Pop Quiz: What is 142?

First, I want to apologize for my blog silence. I've been really busy at work lately, and that has left me with little time - or even desire, frankly - to sit at home on the computer and write. This week has been the busiest yet, but I was determined to write a little something tonight.

OK, now onto the quiz. The answer, as you can see above, is 142. Now here are your choices as to what that number represents:

A. My weight
B. My IQ
C. The mileage on my bike odometer
D. My most recent bowling score


All right, have you had enough time to come up with a guess? Then pencils down! :-)

So how many people chose A? Sorry, that's incorrect - the number is too low. At my height, 142 would be rather underweight for me.

Did anyone choose B? I wish it were true, but sorry, that number is too high - at least to the best of my knowledge. (And I'd say anyone who knows me would heartily agree. :-))

How about C? That seems like a good answer, since I have been posting a lot about all my bike rides. But no, that's not right either - although I'm closing in on that number pretty quickly! (More on that in my next post - which will hopefully be soon!)

So, for any of you who chose D, my most recent bowling score, give yourselves a gold star!

Yes, that's right, last Thursday I bowled one of the best games of my life, earning a score of 142! I know that's not really spectacular, but considering the other game I bowled that evening was an 88, and the fact that the last time I bowled (for real, not Wii bowling ;-)) was Feburary of 2008, I was pretty darn proud of myself for bowling a 142.

The funny thing was, the two other people in my lane had scores one point higher than the next. I was in third place, with a 142. The second-place bowler had a 143, and the winner had a 144! I did have the chance to beat them both, especially when I had two strikes in a row in frames 8 and 9 (and I don't know if I've ever done that, outside of Wii Bowling), but then I kind of blew it in the 10th frame. Still, I wasn't at all disappointed with my performance. In fact, I thought it was kind of neat how our scores ended up the way they did.

The other thing I want to mention about my bowling experience was that I actually used a respectable-weight ball this time. In the past, I would always choose a pretty light ball - maybe 8 or 9 pounds. But this time, I decided I should be able to handle a heavier ball, since I've been going to the gym and using arm weight machines for quite a while. So I found a 12-pound ball that fit my fingers well, and I used that for both games. Again, I know that's not really all that heavy, but it was a pretty big increase from what I used to use.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed participating in the Pop Quiz!