THE CRUCIBLE

I've somehow got myself involved in a pool competition.

I think it might have been the point when I said, 'yes I'll get involved in that pool competition' to somebody some time ago.

Well now I'm playing. And it's the table football thing all over again. The Finance Guys are back, and would you believe it, they're even better at pool than they are at table football.

You should see them, smashing balls into the corner pocket, rippling back with a cannon and a bounce off the cushion, walking around the table, one hand on the chin, eyes keenly mapping the layout. It's like being at The Crucible.

I've always thought that an odd name for a theatre. The Crucible. It normally means a container where you heat metal up in a furnace, just to find out how pure it is - like a test, or a trial or a... refinement. That doesn't sound like a place of great entertainment.

I will probably adopt the strategy of hitting everything I can as hard as I can, and hoping for the best. And as red and yellow balls spin and collide across the blue baize, maybe something wonderful will happen that will leave the Finance Guys open-mouthed in astonishment.

I'll find it amusing anyway, or character-building or something.

Ha! Maybe it is The Crucible after all!