Wet weather ruins planned tv day.

Today I should be sat infront of the TV fixed with the tension that is 'The Ryder Cup'.

I was so pleased to only be working 3 days a week as it meant Friday's were free and I could see the opening day for once.

And so, at 7.30am we switched on the TV to start to absorb some of the atmosphere. In Worksop it was a dry day but in Wales it had been raining for some time and the players were all decked out in their waterproofs, umbrellas up and towels everywhere as the caddies tried to keep the clubs dry.

By the time the players were on the 1st tee it was obvious that play was going to be tricky. Puddles were everywhere, on the greens, filling the bunkers and even the fairways were starting to look more like rivers.

It's such a shame. Play was suspended after an hour.

About 5 years ago I went to the Celtic Manor for a conference. I didn't get to play the course as there wasn't enough spare time, but I did have a good look around and it really looked a good course. I could see why a match such as the Ryder Cup would go there.

The trip to the Celtic Manor was my 1st introduction to SatNavs - and I had a moody one. I travelled down with a colleague and we stopped at some services where 2 motorways joined. I had also printed directions from the internet which my colleague was following as neither of us knew that area of the country well.

After a coffee we got back into the car and turned the SatNav back on. It told me I needed to rejoin the motorway and take the next left I knew I needed to go right. We were travelling south and then needed to go across to Wales. I ignored the SatNav and turned right. My colleague said I needed to take the next junction off, I knew we were still some 40 miles before we needed to exit the motorway. I ignored my colleague and carried on. After about 20 minutes both the SatNav and my colleague caught up with me and we were all agreed on the directions once again.

That night we decided we would take a taxi down into Newport and find a nice restaurant for dinner. The hotel sorted a taxi for us and we found a really nice place. At the end of the evening we jumped into a taxi and asked to be taken to the Celtic Manor Hotel.

'Where's that then?' asked the taxi driver.

'Where the Ryder Cup is going to be held in 2010' I said. It was a huge hotel complex, he had to know where it was. It was midnight, it was dark and we had no idea.

'No, never heard of it' the driver replied.

I was vaguely aware of which direction we had driven down to Newport but as a passenger, you don't note every road and roundabout. Eventually I remember a series of roundabouts and knew we were close. We circled a few times like a shark sizing up a kill and then I made a decision which exit the driver should take from the roundabout. We drove up a country lane that didn't look familiar and I began to worry when suddenly we saw the hotel lights ahead. we had somehow found the back entrance to the hotel, but at least we had found it.

I assume over the last few years taxi drivers have made it a priority to know how to get to the Celtic Manor, I would imagine business will be brisk for them this weekend, but back then it wasn't on their radar.

And it was only a 10 minute drive.

And so I'm kicking my heels waiting for play to resume. And I can't even pass time by having a lovely long walk with the dogs because we too have torrential rain now, blowing across from Wales!

Time to browse the Kindle store I think.