i am in north dakota. on purpose.

[eta:  Wireless issues last night, so I am posting this Sunday afternoon.  Ah well.]

I'd been suspecting all along that the complete lack of organization and follow-through that had plagued my efforts to volunteer as an official at the curling world championships would not disappear upon my reaching Grand Forks, and Grand Forks did not disappoint me.

Read it again.

Yeah, so, flt and I got here and checked in; our credentials did both say "Timer", instead of "Stats" or something equally WTFish (although the head of the media team did call me at home on Thursday to talk about I don't even know what, but she had me on her list as doing data entry on her team, which, no), but when we got to the officials' locker room, the head official was very pleased to see us -- but the guy doing the schedule for the timers (the only job we're going to be allowed to do this week for reasons that make some sense but aren't really important) had never heard of us, and his schedule was full until Thursday.  "But come Thursday it's wide open," he says.  We try not to breathe fire at the suggestion that we just cool our heels for the first five days of the event, and did we mention that we flew out here at our own expense and took six days of leave (which in flt's case she didn't have, so three are vacation days and three are LWOP)?  Head Official told him to un-double-up some of the local people and put us in two of every three draws, and it looks like it will all be okay, but man, for a couple of hours there we were ready to set the building on fire.

It is, however, a lovely building.  And flt and I and our hostess (because we're not staying in a hotel, at least, which if we were we'd have been even more furious at the whole non-scheduling thing), who is very cool, already have an inside or at least a running joke attached to this event:  Do not touch the package.  I assure you if you were here that would be hilarious.

Anyway.  In the first draw, Team USA defeated Norway (3/4 the same Norwegian team as was in Lowell in 2006, and they still look good [g]) on a very nice last shot; France defeated China; Germany defeated Switzerland, also on a nice shot; and the Czech Republic defeated Scotland, which frankly astounded me.  I think it also kind of surprised Scotland, to be honest.  But, hey, referring again to Lowell 2006, in that event that Scottish team (also 3/4 the same, since MacDonald their lunatic vice is out with knee surgery; actually it might be 4/5 the same) was defeated by Australia, and came back to win the round robin and then lose the 1/2 page playoff in the most disastrous high-level game I have ever seen and then win the semifinal and then win the whole piñata.  So, you know, losing to the Czech Republic in the first draw -- not the end of the world, necessarily.

I don't know what happened in the second draw, because we went out to dinner and then came back to the house.  But I am working tomorrow morning, and we're both working tomorrow evening, so things will be okay in the long run.  And I'm using the hostess's wireless to (a) come to you live and (b) download Torchwood and Doctor Who, which I will watch in my various spare hours here and there.

G'night!

giant-killers

Second draw, which was last night and we weren't there:  France def. Switzerland; Sweden def. Australia; Canada def. Denmark; Germany def. China.

Third draw, this morning, only had two games.  Scotland* vs. Norway on sheet B; the Norwegian skip missed two important shots in the first end to give Scotland an early four points, and Scotland never lost that lead.  10-6 in nine.  Meanwhile, I was timing Czech Republic vs. USA on sheet C, and between the Czech team still being on their A game with which they defeated Scotland yesterday and the US skip missing at least two important shots (in the fourth and fifth ends, for steals of two and one, respectively), the Czech Republic defeated the USA 7-4.

I know, right?

Standings after three draws:

CZE  2-0
FRA  2-0
GER  2-0
CAN  1-0
SWE  1-0
SCO  1-1
USA  1-1
AUS  0-1
DEN  0-1
CHN  0-2
SUI  0-2

*Murdoch looking scruffy, and you know how I like it when they don't shave.  :-)

giant-killer killers

So, yeah, this evening, Team Czech Republic went down like a sack of lead, defeated 8-4 in eight ends by Team Norway, whom both the USA and Scotland (both of whom had been defeated by the Czechs) had beaten.  This is the stuff of which tiebreakers are made, if it comes to that.  Yoiks!

In other news, Canada murdered Australia, Denmark defeated Sweden, and USA stole two in the tenth to defeat Scotland when poor Davy Murdoch's draw picked and came up short.  (Rats.)  New standings, incorporating the afternoon draw we didn't see:

CAN  3-0
GER  3-0
CZE  2-1
FRA  2-1
USA  2-1
AUS  1-2
CHN  1-2
DEN  1-2
NOR  1-2
SCO  1-2
SWE  1-2
SUI  0-3