Give the Gift of Direction

It's almost the Christmas season, and Black Friday, which marks the start of the holiday shopping season, is fast approaching. It's not my plan to partake in much Christmas shopping this year, but if it were, and if I had the bank account capable of supporting it, I would purchase GPS navigation systems for select teammates. It is, by far, the most needed automotive accessory for my teammates, and probably the rest of the world. One of the most frustrating, but necessary responsibilities of a captain is to provide navigational directions to teammates who are clueless, hopelessly lost, or stuck in traffic with no inkling of alternatives. To prevent total line up overhauls and the forfeiture of match points, it has become an expected and regular task.

The frustration experienced by the navigator (me) and the directionally challenged (the teammates) during these "Where in the World is Diego" excursions is enough to make me scream and hang up the phone. If you want to see peeved, then you should witness my facial expressions when I get the "Help! I'm hopelessly lost" call. During the entire conversation, I silently pray to prevent from swearing aloud. When it's all over I'm too frazzled to play my match in a calm state, and those teammates who've been lost and in fear of defaulting a match are equally frazzled. If I were the captain for my current team (thankfully, I'm not), then this would have been the case on Saturday when a teammate got stuck in traffic on the way to our match. Fortunately, she was not alone; the other team was dealing with the same situation for at least one of their team members. Unfortunately, I wasn't familiar with the area so I couldn't help; instead she had to endure her father's poor directions given over the phone while driving at a break neck speed to make it to the facility on time.


I'm convinced everyone has someone like this in their lives; for all I know, that someone could be you. We may all encounter unfamiliar territory or a situation that requires us to seek an alternative route. Be the person who enhances everyone's travel experience, recognizes and accepts navigational limitations, and reduce everyone's frustration level by purchasing a GPS navigation system. For the sake of others, if you or a loved one is directionally challenged or a road warrior, then do us all a favor and invest in a GPS system - the best navigational tool invented since the compass and the map.

To help you in your buying endeavor, here is a link to PC World's Holiday Gift Guide to GPS - http://bit.ly/5qQqTc . Happy navigating!

Journey on!

Quet

Happy New Year!!!

I know you all are thinking – Happy New Year??!…Ahhhh, hello – we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know there are a couple of big holidays left to celebrate in 2009, but tomorrow I'm celebrating the start of my "Personal New Year". For me, tomorrow is New Year's Day.

My last personal year wasn't the best, and that's really putting it mildly. I had more personal catastrophes and disasters to occur over the course of 365 days, than I choose to recount. Overall, it was a rough and tumble year for me, I was living the "hard knock life", and it seemed as if Murphy's Law was in effect nonstop. I take full responsibility for breaking a mirror during the year, but that was sometime after the onslaught of personal hiccups and miscues. Regardless, I've never bought into superstitions about breaking mirrors, splitting poles, etc. Unfortunately, this just hasn't been the most shining period in my life, and honestly the last period even remotely close to matching up was 15 years ago. When I look back, that period 15 years ago was a transition period for me. My collegiate years were coming to a close; my friends were graduating and headed in many different directions; I was trying to find my fit in the professional world; a car replacement loomed; finances were tight, and I was reliant upon others for some of life's basic necessities. My personal situation 15 years ago, while not exactly the same, looks very similar to my current situation.


Just as it was 15 years ago, this is a season of change for me. I could consider my current situation to be a setback, but instead I prefer to view it as a setup for my comeback. Fifteen years ago, I started my adult life with pretty much nothing, and now 15 years later, I have only slightly more than I did then. Back then, I took it one day at a time, and one goal at a time. I'm all set to get rolling with a fresh, new attitude and approach towards building a fully satisfying and complete life that will exceed what I built for myself 15 years ago. November 9^th, 2009 marks the start of my "New Year", and I'm looking forward to achieving and experiencing so many new and positive things.


Happy New Year, All!!
Quet

Weekend Banger’s Friday Funky Jam

Music has always had a place in my life. My entire youth was spent performing as a singer. Although I'm no longer a performing artist, music still lifts me up when I'm down, and it speaks to almost every event in my life – good or bad. I can think of or locate a song that represents my state of mind for anything that has occurred in my life. Being able to pinpoint that perfect situational song is essential because, I'm allowed to find one song that will arouse my competitive, fighting spirit and transition me from my normal laidback state of mind to a warrior state of mind. While my laidback, sedentary lifestyle is great for everyday purposes, it has the ability to put me in wrong state of mind for competition. If ever there is a time when I need to be transitioned, then it's when I have to step on a tennis court. To prepare and transition, I use really upbeat music. The louder & funkier it is, the better it is – hence my Friday Funky Jam.

The Friday Funky Jam is a song I've picked for my weekend tennis escapades when I should be high energy and ready to "bang" with the best on the recreational courts. This song may vary in genre and age. Undoubtedly, it will almost always have vocals – I am a former singer. Last, but not least, it will be a song that I've heard during the week that is "hot" (at least, hot for me) and representative of what my mindset should and will be by match time.

This week’s selection….

Tye Tribbett – “Victory”

Note: If you computer is as slow as mine, it’s best to let this song load completely before listening.

To all my weekend bangers, aim for your “sweet spot” and keeping banging!

Quet

My Last Hurrah

My last hurrah on the Atlanta courts didn't live up to my expectations or desires. My partner and I lost in straight sets. I don't remember the exact score, and really don't want to remember it. That loss only added to mounting number of consecutive match losses I've experienced over the last two seasons in two different leagues. I'm on a 4 match losing streak, and that's not how I wanted to wrap up my Atlanta tennis career, so I'll be back. Doubt me is you want, but you'll see. I'm not going out like that! Until then, I'll be missing Atlanta tennis.

-Chequetta

I Have to Play Tonight?

Less than 1 day after my proclamation that I would be taking a "vaca" from tennis, I received a last minute phone call at almost 5 p.m. today asking me to play a 6:30 p.m. USTA Women's Combo match. Despite the late notice, I couldn't say no - I had previously committed. All my plans for the evening immediately went up in smoke. My 6:30 match turned into a mini-marathon - lasting more than 2 hours. I was really looking forward to the end of my long weekend being topped off with a one day break between tennis and work. A nice day of rest. No dice. Now, I'm tired all over again and my week is just beginning. Geez!

It Wasn't Meant to Be

The team needed a lot of things to happen to make it beyond the regular season. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Our season ended today with a 1-4 loss. Although the season ended sooner than we would have liked, I think we can all be proud of just how competitive we were for the majority of the season. We proved to ourselves that we could compete at a higher level. My ladies were great! 3-peating as ALTA City Champion is tough, and while we weren't able to 3-peat, I know we will be back in the City Championship match again. We have all summer to work on our weaknesses, I'm sure this will result in improvements during the fall season.

Personally, I'm planning to reduce the amount of tennis I play this summer. There are some other things that require my attention, but that doesn't mean you won't hear me chime in about some random match here or there. As long as there are courts and players willing to play, I'll be somewhere in the mix.

Chequetta

Ahhh, This is the Life!!!

Today was my day to enjoy watching others play tennis. I'm a fan of the game, so I like to watch just as much as I like to play. Supporting my friends' teams is something I do as often as possible. With the hectic schedule I had for the past month, playing a supportive fan has been somewhat difficult this season. This was the first Saturday I was able to get out to a men's match, and it was a great choice - if I may say so. The weather was absolutely beautiful for Atlanta - mid 80's and no humidity (imagine that). I wasn't about to sit in my house, let alone one with a busted air conditioner, on such a lovely day. Since it was warmer in my house than outside, going to a tennis match was a no brainer. I picked up a few beverages, drove to the courts, set up my lawn chair under a shady oak tree, and kicked back with good friends to pass the time. It's leisurely days and ocassions such as this when my love of tennis, and all that it has brought into my life is truly appreciated. For me, this is the life.