From Console to VP to the real Deal

4 years ago my new wife (married for 2 years at that time) says to me "I'm not really a gamer"  Boom .... it was a tragic blow, but as a life long gamer (mostly PC) I was not giving up so easy. The Xbox made it into the living room as a Media extender from the Home Theater PC with the promise of being able to do the Dance Dance Revolution. Step one accomplished. Mission 2: Find out the games she likes. After a few months I found her playing some Zen Pinball FX2 and she was really into it. So without hesitation I bought all the tables that she said she liked, and after she went to bed I bought the rest of them. Step 2 complete. Mission #3: Plant the Bomb; conversing with her, while letting her win at the Plant vs Zombies table, I found out that one of her friends and her brother both own a real pinball machine and she loves to play. So for our next date night I take her to a nice Sushi bar and then to a bar in town that has a few pins. She is a pinball beast, and I am in like Flynn. Mission 3 ... Still in progress. Plans to finish the basement into the game room for the family are accelerated and I come to the problem of space. So as I am doing the ebay search for a good used pin to start the game room with I get the " you are spending how much on something that needs to be restored!?!?!" and the "how much more will that cost?" I see the failure of mission 3 on the horizon. .... Enter my savior Visual Pinball. I find the VPForums and the wealth of info and disappear into my computer for research for about a month, all the while letting things cool down.  As a Automotive collision and refinishing professional I see the opportunity to build and customize something that is a little different from my normal projects. Enter Mission #3 revision 1 ... The Project Problem solver. "honey look what I found!" ... "a economical and space saving answer to our pinball problem" she says "I didn't know we had a pinball problem" she is playing hardball; but this gamer is fully loaded, laying out all the benefits of a full blown VP cabinet that I will build myself,with all the tables and toys and no maintenance and no basement and garage and second home and small rental space full of pins that need a weekly repair or maintenance. All in the convenient size of one Widebody machine. It was a lot to get out without a look of non interest and the hate fire burning in her eyes. But in the end I get her to say "ok show me the VP tables" .... Winner Winner Chicken Dinner. 

After that it was onto the build. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qyyzgwew645n89p/AAC9st3psPwWiLBwHYkKOhc8a?dl=0

So 3 years later I have a great Cabinet filled with 200+ premium games and a game room that seemed a little empty, it really needs just a little something more. I thought it was a Mame cabinet so I built a 2 player cabinet and that just didn't do it. About that time I joined NEPL and start playing in leagues and tournaments and regular visits to The Pinball Wizard in NH. Something is missing. I need a real machine. I need to tinker, I need to restore, I need to customize, it is in my blood. The search is on for that perfect deal for me, little money and wanting a popular game it looked to be another impossible mission. 

 I never gave up and now I am the owner of The Machine; Bride of Pinbot. It came into our lives on 10-10-2015 and will remain here in its home until it dies or I find something better. Hahaha. This was again thanks to the VPForums as the Bride was offered there from the seller first before going to craigslist with it. I would have never seen it as it was about a 5 hour drive from me. Things just fell into place and worked out.    

 As a mater of fact this last week another surprise hit me ... remember the friend of the wife that owned a pinball machine .... well the friend and husband are getting divorced and the pinball has to go, so I get the text from the wife saying that I have a big surprise for you. Come to find out the pinball machine that the friend has is Jackbot ... are you serious right now .... Boom Double Points .... I am working out the money now (all I can say is I am one lucky guy right) and should have it along side the Bride next week.

 And that is the story of how Pinball came into our lives again, and will be a big part of our family as the son and daughter (4 and 3) already love to play.

 Pinball Forever.