<p>Well, as long as we’re on the topic:</p>
<p>DH recently cleaned out his brother’s flooded basement. Among the prize possessions that were salvageable were something like 20 – yes, that’s 20 --bowling balls that belonged to their younger, deceased brother. Does anyone know if a bowling alley would accept them as a donation?? </p>
<p>It’s one of those things (or 20 things --) you want to get rid of but don’t know how.</p>
<p>VeryHappy-look around to see if there are any youth bowling leagues in the area. I would bet they would be more than happy to take those off your hands! Otherwise, call the schools in the area. Often they have bowling in PE and might be interested in them. Otherwise, Craigslist.</p>
<p>I would say the banana wouldn’t be delivered. Here is why:
Football. Days to delivery, 6. Male postal carrier was talkative and asked recipient about the scores of various current games. Carrier noted that mail must be wrapped.
Pair of new, expensive tennis shoes. Strapped together with duct tape. Days to delivery, 7. When shoes were picked up at station, laces were tied tightly together with difficult-to-remove knot. Clerk noted that mail must be wrapped.
Rose. Postage and address were attached to a card that was tied to the stem. Delivery at doorstep, 3 days, beat up but the rose bud was still attached.
Wooden postcard. Dimension 4" x 6" x 3/8", showing a moose and mailed from Maine. Postage used was 20 cents in spite of the added weight, because investigators strongly expected successful delivery in this case. Days to delivery, 6.
Sound-emitting toy. A monkey-in-box toy that, upon shaking, shouted, “Let me out of here! Help! Let me out of here!” Addressed in big letters to LITTLE JOHNNIE. Sound toy was equipped with a new battery. Delivery at doorstep, 6 days.
Sound-emitting toy. Same toy as above, wrapped securely in brown paper. Never received.
Hammer. Card was strapped to hammer handle; extra-large amount of postage was attached. Never received.
Feather duster. The card with postage and address was attached by wire to the handle. Days to notice of delivery, 6. Clerk at station commented that mail must be wrapped.
Ski. A large amount of postage was affixed to a card that was attached to the ski. The ski was slipped into a bin of postage that was being loaded into a truck behind a station (a collaborating staff member created a verbal disturbance up the street to momentarily distract postal workers’ attention). Notice of postage due received, 11 days. Upon pickup at the station, the clerk and supervisor consulted a book of postage regulations together for 2 minutes and 40 seconds before deciding on additional postage fee to assess. Clerk asked if mailing specialist knew how this had been mailed; our recipient said she did not know. Clerk also noted that mail must be wrapped.
Never-opened small bottle of spring water. We observed the street corner box surreptitiously the following day upon mail collection. After puzzling briefly over this item, the postal carrier removed the mailing label and drank the contents of the bottle over the course of a few blocks as he worked his route.
Can of soup. Never received.
Brick. Mailed at street corner box with ample postage for weight. Never received.
Wrapped brick. Wrapped in brown paper; posted in street corner box with same amount of postage as was strapped to unwrapped brick. Extreme weight for size made package seem suspicious. Notice of attempted delivery received, 16 days. Upon pickup at station, our mailing specialist received a plastic bag containing broken and pulverized remnants of brick. Inside was a small piece of paper with a number code on it. Our research indicates that this was some type of US Drug Enforcement Agency release slip. The clerk made our mailing specialist sign a form for receipt.
Lemon. Never received.
Small bag of kitty litter. Never received.
Street sign. Conceivably a stolen item, or illegal possession. Notice of attempted delivery received, 9 days. Handed over at station with comment that mail must be wrapped.
Box of sand. Packaged in transparent plastic box to be visible to postal employees. Sent to give an impression of potentially hiding something. The plastic box had obviously been opened before delivery and then securely taped shut again. Delivery without comment at doorstep, 7 days.
Wrapped coconut. Wrapped in brown paper. Made ample sloshing sound, and round shape seemed suspicious. Attempted mailing at station. Clerk requested identification of object. When told it was a coconut, clerk informed our mailing specialist that a certificate from the US Department of Agriculture would be required before it could cross state lines. Not mailed.</p>
<p>Goodness, beolein - did you mail all of those? :0</p>
<p>Not to be the fly in your soup but as a native New Englander I need to bring up a potential sticking point. While ten-pin bowling lanes certainly are available, the game of choice in the Boston area is candlepin bowling ([International</a> Candlepin Bowling Association Home Page](<a href=“NameBright - Coming Soon”>NameBright - Coming Soon)). </p>
<p>As you can see, the game is played with thinner pins and bowling balls roughly the size of grapefruits. Furthermore, scoring is substantially lower - the men’s record for a single ‘string’ is 245.</p>
<p>Well, we’re back from dropping my son off at MIT and we didn’t bring the balls. He had a violin to carry on and two other bags to check, so we’re opting to ship the balls once he knows for sure he wants to do the intramurals. Don’t know anything about Candlepin Bowling but I guess my son will learn about the intramurals and what they do.</p>
<p>Good tip on bowling ball boxes at the local store.</p>
<p>He actually got three of his bowling balls for free when he was younger. Apparently, they have some sort of exchange program where seniors who are in bowling leagues turn in their old bowling balls, and there was a really nice coach who would give them to the youth bowlers.</p>
<p>VeryHappy,</p>
<p>Yes! Contact your local league and at least tell them about what you found. I am guessing if the balls are in decent condition, they might use them. Of course, the material used to make bowling balls is probably being updated all the time but hey, they’re free!</p>
<p>5th in google search? Hmmm. I hope that doesn’t have a, er, negative connotation.
=:-o</p>
<p>PS. As a total aside, how does one get to be so high on google searches? I have a friend whose dh is chronically underemployed and would love to figure out how to have his business reach more people. They’re very limited on funds. If anyone reading knows anything about this, PM me. Many thanks!</p>
<p>OP - I come from a family of bowlers and also had a bit of a bowling scholarship - it wasn’t much but it basically covered the cost of my books throughout school. He will definitely want his equipment - if he wants to take all three balls I would suggest having him take them later otherwise he will have quite a lot of luggage all at once!! If you want to ship them, my family has bought bowling balls on e-bay and had them drilled at the pro shop. If he doesn’t have the original boxes, I would suggest having him contact his pro shop for bowling ball boxes and shipping it in there. My family has received probably a dozen balls in the mail in this fashion. You could certainly pack that box within a bigger box but I honestly don’t think it’s necessary. Mark fragile and heavy on the boxes. bowling balls are used to being dropped on lanes, but people aren’t always so used to dropping them on their toes when they don’t realize how heavy the box is!!</p>
<p>If he’s in a dorm, make sure he has enough room to keep his double or triple ball bag (unless he’s planning on getting a locker at the lanes). </p>
<p>When I went to college (driving) I took my clear plastic ball in a single ball bag because I figured I’d just be bowling for recreational fun… plus I didn’t have room for my (5!) balls in my dorm room!!! I have since gifted two balls to younger bowlers in youth league and have my two resin balls as well as that same clear plastic ball here at my house. For now I just bowl for fun but my sister has been begging me to become a sub in her league. I’ve been thinking about it (the regular pays, I just would have to pay sanction fees) but I don’t know if I want to drive the 45 minutes away to her lanes on short notice. When I “retired” my average was about 185. Crazy to think that my current bowling balls are 15 years old!</p>
<p>If anyone has old bowling balls the youth/kids leagues are always happy to take them on. I kind of help coach at one and the kids (and parents) love being gifted balls from the more senior bowlers and they tend to pass them down as well as they grow out of them. Another thing you could do, if anyone wanted to make a donation, is donate cheap 6 lb plastic balls to a league drilled with very small fingers - a lot of the house balls have fingers that are very very big for a small child who is just learning how to bowl. I remember when someone donated six light balls with various small drillings about 20 years ago - they are bright orange. I think one or two are still left and the others have cracked over the years. We kept them stored in the back so that they weren’t left out for public bowlers to ruin.</p>
<p>your son should definitely try candlepin bowling - It’s tough!</p>
<p>Edit - just saw your post that he did not take them and that you know about the bowling ball boxes!</p>
<p>Well, S just called me and said, after meeting a kid who’s the captain of the flag football team and recruited my son, he decided to do IM flag football! LOL He said, “Don’t ship the bowling balls yet.”</p>
<p>Ah, the excitement and numerous options of a college campus! :-)</p>