This past weekend Mr. Troutbend participated in a bowling tournament. He didn't place high enough to get any cash, but came home with two new balls, a shirt, and a bag for the balls.

This year he changed from a 15 pound ball to 14 pounds, and feels like his game has improved. One of the best things about him is he has no ego - some guys insist on using the heaviest ball, 16 pounds, because they think that's more manly. It's not as if the different weighted balls are different colors, they all look alike. The only way anyone is going to know how much your ball weighs is if they pick it up, and nobody touches your junk in bowling, so that's a bit of empty pride.



1976 in Louisiana

At the time he worked for Martin-Marietta writing software that controlled how the protective foam was sprayed onto the space shuttle's external tank.