As mentioned in a previous blog, my wife and I recently purchased and fitted some a couple of new bowling balls. My wife got a 14lb Hammer Jigsaw, which is the latest ball from Hammer. Meanwhile, I purchased a 15lb Brunswick Siege, the latest ball from Brunswick. We were gonna take our balls to the same guys that had done all our drilling since we started bowling here, but they kinda sounded like they were a little busy, so we ended up going down to Pikeville, KY to get it done. I have to say, that was the smartest decision I’ve made in regards to bowling. Norman really did a good job of fitting me and took the time to make sure the fit was comfortable. There are still a few small issues with lateral pitch in the thumb (I think I need a little more to the right, or is it left?), but its nothing to complain about. I’ll just get them fixed the next time I get a ball fitted. Continue reading →

Well, much has happened in the last month. I have completed my 4 – 6 week contract with Frontier Nursing Services (FNS) and have just been offered another 250 hours of work. That is going to keep the coffers well stocked for the next couple of months, at least. On top of that, a friend of mine has also offered me a pretty good sized contract doing so work for a local company called Kentucky River Community Care (KRCC) and a new contact in Wisconsin has offered me a little work as well. Needless to say, I have my hands full right now. At this point, I don’t know exactly what I’ll be doing for KRCC, but from what I’m told it should keep me pretty busy. I believe there is another contract on the way for local church, so the possibility of being in our own house/apartment/trailer/dwelling in the very near future is a very real one. Continue reading →

I’ve blogged on here a number of times about some of my experiences here in the US. Some good. Some bad. Some neither here nor there. Just yesterday, I was sitting at lunch with a friend and he asked me something that I’ve never really stopped to consider before.  He said something to the effect of “Do you think about how things might have been had you not met and married Jennifer?”. Continue reading →

It’s been very interesting entering the US and being exposed to the US at the organic level, ie. experiencing what US citizens experience first hand, rather than looking at it from the outside. Now, New Zealand has its fair share of racial tension. Almost 200 years after the fact, many Maori still feel robbed and deceived by the colonialists and settlers that arrived in the early 1800′s and promptly stole land from them. There are a considerable number of parallels between the the early history of New Zealand and the early history of the continental US. In both case, the aboriginal peoples were displaced by invading foreigners and land was stolen and sold to yet more foreigners. Continue reading →

This last week was an absolutely miserable effort on my part. After weeks of staying in close to 600, I finished this week with a measley 504. I was having problems get any kind of reaction out of my ball. I think I need to get it resurfaced again. I need to start taking real care of my equipment to make sure I get decent mileage out of all my equipment.  At the end of the game, I switched to my Twisted Fury and sure enough I was getting a better, more consistent reaction out of it. The Arch Rival was my first ball and as such has had a lot more games put on it. Having said that, I think I need to rough the surface up a little on my Twisted Fury to get a more movement out of it. Continue reading →