US Open Stringing 2015 - 21st August - Arrival

2 chairs for me. 

As I sit here catching up on a week's worth of stringing blog I am given yet another reason to dislike New York. It is Friday night. Qualifying matches finished today and we had our first (and probably my last) early finish of the tournament. We made the 7pm bus - back at the hotel just after 7.30.The plan was to have a couple of drinks while writing this blog. The only problem of course is that most bottle shops here do not sell pre-mixes. There are laws against it here in New York. Serenity Now. I'll have to make do with shots of vodka instead. All class. 

This is my fifth US Open. The previous four years of travelling to New York have prepared me for disappointment and frustration. Baggage delays, customs delays, traffic delays, cancelled airport shuttles at 1am - super happy fun time. So imagine my surprise when there was a spare seat next to me on the flight over #winning. I was through customs in under 10 minutes instead of the usual half hour plus wait. My bag was waiting for me on the baggage carousel at JFK. Unbelievable. My bag has taken an hour or more to make it off the plane on every other journey through JFK. It's a promising start.

We are staying at the Westin Grand Central this year. The same hotel as last year. It is fairly modern and has a very good gym by hotel gym standards. I am rooming with Jim Downes again this year. He is a good stringer and doesn't snore. 

I arrive on Friday night and go straight to bed. Need to avoid  jet lag. I have the next day off. After a quick gym session I spend my time catching up on work emails and finding random stuff to waste money on. 

I catch up with guys coming back from the stringing room. We all head out to Buffalo Wild Wings near Times square for dinner. They prove to be marginally better than Dominos buffalo wings. 

I am in bed by 10 ready to start work the next day.