Thursday evening.
This was another warm day at the range, probably around 36C in the afternoon. The long range forecast is for more of the same for at least the next week. At least there is little or no rain forecast, although a shower might help to clean and coll the air a bit and to settle some of the dust.
Practice continued today, with more shooters in evidence. Our two Canadians, Des Vamplew and Jim Paton, along with manager/coach Sandy Peden, were hard at it, getting accustomed to the heat and the different mode of shooting.
Some issues continue to haunt us with the use of the electronic targets, some of which are still not working consistently. With this system, there is no fall-back, they, or at least enough of them, simply must work, otherwise there is no shoot! The local Suis people are doing their best, but it will be a relief when the full crew gets in from Switzerland.
Otherwise, we, the ITOs, remain in good heart. The proper range jackets have not yet arrived, so temporary ones have been issued. Keith Born is the "Butt Officer", although there are no butts! His duties have been extended to include the kicking of errant butts and the supervision of safe disposal of the legacy of the few smokers amongst the shooters. Cliff Mallet and I have been sorting an weighing ammo in the names of Appeals Jurors, and so on......
The hotel is filling up. It is said to be booked solid for the period of the Games, so it will be less peaceful than during these first few days. Our trips to and from the range are getting faster, with the police escort clearing the way. They stand no argument. Further into New Delhi, there are dedicated lanes for Games' traffic. Those who try to use them illegally are immediately arrested and put in jail. That could be a solution for the use of the dedicated bus lanes at home! Generally the traffic and people give way to the police, but the large numbers of cattle along the roads have more trouble getting the point!
More practice tomorrow. We ITOs do not yet have our Games' uniforms, which may have to be collected for New Delhi in the next day or so. Once again the police escort may be prove invaluable! We shall need the regalia to be admitted to the Opening Ceremony on 3 October.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday evening.
With increasing numbers of teams arriving for the Games, there were more shooters at the range today. It was again warm, but perhaps a little less humid. The multi-day forecast is for low 30s, with no rain, for at least week.
Targets were available at 300, 600, 900 and 1000 yards. Most of the electronic problems now seem to be resolved, so things went fairly smoothly. A few glitches remain on isolated targets, which we hope to sort out tomorrow, when a larger attendance is expected for the practice. This will be the format until 2 October. After the Opening Ceremony on 3 October, 500 yard targets will also be introduced.
Security is quite tight around the range area. Today, we had a police escort for our drives from and to the hotel.
With increasing numbers of teams arriving for the Games, there were more shooters at the range today. It was again warm, but perhaps a little less humid. The multi-day forecast is for low 30s, with no rain, for at least week.
Targets were available at 300, 600, 900 and 1000 yards. Most of the electronic problems now seem to be resolved, so things went fairly smoothly. A few glitches remain on isolated targets, which we hope to sort out tomorrow, when a larger attendance is expected for the practice. This will be the format until 2 October. After the Opening Ceremony on 3 October, 500 yard targets will also be introduced.
Security is quite tight around the range area. Today, we had a police escort for our drives from and to the hotel.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday evening.
Some days are frustrating, and other are just, well, frustrating!
Out at the range this morning, trying to make sure that all the targets were hooked up and responding electronically. Most were fine, but there were several that simply did not respond! Possible reasons are as varied as the shapes of clouds in the sky .... electrical connections, heat, humidity, who knows? When we left the range before 1400, a thorough check was to be made this afternoon on the physical aspects. We'll be out there tomorrow to see how this has worked, and to wave the magic wand just in case.
Then we, the six ITOs, got into two CWG cars to go into New Delhi to be "accredited" and to draw uniforms. I think I have commented before on the busy-ness of the roads "system". Even with lanes dedicated to CWG vehicles, it took well over two hours to get to wherever we were meant to be. This was not helped by the fact that neither of our two drivers actually had the slightest idea where they were going, so there were frequent stops to ask directions, U-turns and so on, all in the face of the merciless volume of traffic, no doubt made even more merciless by them being stuck in the non-CWG lanes, perhaps for hours on end. A GPS would have helped tremendously and it is astonishing that with all the millions being spent on the Games, this has not been put into the Games' cars. In the end we got to the place where we should have been only to find that uniforms were not ready (not until 1 October at the earliest), the man who could have sorted out some aspects of our passes was out of the office, and the finance place that is meant to give us a small daily payment to cover some of our daily expenses was closed! It is best not to try to describe the drive back to the Hotel, evening rush hour bedlam, along with disgruntled passengers and weary drivers. All I can say is that, not for all the tea in China or the riches of King Solomon's Mines would I get behind the wheel of a car in this country. I would never drive again - being either stricken with a heart attack (which as a passenger I'm getting close to) or a severe nervous breakdown!
That glass (those glasses) of single malt had remarkable restorative effects, as did a jovial dinner.
For tomorrow - no real predictions. If you expect little, there is less disappointment. We hope to verify the remaining targets, and put into quarantine those that will not work, at least until Sius Ascor people arrive from Switzerland. There are increasing numbers of teams arriving and wanting to get shooting. We hope that most will get some chance over the day.
Frustrated, yes - but not downcast, and there is still time to get things sorted out.
Jim
Some days are frustrating, and other are just, well, frustrating!
Out at the range this morning, trying to make sure that all the targets were hooked up and responding electronically. Most were fine, but there were several that simply did not respond! Possible reasons are as varied as the shapes of clouds in the sky .... electrical connections, heat, humidity, who knows? When we left the range before 1400, a thorough check was to be made this afternoon on the physical aspects. We'll be out there tomorrow to see how this has worked, and to wave the magic wand just in case.
Then we, the six ITOs, got into two CWG cars to go into New Delhi to be "accredited" and to draw uniforms. I think I have commented before on the busy-ness of the roads "system". Even with lanes dedicated to CWG vehicles, it took well over two hours to get to wherever we were meant to be. This was not helped by the fact that neither of our two drivers actually had the slightest idea where they were going, so there were frequent stops to ask directions, U-turns and so on, all in the face of the merciless volume of traffic, no doubt made even more merciless by them being stuck in the non-CWG lanes, perhaps for hours on end. A GPS would have helped tremendously and it is astonishing that with all the millions being spent on the Games, this has not been put into the Games' cars. In the end we got to the place where we should have been only to find that uniforms were not ready (not until 1 October at the earliest), the man who could have sorted out some aspects of our passes was out of the office, and the finance place that is meant to give us a small daily payment to cover some of our daily expenses was closed! It is best not to try to describe the drive back to the Hotel, evening rush hour bedlam, along with disgruntled passengers and weary drivers. All I can say is that, not for all the tea in China or the riches of King Solomon's Mines would I get behind the wheel of a car in this country. I would never drive again - being either stricken with a heart attack (which as a passenger I'm getting close to) or a severe nervous breakdown!
That glass (those glasses) of single malt had remarkable restorative effects, as did a jovial dinner.
For tomorrow - no real predictions. If you expect little, there is less disappointment. We hope to verify the remaining targets, and put into quarantine those that will not work, at least until Sius Ascor people arrive from Switzerland. There are increasing numbers of teams arriving and wanting to get shooting. We hope that most will get some chance over the day.
Frustrated, yes - but not downcast, and there is still time to get things sorted out.
Jim
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday Evening
This was a more positive day on several counts! Three of the ITOs, including me, took the day off, hired a car and driver, and went to the Taj Mahal. This involved a 3(+) hour south to Agra. It's an awesome place, one of the Seven Wonders of the World put up in the mid-1600s as a monument by the Moghul King after the death of his beloved wife. I'm going to attach a photo for you to show we were there!
In our absence, the other three ITOs went to the range. Electronic target issues are being resolved and some shots, properly electronically recorded, were fired in the afternoon. The rest of the targets will be tested in the morning, and we hope that practice shooting will start on Wednesday or Thursday.
Teams are arriving in increasing numbers. We have good confidence that we will reach 42 shooters from 21 countries. This is the largest of all the CWG shooting events and larger than most other sports!
We did not get accredited yesterday (Sunday) due to technical hitches, but we are assured that all will be ready by tomorrow. Without this essential formalisation, none of us can be admitted to any Games site including our own!
Jim
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Sunday morning.
Our team of "International Technical Officials" is now complete. We are accommodated at the Westin-Sohna Hotel, which is a top-notch resort, south of New Delhi. Whether we will be able to do justice to, or take advantage of, the many facilities is an open question. However, the food is very good and the rooms are very comfortable.
The weather here is warm (low 30s) and quite humid. There has been no rain so far, and there is now some hope that the worst of the monsoon is over. There have been many reports on the state of preparedness of venues and accommodation for the athletes and team officials. We are remote from all that in our oasis, but we expect to see and hear more today.
Yesterday, we went to the range. It was a slow start since the transport arranged for 0900 did not show up until after 1100. It's about a one hour drive over indescribably congested and poor roads. One sees a part of India that is 100% different from the Westin.
The range looks to be in much better shape than it was in April. There is grass, at least to the 600 yard targets, and everything looks to be in good order. We did a full inspection and discussed issues with the on site organisers. There is an issue with the electronic target systems that cannot be resolved until the Sius Ascor engineers arrive from Switzerland. Since their schedule is uncertain at the moment, it is not clear when the final checking and calibration of the targets and hence practice shooting can start. We have a meeting at the range this morning to go into this further.
Today also we will go into New Delhi to be "accredited" and to pick up Games' uniforms. That drive will be about twice or more times as far as the voyage to the range - it will be interesting!
More later - Jim
Our team of "International Technical Officials" is now complete. We are accommodated at the Westin-Sohna Hotel, which is a top-notch resort, south of New Delhi. Whether we will be able to do justice to, or take advantage of, the many facilities is an open question. However, the food is very good and the rooms are very comfortable.
The weather here is warm (low 30s) and quite humid. There has been no rain so far, and there is now some hope that the worst of the monsoon is over. There have been many reports on the state of preparedness of venues and accommodation for the athletes and team officials. We are remote from all that in our oasis, but we expect to see and hear more today.
Yesterday, we went to the range. It was a slow start since the transport arranged for 0900 did not show up until after 1100. It's about a one hour drive over indescribably congested and poor roads. One sees a part of India that is 100% different from the Westin.
The range looks to be in much better shape than it was in April. There is grass, at least to the 600 yard targets, and everything looks to be in good order. We did a full inspection and discussed issues with the on site organisers. There is an issue with the electronic target systems that cannot be resolved until the Sius Ascor engineers arrive from Switzerland. Since their schedule is uncertain at the moment, it is not clear when the final checking and calibration of the targets and hence practice shooting can start. We have a meeting at the range this morning to go into this further.
Today also we will go into New Delhi to be "accredited" and to pick up Games' uniforms. That drive will be about twice or more times as far as the voyage to the range - it will be interesting!
More later - Jim
Sunday, September 19, 2010
In advance
We are nearly ready for the "off"! The "International Technical Officials" for the Commonwealth Games Fullbore Rifle events will gather in India on Friday 24th September. This group includes the Range Officers, Jury and the Classification/Verification Official. There will be a few days getting the CRPF Kadarpur Range set up and checked out, with practice sessions before and after the Games' Opening Ceremony on 3rd October. The Pairs and Individual Medal Events start on 9th October, with the 1000 yard final stages on the 13th. The Game's Closing Ceremony is on the 14th.
I hope over the next few weeks to bring you new and information about the Fullbore and whatever other Games' Events that we are involved in. My reports will, I trust, complement those from the Canadian Team which will be more specifically associated with the shooting itself.
JimT
I hope over the next few weeks to bring you new and information about the Fullbore and whatever other Games' Events that we are involved in. My reports will, I trust, complement those from the Canadian Team which will be more specifically associated with the shooting itself.
JimT
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