Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Crack Me Upside the Head With A Ten-Pin Please!
Hey Steaval,
I saw your recent Czabecast on your bowling experience and I am quite offended. ((not really..lol))
((queue the cheesy violin movie music))....the following is very, very true...
You were mocking the entire bowling community on this czabecast, Czaban, and all peoples who worked at a bowling alley. That mechanic you spoke too had to go through fluent training to learn those AMF 82-70 Machines. I once was a bowling mechanic at a bowling alley while I attended Kent State University, and like me,, I am quite sure Steve Solomon is quite offended.
The bowling alley I worked at... Rainbow Lanes in Warren, Ohio -- we busted our butts as mechanics at this crystaline 36 lane house, we worked hard for the money!! A full house every nite,, and ya maybe the house did run like shit.
There were many a days where we even unable to eat our pepperoni rolls from brothers pizza on the clock -- but we managed to survive. Yes, we would sneak to the walk-in cooler for a case of beer every now and then -- but thats besides the point.
And we also came very close to joining the steel workers union for higher wages -- unsuccessful -- but the three of us ((the mechanics)) decided it was in our best interests to stand pat for the time being.
We also had peep holes in the back of the lanes to watch the females bend over, but thats also besides the point -- us mechanics, Solomon, and the entire bowling community are sticking together on this one.
We have rights too. we are educated, BEYOND 3rd grade. lol.
If you would took that pin off of the distributor ((that finger thingie that sorts the pins)) I would of threw out of the bowling center, which lurch should of done, because all knowledgeable mechanics know you need 20 pins in each machine.
-- I'm kidding fat man.. keep up the great work. :)
-- Mike
"The 330"
Warren, Ohio
REACT: I am glad I got this email, because I wanted to address what came off poorly in that video. Namely, my comment about “what grade did you have to drop out of” to become a bowling alley mechanic.
I’m a dope. Forgive me.
I couldn’t re-paint the pins with a clearcoat gloss and a step-by-step manual. These mechanics who know how to tame a beast like these AMF pinsetters are certainly no dropouts.
In fact, it was always my dream to go behind the back of a bowling alley and see what ingenious mechanical design allowed for the seamless pick up, sorting, and replacement of pins – time after time after time.
And I am sure they work their asses off night after night, getting dirty, putting out fires, and going deaf in the process. CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
I suppose what struck me when I saw the mechanic, was that it smacked of Igor underneath the bell tower, pulling the rope. I probably assumed that pinsetters were sufficiently tuned to run without full time supervision behind the lanes.
So for all the hard working pinsetters, mechanics, and guys under the bell towers of modern life, I apologize.
If you want to know what profession allows for 3rd grade dropouts?
Radio show hosts. That’s who.
Dopes.
I'm am also an AMF mechanic and although I too would take offense at the aforementioned grade level comment, I would like to clarify a few things. If you are working in the back with these machines and sneak in the occassional case of beer you are just asking for trouble. Not only would you be fired from my employment but you would be risking serious injury and possible death. These machine can and have killed people (the majority of the fatalitites were alcohol related). As to working in the back of a bowling alley, if the head mechanic does his job and has a good crew working with him then the evening shift is quite peaceful. Not as loud as you would think. A little cleaning, sweeping perhaps rebuilding aassemblies in the shop. Many times there is no interaction with the machines when you have a top-notch team of mechanics tending them.
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