Bowling for Dollars

I haven't been bowling for years. So many years, in fact, that I don't remember how many. But on Sunday, the temperature was very low, and my boredom levels were very high. So, along with my spousal unit, we went to the local bowling center. In the world of bowling, I remember smoking being common, along with drinking beer and loud cussing. Also, cheating on your score was possible because you had to guess how many pins were still standing and then try to remember the arcane scoring rules.

There have been lots of changes in the past x years since my last outing. The rental shoes were not as repulsive as I expected. There were no ashtrays in sight, it was a family environment, pin counts were done by some kind of laser, and the scoring was computerized. Another thing that has changed is the price. When we had completed 3 games, we called it a day and went to settle up our bill. The guy at the desk said "that will be $29.75, please." That's about twice what I remember an afternoon of bowling to cost for 2 people.

One thing that hasn't changed is my lack of skill at avoiding the gutters.