Glad to hear it Allan,
And you had a very good night on top of it. See what a pleasant surprise can do for your frame of mind. Good to hear that your "suggestions" were taken seriously. And again good bowling.

Thanks Tim. Actually, I was in a pretty good frame of mind to start with. Having made the decision to stay or go, depending on the state of the place, I was pretty determined to give it a good go no matter the conditions. That is why we took everything we had to the alley.. something in the bag will work well enough to allow us to bowl, even if it was the plastic ball I didn't want to go out without being sure that I had given it my best shot.
Once we found that conditions were much improved, it was a matter of selecting a ball to suit and go at it. I chose my Big deal and bowled from board 32 (feet) over 15 at the arrows out to 7 or 8 for the break point. That line worked all night with only a board or so change with my feet, to the right. When I hit my marks and released the ball properly, I was in the pocket. If I made an error, the results were less than ideal. I should point out that this pattern is not all that easy as a 2 board error at the break point results in some ugly splits. I don't mind that as it forces me to stay accurate if I want to score. Case in point was our young lady bowler who is normally very accurate and consistent. Last night she was a little wayward, missing her mark frequently on either side, but by no more than a board or so. She is normally good for a 540+ series but not last night. I can't say that I was perfect, either, but I did manage to clean up quite a few splits to keep the marks going. My spare shooting was very good, last night, and that helped my scores a lot.
In the end, all I want from the alley, is an oil pattern that will allow me to bowl, approaches that do not cause knee and joint strain and a clean area to stand in when I'm not bowling. Last night they provided all three and I was a Happy Camper.

Cheers,
Allan

It is amazing how a laneman and an oil machine control our life. They can make it a pleasure, or miserable. Glad things got worked out Allan. Now, let's hope they keep the shot. It is so much easier to run a lane when the bowlers are happy.

Last night, I ran into another one of our bowlers at the Pro Shop at a different house. We talked for a while, and he turned the conversation around to the horrible oil condition of the Brunswick house. He is another disgruntled bowler. He asked about the house we were in, and I told him I have bowled there now for 2 Fall and 2 Summer leagues. He noticed the people were nice, no cosmic bowlers, just people there to bowl, and some pretty good ones too.

I mentioned this was my last year at the other house, favoring this one. I also mentioned a bowler who asked me if we could get a team here. Right away, he jumped in and asked to keep him in mind. So, he could be our fifth in this team. Two ladies I met over the Summer want to bowl also.

If this works out, I will be the handicap for the team as the lowest bowler. But it is a good group of people.

They sure do make a difference and it has kept us there at the alley without having to do anything more than what you would expect from any bowling alley.

Sounds like you have set up a mean team with your latest recruit I don't mind being low man on a team, I tend to work harder to keep up and my bowling improves with it. Good luck to you all, if you can get it all together.

My son and I were both talking about entering our local "big" tournament again, freshly enthused, so that may happen yet!

Cheers to all and good bowling,
Allan

Tuesday has come and gone, league conditions were not too bad but a bit different to the week before. Not that it made much difference to me, I struggled all night with back pain that has just about crippled me since Sunday. Managed a 164 average for the night and I was quite pleased to even get that but I was glad when the night was done!
I hope that it eases up over the next couple of days, it usually only lasts a week or so.
Ok.. good bowling to all,

Cheers,
Allan