized we were in trouble, and managed to really crank it up at the end, and brought it to 22-24, with ME serving next. I had been serving like crap all game, and now I couldn't make a single mistake, or the other team would win.

It was stressed out, nervous, pacing, and just generally trying to ignore the rest of the team who was either telling me "Don't screw up!" or "Relax!". Thanks guys. In any case, My three serves made it over the net, and the team didn't let anything by either, and we won the game 25-24. Yay us!

Also, congratulations to the wife for getting published in the Ottawa Citizen. She's a much more diligent blogger than I. :)

Billy is 6-0 so far!

We won our game last night, 3-0! The whole team played well, but I definitely need to work on my serves a bit. I think I had the MOST flubbed serves out of anyone there. Kind of embarassing, but I pulled my own weight by guarding the net pretty well, and doing a good number of bump-returns. My goals for the next game:

- Improve my serves

- Learn to bump-set instead of just bump-returning

Go Billy!

Pre-Game

I'm really excited about playing volleyball tonight. I mentioned it yesterday, but I'm saying it again now. I'm excited! I'm finishing up my work day by migrating some user data from a remote datacenter to this one. And reading volleyball rules. And checking volleyball standings. And looking at directions to the gym. And reminding myself not to dig. Shit, I forgot about that data!

I have compiled a list of the pros and cons of indoor volleyball for you, since I know you care:

Pros:

- Immune to weather effects

- No chasing the volleyball out of bounds (yay walls!)

- No chance of a stray ball landing in your court (one court in the gym)

- Changeroom/water fountain/bathrooms are readily available.

- Don't have to shake sand out of your underwear, ears, and leg hair

Cons:

- Diving and digging is dangerous (alliteration: always awesome!)

- No tanning opportunities

There you have it. The team we play tonight has a 1-2 record, but that doesn't indicate much after only playing one other team. We'll see how happy and enthusiastic I am after the game.