Strike!!!

So our company was raising money for the March of Dimes, and a group over here had a bowling tournament. I have my own ball, own shoes, bag of chalk, so I signed up with some other co-workers. My teammates were all pretty good bowlers as well, so we knew we had a pretty good chance to win. It was eventful.

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Like any desired champion, we got together & practiced. We walked into the alley, it was Cosmic Bowling. WTH?! Lights out, flourescent stickers illuminating everywhere, strobe lights flashing. It looked real cool, but not for us championship bowlers, so left for an adult alley.

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On my way to the alley, I was cruising a couple cars behind a city bus. I know... mistake #1. The bus stopped suddenly, as did the cars behind it. I follow, as well as the car behind me. You would think the 5th car in line would have a clue, but no. He hit the car behind me, I her the loud tangle of metal and the car move forward, so I hit the gas & drove off onto the shoulder to avoid getting sandwiched. Everyone seemed OK.

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The day of the tournament, the had just oiled down every lane before we played. This means all of my teammates that have viscious spins on their ball now had to adjust, cause the lanes were too slick. Over the years, I lost my spin, so I wasn't affected too much. I was expecting to just ride the coat tails of the other bowlers, who regularly bowl around 200 games. Instead, I was the leader the 1st game wtih 165. There were about 8 other teams, and seemed like we were on top. The second game was about the same. Turns out, we were the top team!!! We Won!! We Won!! So I'm now displaying my bowling trophy next to my other work accolades.

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One thing is very weird, that is seeing my co-workers out drinking and trying to act cool. They look so CORNY & STUPID! Well, that's probably what they say about me too.

Real Men Play Rugby

There's not too much TV watching past CNN in an European hotel. A previous trip entertained me with MTV, but not this time. So I had to satisfy my bad habits by watching a Rugby match on 'Mute'.

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I've never watched a Rugby game before, but I made several obersavations:

1. It's like football, but no pads


2. The ball runner has NO blockers


3. Rugby players make NFL players look like pansies!


4. There are no breaks in between plays


5. It's like soccer, they just keep running & running


6. There are no time outs


7. Extra points are hard!


8. It's non-stop action, never boring


9. And the kick spot moves around


10. Players play both offense & defense


11. Did I mention they don't wear pads?


12. Real Men Play Rugby

But the NFL has cheerleaders, so I'll stick with them.
GO BROWNS

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Real Men are not French

I had a new level of respect after watching the Rugby games, but I lost it as soon I stepped onto the Paris streets. I don't know where their sense of stlye came from, but I'm certainly not feeling it. Thugs wearing tight-ass longsleeved shirts out in the street make them look like sissy-boys. I'm not talking about the Under Armour or other workout, exercise gear. Just, tight-assed shirts. Then there's the professional looking folks, dressed nicely, with a scarf wrapped a couple times around the neck. It's hard to respect any man that wears a silk scarf as a fashionable item like a necktie. To stay warm, I can understand that. Indoors, you look like a sissy-boy.

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I won't say any more, in case I encounter a French Rugby player.

St. Moritz, Paris, Bellagio.... OH MY!!!

I'm back from visiting St. Moritz, Switzerland; Paris, France; and Bellagio, Italy. It was a GREAT trip! There are castles everywhere in Switzerland! Including the Roman buildings that were used as guard houses or for working peasants. They should've had some foresight that there would be a huge tour bus winding through the city 2 milleniums later, cause it sure was tight squeezing through the little villages. The Bellagio in Vegas looks nothing like the real one! Well, they both have a hugh body of water (Lake Cumo) and shops everywhere. Paris was pleasant! The Metro train system is very efficient. Some of them need to learn how to shower, and others need to not dress so... feminine. We avoided any student protesters! I kept my souvenier Swiss Army Knife on me... just in case. But it was all good.

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Language Barrier?

I spoke with a German couple on "Holiday" in St. Moritz. She spoke 5 different languages. He spoke 3. Neither of them included English in their list, since it was their weakest one. They were very excited to finally get to practice some English. It was a very interesting conversation. It most consisted of them practicing their English, and me being in awe that my few years of learning Spanish is not even a comparison to their linguistic skills. But I did impress them when my patience had ran real low, and I got up to leave: I said "Danke", which means "Thank you" in German.

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Of course, I took some video: VIDEO 1 or VIDEO 2

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I wanted to reward the 10,000th visitor to my site... but I missed you. Sorry.