Bowling at Sunrise Lanes with @lexiconical!

in #story7 years ago

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Thank you Steem for helping two guys that work at home get out for a day bowling together at Sunrise Lanes in Saint Petersburg, Florida!

@lexiconical and I met in person at Florida's Steem meetup as seen at https://steemit.com/meetup/@jerrybanfield/first-florida-steem-meetup-photos-and-video after months of interacting on Steemit. @terrybrock, @ginacarr, and I hopefully will be hosting the next meetup in Orlando on December 9 from 10 am to 2 pm. Follow our upcoming posts for more info!

Since the meetup, @lexiconical collaborated with me on several posts explaining what the top 30 witnesses do along with answering hundreds of comments on the posts I wrote. One day after I saw he had sent 10 or 20 messages since I had read them, the thought came that I might have a new friend! As a married man at 33 working online with my own business that spends 4 to 6 hours a day in playful production/work, 2 to 4 hours a day with family, 1 to 2 hours a day at AA meetings, and 1 to 2 hours a day exercising, walking dogs, and talking on the phone, it is rare I do anything without my wife and/or family. It is so rare in fact that in this case @laurabanfield was very enthusiastic I should meet up with @lexiconical because while she does not see her friends often, I have had no friends in Saint Petersburg for a year and a half.

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A month ago, @lexiconical and I met for lunch one day in Saint Petersburg at Meze 119 where we came up with the idea we should go bowling next time. This post shares the adventure we had today which began with a "bowling ball arms race" resulting in the two of us collectively dropping $500 at the pro shop for new balls, bags, and shoes. Bowling balls, bowling bags, and bowling shoes. First, the shoes.

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Next, the bag.

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We spent an hour getting fitted for our new balls because @lexiconical told me how he bowled a 220 years ago after having a pro teach him how to throw with the curve using a ball fitted for him. After years of bowling with my dad and brother where we never even entered the pro shop, I felt like it was the height of luxury to get my own bowling ball, bag, and shoes! While we waited for our balls to get drilled, we played some pool.

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@lexiconical meticulously racked the balls to make sure they were all touching and I got a nice break despite my last pool shot being years ago. We enjoyed a sloppy game with balls consistently going into unexpected pockets finishing with me accidentally knocking in the eight ball.

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@lexiconical did the same thing the next game and we moved over to the bowling lanes.

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My first two throws I dropped strikes which was incredible on a 13 pound house ball I picked up and threw after at least 3 years since my last game.

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@lexiconical got his new ball halfway into the first game along with the demonstration of an effortless looking spare pickup by the pro bowler that sold and drilled our balls. It turns out those two strikes at the beginning of the first game would be my last of the day! @lexiconical won by just 2 points in the first game!

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To start the second game, I got my new ball!

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I was so excited to try my new ball out because it is capable of doing that pro bowler curve where at the last second a near gutter ball turns into a strike. While Michael from the pro shop suggested I start with fundamentals such as rolling the ball straight down the lane, about a third of my throws were trying to pull off the spin with most lucky to hit any pins. Game 2 was significantly below 100 for both of us as we tried to break in our new balls.

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After game 2, @lexiconical heated up dropping 4 strikes and 2 spares to get nearly to 150 while I was grateful to break 100 the third game. The new ball definitely helped reduce fatigue as with the rubber fittings and correct finger placement, my fingers were not cramping up at all even with using a heavier ball than I usually used with house balls.

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After the third game, we packed up and headed home with our commitments to a future of either bowling together or letting the memory of our trip to the pro shop sit in a closet for years!

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We enjoyed chatting about Steem throughout our three hours at the bowling alley today and we thank you for sharing our adventure here with us!

Love,
Jerry Banfield with @lexiconical

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Wow this post is all about the balls!

Great post @jerry banfield!

I have had no friends in Saint Petersburg for a year and a half.

Great pic of you and @lexiconical. It’s always amazing when the rare, kindred spirit shows up in one’s life. Most take friendship for granted; but, 18 months is an example of why we should not take the valuable gift for granted.

knocking in the eight ball.

Interestingly; both pool and bowling are good forms of low-impact exercise.

It's great to have the bowling gear; because it saves a lot of time when out with friends, searching for the 'never-quite-perfect' fit or weight of bowling ball. Btw, great choice on your selection. And, how apropos the bowling-alley walls reminds one of Steemit's minnows, whales, et al.

Lastly, I continue to glean from your techniques of connecting with your audience; and, not being shy about asking for contributions for the time and energy you put into your posts/videos. I'm reminded that it might gain one new contributor; but, that's one more than the previous number.

Thanks again for this post!

Best regards!

Peace.

It's always fun and weird to meet people you know from the internet in RL! But usually ends up being pretty fun, seems like you guys get along in RL as well.

But now he has met you, maybe Lexiconical can shed some light on this: Is Jerry Banfield as excited and hyped in real life as well like he is on his videos? I've always been curious to know! ;)

" Is Jerry Banfield as excited and hyped in real life as well like he is on his videos"

I feel like I could be violating some form of confidentiality when I say...

Jerry is awfully calm in real life, while somehow, remaining very enthusiastic in spirit. I think he lets all that enthusiasm out in the videos, but uses some zen-like strategies to blend into the old daily grind.

PS - We're both better bowlers than the scores indicate...we had just both bought bowling balls and were learning a new grip.

/egoprotect

I kind of already knew the answer, haha ;)

Sorry to derail this, but I was going to reply to @Jerrybanfield's posts somewhere in the hope of reaching him to read my most recent post. I think I've thought of a great idea that would benefit the STEEM ecosystem as well as Bitshares, but I'll never get through to the upper ranks without the help of you guys. Would you do me a favor and look at my proposal here? And maybe point some relevant people to it? Thanks in advance!

woow really amazing! very interesting to follow the way you can eliminate the feeling of craving and let alone accompanied by good friends like our friend @lexiconical

oh hai lexi, now i have a face to go with the name...

Shoot, I've been found out.

I can neither confirm, nor deny, the identity of these men.

@jerrybanfield when I saw those Bowling Scores I said it is a good thing you have STEEMIT. "You are better at blogging than you are at bowling". You can quote me on that........Love you Man. Thank You for giving me One more Day.

You'll have to give us the "brand new ball/brand new grip" handicap!

@lexiconical the main thing is you have FUN

Looks like you guys had fun!

Im glad you two had a great day playing with each others balls :P

Im sorry I have the mental age of a 15 year old..

haha, yes you do @ashleypeat :P

@jerrybanfield So happy you have a career that allows you to practice bowling during the day! Good Luck on your next outing...

If it makes you feel any better, he was also trying to reschedule business calls at the same time!

Good friend publication. Thank you for sharing this to the community. Regards ;)

I would avoid spamming @jorlenbolivar if I were you as that might get you flagged! ;)
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