A wonderful week

This is the last day of the week of December 18-24, and it's been a fantastic week, possibly the best week I've ever had.

The most important part of it is that Margie and I have formed an even stronger bond than ever before, and I'm very excited about what lies ahead.

It appears that I have a job as well. Adam introduced me to his real estate agent, who used to be an actuary. In fact, he started a branch of Zurich that was bought out by another company, and his experience led him into becoming an entrepreneur. He's ready to make a bigger push in the realty market, and though I met with him to discuss help in cracking the actuarial field, he offered me a job with his company. And I'm going to take it. It'll require me to get a real estate license, but I won't be a typical realtor. I'll be using my mathematical and analytical abilities to get better results for our clients. He's offered me 30K base salary this year, along with a lot more potentially. The 30K is if we have no success at all. And hey, that's a lot more than I'm making now.

What appeals to me is that, if it fails, I can still say that I worked under the guy, and perhaps that can count as experience to any actuary looking to hire. It could certainly be exciting. The office is in Geneva and I might start as early as Monday.

My bowling game has improved substantially in the several weeks. Before I discuss the results, let me describe what I'm doing now, so that it's written down somewhere.

• Same five-step approach, though I'm starting a little left of before.
• Ball held in my gut.
• Two steps with me hunched over a little bit.
• Ball goes back at third step, possibly a little earlier than that, hand held as if I'm holding a martini glass. 
• Fourth step starts a little early. A little stutter-step, but not much. Gives me a little more time to concentrate on the spot I'm trying to hit. (That spot is the eighth board, to start.)
• A little slide with my left foot, but not much. 
• Let go of the ball a little later than before, to loft the ball a bit.
• Finish high. Let the hand reach for the sky.

These last two parts are what I think has made a big difference. For some reason, I'm able to control my lofting well, as it feels more natural. And it helps with the curve of the ball. The ball goes as if it's going to hit the 6-10, then makes its move, and it's been hitting the 1-3 pocket at a six-degree angle.

So how good have I been at bowling lately? Well, I've had three goals in bowling, which I know I've written in some form or other.

1. Bowl a clean game, meaning no open frames.
2. Break Digger's high score of 233.
3. Bowl a 600 series.

I've accomplished all of these in the last week. I was antsy Monday night and decided to hit the lanes for some practice games. Planning for six games, I got better as the night went on, and in my sixth game, I had a clean game going into the tenth frame. What looked to be a good strike ball left a standing seven-pin, the shot I'd made all night long. Sure enough, I missed it when it really mattered. I couldn't help but be outwardly upset, cursing a few times and pounding the table. But, hey, I'm bowling well and games are only a buck. I'll bowl two more. The next game was clean. It only had three strikes and was a 191, but I made every spare.

Fueled by this, I bowled at league the next night and opened with a 231, my new high score. Opening with six consecutive strikes helps. I had two opens that game, both splits. My next game was a 220 and my second clean game of my life, less than 24 hours after my first one. Knowing that I needed a 149 for my first 600 series, I stayed composed and had it wrapped up early. Despite three open frames in the last four frames - a continuing problem late in the night that may be alleviated if I start lifting weights, running or drinking coffee - the third game was a 190, giving me a series of 641.

That 231 was oh-so-close to Digger's high. Tantalizingly so. But oh well. You can't expect to achieve all of your goals in such a short span.

But yesterday I went on my own. I could only afford five games. The first was pretty low but I slowly got back in the groove, and my fourth game started with six strikes, then four spares, and a strike at the end. Final score: 242. Holy crap! I bowled a 242! X X X X X X 6/ 9/ 8/ 9/X. My third clean game in less than 100 hours, when I never did it in 40 prior years.

This 242 was not in league, though I did it on two lanes. I made sure to get a print-out of the game, scan it as a .pdf file, and e-mail it to Digger. He has yet to respond, undoubtedly crushed by the news.

You know, maybe, just maybe, I could sniff 300 someday. The pressure would be enormous, and I'll probably have to get close but fail a bunch of times before succeeding, much as I did for my first clean game.

Combine it with last week's league scores of 216-213-158, and I've been on quiet a roll. Two weeks ago, my average was not quite 160. I'd say that I'm a 180 bowler right now. I believe I'll bowl over 180 as often as I bowl under it in the future.

I still remember two guys laughing at my third game score of 115 when I first bowled in this league. They weren't laughing at me per se, but at a low score in a good league. That very team was a fun group of guys when we bowled them last week and were complimentary of us.

Anyway, bowling right now is fun, and I'm proud of myself for accomplishing my goals. Now it's time to set some new ones. Maybe more than six strikes in a row in one game? Improved "pins per first ball" average? Continued improvement with my third game, by not tiring and recognizing the changing lane conditions?

A great week, and this is before tonight, when Margie will meet the Zahrobskys for the first time. My mother has one sibling, and for reasons somewhat unknown to me, she no longer talks to them. Since this happened around the time Margie and I started dating, she's never seen them.

A few months back, I decided to visit Kim (the middle child) at her workplace. Why? Because no one actually did it. We'd talk about seeing each other, either Kim or Kris, the oldest boy, but would never go through with it. So I did it, and it was a neat moment. Based on that, I asked Kim if we could visit tonight, when their family has a Christmas Eve party, as they've done for decades and was the source of many happy memories of my youth. She checked it out and gave me the okay to come over tonight at 7:00.

Maybe the week won't seem as cheerful later this evening; it might go poorly, as my last visit to the Z's went. But either way, Margie will learn something new about me and my past. A great week, which will hopefully become the norm and not the exception.

Merry Christmas! (I mostly say this over "Happy Holidays" because Christians are more offended to hear "Happy Holidays" than non-Christians are to hear "Merry Christmas." Sad, isn't it?)