Bridge Blog 379: St. Catharines Sectional Day 2

            This time I blazed up to St. Catharines over the Peace Bridge, got there in 35 minutes and had plenty of time to find Walking on a Cloud in the Fairview Mall and buy some new Simcan socks. Knowing where to park, there was no delay in that department, either. I walked in to the tournament almost half an hour early. Partner Selina Volpatti was already there, entry slip in hand, waiting at the information desk.

            It’s been months since I’ve seen Selina, but she’s in fine form and we seem to play well together, at least until late in the session when one of the directors walks over with our entry slip and asks if that’s my ACBL membership number. Sure is, I say. Well, the director says, this is the 299er game and you’re disqualified. You’ve got too many masterpoints. Selina apologizes. She didn’t realize we were playing in the 299er game. I assure her that it’s no problem. We should just treat it like a bad game where we finish out of the points. I should have known something was odd just from the opposition – more couples than usual and nicer people, too. They post the results and we’re down at the bottom with a DQ next to our names. And we had a 62% game. Guess I really am too good to run with the C players.

            Meanwhile, the snow that the forecasters warned about had started and it was coming down steadily. There was about an inch of it, but it had a profound effect on the Queen Elizabeth Way
, which wasn’t yet plowed or salted. I saw at least one SUV off the road and didn’t want to join him. I bailed out at the Rainbow Bridge and rather than take the expressway home, I picked my way through Niagara Falls and the Tonawandas on Route 384 and Military Road. With a stop for gas, the trip back took better than an hour and a half.