For the second year in a row, rivers are overflowing their banks in Lowell. Many roads and businesses were forced to close due to the rising waters or the threat of rising waters. In May 2006, the bowling alley in Lowell was severely damaged by flood waters and was closed for a number of months for cleanup and repairs. Yesterday, the lanes were again shut down due to the threat of the rising Merrimack River.

The above picture was taken yesterday and shows a flooded bowling alley parking lot. You can also see tarps and plastic sheets up against the bottom of the doors. They packed these with dirt and sand in an effort to defend against the threatening water. The interesting thing about this scene is that the river, which is across the main road, had not flooded the road (which was still open to traffic). It appears as if poor drainage in the parking lot caused excess water to collect.

I think I’m coming down with a web-induced illness.  I spend all day managing the business side of one of my company’s web sites, so 90% of my day is spent playing around on web sites.  The last thing I want to do when I come home is do anything online.  My eBay usage has suffered tremendously… as has this blog (can you tell?).  This over-exposure to web radiation is starting to take its toll.

I had assumed that once the wedding and honeymoon were behind us, things would settle down a bit.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Since the wedding (June 24, remember? ), we have attended two more weddings, held a yard sale in Maine, traveled to DC/Maryland,  hosted a neighborhood party, and went to the NASCAR race in Richmond, VA… not to mention the countless projects ongoing at home!  Sheesh!  When do things slow down? 

Last night my friend Carrie and I went to the They Might Be Giants concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. We got there surprisingly early, got prime parking, and most importantly – got a foam finger.

The show was pretty good. They played a bunch of new songs that I hadn’t heard before, and judging by the reaction of the crowd, most people hadn’t heard them before. The good news is, they made up for it by playing a bunch of really old songs. It’s amazing how well “Number 3″ sounds with the sampled sax and a full band. Other classics included “We’re the Replacements”, “Everything Right is Wrong Again”, and “Rhythm Section Want Ad”.

Oh, and the opener was Michael Leviton, a eukulele playing singer who takes the stage alone and sings songs about his favorite places to drown (off his CD of the same title).

Last night we went to the 2006 World Men’s Curling Championship in Lowell. It was the first time I’d ever attended a curling event and I must say it drew a decent crowd. Downtown was packed and was showing signs of life once again. The crowds in the arena were great and so were the Swedish cheerleaders (aparently the bra has yet to find its way to Sweden). Unfortunately, Canada beat team USA 9-6, but it still looks like we’ll make the finals.

Countries like Australia had their own unique cheer, which was pretty cool. The Canadiens would sing their national anthem. Sweden, well we already know they had cheerleaders. And the Americans? Well, as one fan noted, the Americans couldn’t even get a syncronized cheer going (think U-S-U-A-S-U-A-S…). It was pretty pathetic.

I always knew there was a reason why I kept two cases of bowling pins laying around my basement. Up until last night, I was never really sure what that reason was. My brother and I bowled in the Dexter Tournament of Champions Pro-Am at Bradley Bowl. The format has you bowling 3 games with 6 different pro bowlers. I brought one of my bowling pins and a Sharpie, hoping to snag a few autographs. Upon arriving at Bradley, we noticed signs posted on the walls advertising a bowling pin and marker for $25. What a rip off!! Anyway, I got a number of autographs and only missed Brian Voss out of the ones I wanted.

The above picture was taken with all of the amateurs on our pair of lanes (my brother and I are ones on the right), plus two of the pro bowlers (Walter Ray Williams, Jr. and Lonnie Waliczek). I thought I did fairly well, throwing a 740 series (268, 252, and 220), which is by far my best scratch series. With handicap that put me at 818, which was well ahead of everyone else on our pair of lanes. I’ll have to wait until the final scores are published to see how I did overall. Oh, did I mention that the tournament was 9-pin no tap? For those non-bowlers, that means if you get a 9 on your first ball, it counts as a strike. My brother and I had a great time and it definitely builds some false confidence to see those high scores up on the board… until you realize that’s with counting 9′s as strikes. Oh well. I did have 5 real strikes in a row in my second game.

Check out Katy and the Pin

The bowling theme continues… I talked to my brother last night and he was telling me how he bowled a 300 the other day. YAY!!! Congrats to him! Ok, so the downside is he bowled it during a practice game before his league. He’s pissed that he doesn’t get the ring out of that deal.

This weekend, we bowled in a city tournament over in Lowell. It was a two day, 9 game tournament consisting of 3 games each in singles, doubles, and team events. I figured I would be in good shape, since I entered with my “book average” from the end of last season (a 173). My current average is 180, so I falsely assumed this 7 pin advantage would be in my favor. Not so.

In the doubles event, which was up first on Saturday, I bowled horribly. I was 9 pins below my tournament average… ugh. I brushed it off as 3 practice games as we moved on to the singles event. Aparently I needed 3 more practice games, because I barely reached my tournament average. As I turned in the scoresheets, I told the tournament director “he’s two for the bottom of the pile”.

On Sunday, we had the team event. I fared considerably better, averaging almost 187 for the three games. Unfortuantely, our entire team did not fare as well. We ended up with a decent total score, but I’m not too optimistic because there is another team squad again this coming weekend. Oh well, there’s always next year.

It was the ninth frame and I was well on my way to a throwing a Dutch 200. I threw a strike, to continue on my alternating strike/spare pattern. This is when I started to get nervous…

Next, the tenth frame. I needed a spare and a strike for what I coined “A Windmill Game”. I joked with my team that if I threw a strike, I’d intentionally cross the foul line and go for the spare (effectively meaning I would have to throw 3 strike balls in a row).

The instant I let go of the ball, I knew I was about to get a strike (which hadn’t happened on that lane for the entire game). It was a perfect release, and sure enough, all 10 pins fell down. I looked down at the foul line as my team groaned… but I couldn’t do it. It came down to not being a good sport to intentionally foul. I watched my windmill game go down the tubes with that one strike.

I finished with another strike and a 9, to finish with an evening-high 219. Woohoo. No windmills for me.

Well, the trip down to Hartford was well worth it. We drove down for Whalers Appreciation Night, a special cermony hosted by the Hartford Wolfpack (an AHL team) at the Hartford Civic Center. There were an amazing 12,206 in attendance for the ceremony (the Wolfpack’s average attendance this season is just over 4,600), with the first 12,000 fans getting a great Whalers poster. Ronnie, Kevin, and Ulf were given keys to the city, a framed proclamation from the Governor, and a painting depicting the three players.

Brass Bonanza lived on and was played during some classic Whalers video clips and the full version was played as the new banners were hoisted to the Civic Center rafters. As if that wasn’t great enough, Brass Bonanza was played after each Hartford Wolfpack goal. It didn’t hurt that the Wolfpack went on to score 5 goals last night!