Volunteering, it’s a ‘Rap’

Happy Saturday morning. Howdy, starting with Dirk’s Rap:

Yo, it’s DJP who lives in the 513
wake up snappy, got a mission today,
It’s a tennis tournament,
Gonna hit the ground running.
Exciting vibes, I’m feeling the thrill,
Busy with my crew, we’re ready to serve.

Serve and volunteer, it’s an exciting way,
Building up our future, brighter every day.
With my crew so busy, we laugh and we cheer,
Tennis and volunteering, bringing the passion near.

In this tournament of life, we’re a missing link found.
Together we’re the winners, that’s what life’s all about.

Now, another mug of java before this Rapping takes over these entire Ramblings.

Aging – it happens oh so quickly. I remember getting a call from my brother that at his school they had a special deal with Texas Instruments for a calculator – for the fantastic price of, merely, $20.00 (big bucks then). Without any hesitation I told him; “YES!” Other than the % function it only did the basic add, subtract, divide, multiply stuff – but it was a CALCULATING machine!

That calculator, red readout and all, is now a museum piece.

Cincinnati Open 2025 – is entering the final weekend as the Cincinnati Open 2025 is in the thick of the semifinals. Aside from volunteering in the suites I’ve had the privilege to see world class tennis elites such as Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Coco Gauff and others perform in what is a Super Bowl of Tennis.

Watching the last set from a courtside seat I had a return punch at me at 124mph (measured by speed gun) – happened to be quite disconcerting. Luckily the ball hit the top edge of the barrier, bounced up where the guy two seats over caught it. How cool to be part of this level of play. Here are photos I took watching the action.

Mid-week we had a nasty thunderstorm blow through. Winds were strong enough to break off a large branch of a tree by our condo. At the Open, the double patio doors of the suite I was working in flew open, and sheets of rain blew in. The rain and lightning kept on coming. Eventually, guests started to get anxious wanting to head home. To assist we coaxed Housekeeping to bring a couple of rolls of garbage bags. As the picture shows, the result was my happy load of customers heading home on the elevator.

Leaving that evening I use a concrete pathway to the shuttle buses. Drains had clogged and walking about 300 feet on a walkway with water reaching above my ankles meant that the ‘condom’ I had put on meant little – oh well ‘C’est la Vie’.

Finally, a couple of shots of the area I worked, the bar and food service areas, TVs and all, and yes, that is Prime Rib on the food bar.

The video below was made by two players who arrived at the players only area for the first time since the renovation this year ($260 million). This area is one of the several my Credentials won’t let me in so I had never seen it either.

Fast forward to the 4:30 minute mark

Canada gone Bonkers – Remember that there was a time when we had just men and women? A time when we all fit into this category as determined by our chromosomes, XX and XY?

Well, the Canadian government has a much better solution than just mother nature and her little-bitty snippets of DNA. It all started slowly and sneakily, but now it has authorized an acronym (possibly to be further expanded on at a later date) used by the Government of Canada to refer to the Canadian community – 2SLGBTQI+.

Want the complete progression of the growth of the acronyms? What is even more interesting is that they are actually paying and having a bureaucracy sit around to develop and ensure these are properly inserted where ‘necessary’. Here is the list: SSOGIE, SOGIESC, SOGIE, SOGI, SGM, LGBTI, LGBTQ2, 2SLGBTQI+.

2SLGBTQI+’s meaning is this: “Two-Spirit people as the first 2SLGBTQI+ communities; L: Lesbian; G: Gay; B: Bisexual; T: Transgender; Q: Queer; I: Intersex, considers sex characteristics beyond sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression; +: is inclusive of people who identify as part of sexual and gender diverse communities.”

I believe that since it’s all ‘fluid’ that this latest iteration MUST grow. Bonkers I say!

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

What year did the last American Collect a Civil War Pension?

1) “1932”
2) “1942”
3) “1953”
4) “1964”
5) “1970”
6) “2020”