My 2nd year working the desk area, the head mechanic at the time came to the desk looking for one of the mechanics. While standing there he saw me eyeballing the parts and asked me what was wrong with them. I pointed at a scissor cell and said it was assembled wrong. I was right, the scissors were layered wrong and therefore would not be able to properly function. From that moment on, I would be trained as a mechanic. Hillcrest was an AMF house with 82-70 machines, Layton Shirley had all the training materials to make sure I was properly trained. After watching all the videos and taking all the written tests, I made my way into rebuilding parts, cleaning machines, and chasing/logging calls at night.

I bowled Junior leagues, several tournaments, and even made it to state. Meanwhile I was attending Sartori Education Center where I was able to take A+ and Net+ certification courses. I also qualified to go to state with FICA, however, it was at the same time the state bowling tournament was and in a different direction so I was unable to attend. While working the computer courses at Sartori, I was allowed the opportunity to test myself in real world scenarios by working on district computers and network wiring and systems in Renton. High school also allowed me the opportunity to take Small Gas Engine, Automotive, Woodworking shop courses which gave me the basic skills needed to develop my love of working with my hands.

I worked a few jobs in warehouses, general labor, a cleaning service, and tech support for t-mobile for a few years before returning to Hillcrest for its final years. As head mechanic it was my job to make sure the building was well kept, as much as the machines. This meant climbing up on the roof to clear away snow in the winter, emptying any buckets under leaks in the roof, plumbing, electrical, and assisting with the A/V system. This was a time when Cosmic bowl was becoming very popular in centers, along with having projection screens over the lanes. I was brought by the owner to another center (Tech City Bowl) to install custom projection screens and projectors over the lanes as well. It was another 82-70 house that was much bigger than our 24 lane center. When Hillcrest closed, I stuck around on the property for the property owners to keep it safe and to cleanup/prepare for new owners.

The scoring system (Frameworx) was sold to Hiline Lanes in Burien. I was a key component in installing the scoring system. Running network cables and terminating the wiring, building custom interface cables, and troubleshooting consoles after storage and transfer. I was offered a job as a pinchaser in order to keep me around to keep the scoring system going. I got a quick breakdown on how to do a few trouble calls and left to fend for myself when leagues started. I spent a couple years cleaning and learning the new to me A2 machines. Hiline had Otis A machines that were field converted to A2, that created a bit of a learning curve. Working with several mechanics and lots of research and reading allowed me to pick a little bit of information from all over to learn the machines, and start reducing calls.

Due to a clash with the head mechanic at the time, I ended up leaving to work at a local warehouse. Working at the warehouse helped me to further build my leading skills as I was the warehouse supervisor. I was in charge of a couple drivers, several warehouse employees, worked directly as an office person with corporate, and oversaw the security and phone systems for the entire company. When the head mechanic at Hiline left, I was asked to return. Upon returning, I was promoted to head mechanic. As head mechanic my first priority was to reduce downtime and reduce the number of calls to the backend. Making adjustments and repairs to machines made them run much smoother and balls return much faster and cleaner. Once calls were down I tried putting procedures in place to keep calls down, get repairs done in a timely matter, and keep the machines clean.

The next step after the machines got their needed attention was to start fixing up the rest of the building. Being known as a popular House for PBA bowlers, it was preferred that everything looked as professional as possible, but for open play still needed some fun. I took it upon myself to go through the cosmic bowl system and give it a major overhaul. This allowed the lights to be controlled via DMX to be able to change their effects and to hide the lights better so they weren't hanging down all over the place. Once the lights and audio were all fixed up, it was time to work on the buildings network infrastructure. Many stages of upgrades were made in order to keep the network up at all times, but also increase security and functionality. After the network was improved and up and running cameras were replaced and upgraded throughout the building. I then went through and revamped a lot of the lighting to change as much over as possible to not only LED lighting but dimmable and automated. Using simple home hardware and coding, I setup a tablet at the front desk to control the lights throughout the building.

All the while there were plenty of machines getting a lot of overhaul work, the backend got rebuilt to allow proper flow of work and part storage. Safety procedures and guarding being built up and installed that had been missing. I had also started making procedure sheets for making calls to the back, simple call troubleshooting, identifying calls, and proper method for cleaning. There's always something to do as a mechanic and I do my best at all times to lead by example. Eventually Hiline Lanes was sold to the Highline School District, and I was offered a place at Paradise Lanes in Parkland.

Paradise is a 32 Lane house with Japanese A2 machines, upon inspection a good majority of the machines are the same as the American A2. However there is a bit of a learning curve with the electrical. Looks like there is a plenty of organizing to do and parts to rebuild.