A pinball journey.

I’ve been thinking about writing another story for some time now, I just haven’t got around to doing it. Pinball has been a blessing to my life for the last few years. In one of my other stories I mentioned about the joys of having my own machine and how it makes you feel. I’m  a little older now and I have learned a few new things on this ride. I don’t have all the mechanical skills to fix all the problems I come across, but I have some good pinball friends who do. When you join the pinball community it takes you to places you never thought you would go and introduces you to various people you get to meet.

The ride is not always the best experience though. I have met people who want to take advantage of you and prey on your weaknesses. I traded four of my machines, for two machines that never came to be. I felt bad for the giving situation, believed the story I was being told and trusted the person to do the right thing. It never came to pass. The part that really hurt the most was their were young kids involved in the situation. I always wanted to bring justice to this situation but never pursued it. In the process of dealing with all this my best friend died. After that happened I was really depressed and played a lot of pinball to try to cheer me up.

Not to much longer after this all happened I quit my job, the one I had for the last fifteen years. I figured it would be easy to find another one but with everything that was happening with the economy, it took eight months to gain employment again. I traveled around the state playing Pinball whenever I got the chance. I met a lot more pinsiders and was able to learn their stories and how they aquired  their machines. I know this story seems depressing but believe me it gets bettter. After I was able to get another job, I felt like I had purpose in my life again and started believing in things to get better. My dream machine was closer than I could have expected.

During these ups and downs I met a new friend an older gentleman who has had over 70 games in and out of his collection for around 40 years. He actually let me help him sell his Haunted House for him. I wanted to buy it but it just was not in the cards. I’ve been looking for another pirate machine to put next to Hook for the longest time. I’ve seen so many machines that are one hit wonders and have tried to stay away from them. Some of my early machines were considered to be those. We all have those machines that we love to play but never think we will ever have them in our homes, well now my dream machine has become a reality. I am now the second owner of a HUO Funhouse that has been privately owned for thirty years. The stress that I have endured in and out of my professional and personal life has been unmeasurable. My immediate family can identify with this. But I guess even when we don’t know the direction we are heading in, there is someone else looking out for us. My best friend who died was my Dad and he must have known. that some day things would finally get better.