There are three stories that I could tell about these balls…..so I will.

The first is that they are given to me for my baby girl, Rosie who loves tennis balls more than any other toy. She’s a bit like David – he’s been playing with an old paper bag for months now rather than most of the much more expensive toys he owns. Rosie too prefers a second hand tennis ball to all her other toys. In fact, she loves them so much she’s a real pain with them. There is a standard sound – thunk…… thunk, thunk, thunk – it’s the sound of her dropping the ball at your feet, it bouncing closer to you, then she looks at you as if to say ‘well come on then, you know what to do next’. She’s never, ever tired of it and so usually we have to take them from her with the comment ‘game over Rosie’ and she sulks for a bit but then goes to find something else to amuse herself with.

Secondly, the balls are given to me by my friend and colleague, Chris who is a rather good tennis player and essentially they are his cast-offs, the balls that don’t bounce well enough for his level of tennis. Thanks to Chris for thinking of me and my baby. He gave me about a dozen of them this morning, all past their playing best but well within the acceptable levels of bounce for the Roguester.

Symbolic of my day, is the third story, where I have spent my time trying to juggle so much stuff I don’t know if I’m coming or going as they say. Not only have I been juggling but much of it has been for someone who has shown a complete disregard for my time and effort which hasn’t endeared the person to me nor has it made me inclined to do any more to help.

So, I’ve ended up feeling thoroughly put-on and therefore very fed-up. It’s funny because I have a reputation for being able to say things in ‘just the right way’ at work, the way that motivates and enthuses the team to pull out all of the stops, rather than demotivating and demoralising them with misplaced words or phrases. I always get the task of disseminating news and rallying the troops whenever needed. I’ve always believed that it’s the best way to get the best out of others. I now see only too clearly the effect on me when I don’t get shown the same degree of courtesy. Demotivated and demoralised - GGGGrrrrrrrrr.

This isn’t the first time I’ve done a shot of things dropping through the air – I’ve done several similar shots in the past but I kinda like it anyway and the symbolism definitely works for me.

Strangely I was having a Q-Tips nostalgia thing last year too!