How is it, that I can feel so successful and so half-dead at the same time?
Today is wednesday and I'm exhausted. I'm ready for the weekend, even though I don't get much rest. I've got all sorts of things going nowadays, and I do pretty well. But right now I must be in one of the burn phases of getting stronger (or whatever you want to call making progress in life), because IT HURTS! =)
It seems like my life lately is one big fight between what I want to be doing and what I'm supposed to be doing. I know that I'm trying to do too much (on both sides), and yet there are things that I really ought to be doing that I'm not. And a bunch of things that I am doing that I shouldn't be. How hte heck do you figure life out? As soon as I get one section down I'm on my back again, rubbing my jaw, wondering where the last swing came from.
I'll let you know if I figure something out. More than a leap of faith here and there, anyway.
I'm currently converting some old cassette tapes to mp3s in hopes that I'll keep them and be able to ditch the tapes that are really just taking up space. Kind of funny to hear on my most often used cassette in my beat up pickup songs from Nelson, Bush, Rush and some song from the pocahontas movie. (Really. Sad isn't it?)
I've also gotten some correspondence tapes started converting from different people when I lived out of state. I was such a different person back then, and yet much the same. It's interesting to listen to these tapes and remember people from the past. And see how clueless I really was back then. heh.
So.
Pinball.
I've had this draft sitting, pretty much untouched since the beginning of January, so I may as well post it. Not sure if I'll add to this or not in the near future.
One of the reasons I think I've latched onto a pinball machine, even more than a MAME machine is that it will do a few things for me.
First It's mechanical. A pinball machine will cause me to curse, swear, sink money, and love tinkering with it to death. (Anyone who knows me at all knows that my MAME machine is always in various stages of beign worked on even though it's been playable for well over a year now)
Second, it's nostalgia. I remember playing pinball as a kid and being fascinated, but one fateful day in the early nineties I played the Addam's Family pinball machine. Ever since then I was a nut about pinball. It didn't help that my good friend in my later high school years also liked pinball. There was a local arcade that had 8 pinball machines running in it. We spend a few nights a week there.
Third, it's COOL. How cool would it be to have your own pinball machine? My wife one day wants to have a home theater type setup. What better compliment than a pinball machine and arcade machine? Along with a commercial style popcorn popper, how can you go wrong? I used to think that having an arcade machine would be SO COOL! Well, it is. Too bad most people think it's ridiculus. The kids sure love me though. =)
Fourth, it's a big sense of accomplishment for me. Some guys want a 4 wheeler. Some want a pickup. Some want season tickets. I just want a pinball machine. Fair enough?
Oh and lastly, it's something that I can be unique in, that has a depth and history, that helps define and communicate what is actually me. I need all the help communicating I can get.
Thanks for stopping by.
5 comments:
Just found your blog, by searching for "pinball".
Having your own pinball machine is cool! Once you get one, you will want more. I've been thinking about a mame machine for several years now to go along with my two pins. Someday!
And my wife and I were just talking the other day about making our basement into a home theater, with a popcorn machine! Maybe when our kids are a bit older and don't have so many toys all over the basement.
Good luck on getting a pin!
Oh, and $4000 for a pin? What the heck? That seems way high. By more than double. Mine were $125 and $300. I'll try to make a post on my blog soon about my first machine and how it found me. Patience..
Heh, yeah, 4,000. But I'm a purist, the two pinballs that I want just so happen to be the top 2 pinballs out there. Twilight Zone and Addam's Family. One in beat up shape goes from 2000-2500, one in great condition goes for 3500 and up. Or at least that's what I've seen them go for over the last few years.
That's why I got a MAME machine first. heh. Maybe later I'll post some pics of it in action.
I am toying with the idea of getting a low cost machine to get me started... but I'm nervous that my wife will be less supportive of another once I actually have one. =)
Thanks for the comments.
Oh... yeah, those two games are pricey! Not sure if I've ever played Adams Family, but I have played TZ at least once, I recall it being rather fun. You prompted me to post today about how my first machine found me..
Bon- my wife does in fact blog, but I don't link to it. Send me an email if you want it, I've added my email address to my profile.
I totally hear you on the being torn by what you want to do and what you should do. Sometimes it even seems like you have to be torn between what you should do and what you should do. Being a husband and the father of your sisters (as in the sister of dadguy, not my sister) 3 kids, a graduate student, an active church member, a good neighbor, a part-time employee, and I am sure there are a few other responsibilities I am forgetting it seems like there is no way to get everything done that I should as well as have time to sleep more than 6 hours a night. It is nice to know we experience the same frustrations despite the fact that you yearn for pinball and I yearn for fishing.
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