Bucket list

I started playing pinballs, as many have, in local arcades. The main ones (possibly the ONLY ones) near me were at a dollar movie theatre and in a mall. They certainly weren't impressive, but coming from a struggling single-parent household, I was lucky to get to go anywhere. I did build a love for arcades and pinball machines, and I have very fond memories of playing The Addams family and Twilight Zone.

I have always been a gamer. Video games, arcades, board games, cards, pool, darts...you name it. I have always enjoyed passing time alone honing my gaming skills (I had plenty of alone time growing up in my household), and meeting up with others for games and activities as well. As such, I have always wanted a game room. You could say it was a bucket list item. [See what I did there? The title...] Well, life kind of came at me fast. I am in a business that kind-of chose me, instead of the other way around, and it doesn't have a lot of guarantees when it comes to money...or even having much stability. I didn't play too much pinball during this time, but the hope of a gameroom was always there. I got married and we had 3 kids (and you think pinballs are expensive? HA!). At this point, I was doing well to just pay the rent.

After what seemed like a lifetime of struggling, we finally realized our dream (another bucket list item) of buying our first home. Well guess what? It has 2 gamerooms!! I'm not saying that was the reason we bought it........well, let's get real. It didn't hurt.....O.K. it was a major selling point, alright? Don't judge me. Lol.

I've had arcades in the past (and i still do), but they weren't nearly as intimidating as pinballs...and moving frequently would have made it a pain as well, but now I had a gameroom. 2 of them! I set out to save, and I finally bought my first pin. It was not a high-end machine, but it did have a theme I liked, I enjoyed playing it, and...most important...I could afford it.

I had a resurgence in pinball mania. Pinballia? Pinballitis? I don't know what it's called...but i got bit by the bug. Hard. I'm not a wealthy guy by a long shot, but I did my best to procure some games and play as many as possible. I am fortunate that I live in a large metropolitan area with TONS of places to play. Arcades, barcades, pinball bars, etc. are aplenty. I have played approx 90% of pinside's top 100 machines, not to mention many others. I have since been building my pin collection and repairing/selling pins as well.

My kids are loving it all, and my wife is even really getting into pinball...except the prices. She thinks they cost WAYYYY too much. Well, to each their own. I just need to find my next pin...