Thanks CoinDork! I guess you won't be back in Ephrata for a while with the world being what it is, but next time, stop in and say hey! I appreciate you stopping in a while back.

It's changed drastically, that's for sure. Getting crowded in here...

Nope, I haven’t traveled anywhere since February. I was in Europe when this Covid thing started and cut the trip short to get back home and been here since. Probably the soonest would be early-mid next year if things somewhat normalize.

Sounds great. I'm just hoping everything goes back to normal as soon as possible. Crazy to hear some people talking about the pandemic going on for the next two years still... wouldn't surprise me.

Everybody needs to do their part to ensure that doesn't happen.

A wishy-washy 15,000 word vague and non-definitive mask policy in a business doesn't help. Pick a side, keep it short, do your part.

Except he never stole money from the community.

I agree. I re-iterated my stance to a firmer one shortly thereafter and redacted that stance.

It's a complicated situation for sure. When JodyG said it was politicized around here, he wasn't kidding. Went to get a tire for my truck today up the street and the whole staff and about a half dozen customers that came through the doors while I was there ALL weren't wearing any masks. (I was.) You get funny looks FOR wearing them around here sometimes. I'm surprised we don't have numbers like Florida right now, honestly.

I don't mind them. I see their use. You'd be surprised how aggressive some people around here get over masks though. I know a buddy of mine who runs another small business has gotten yelled at several times already about "constitutional rights". It's a weird situation that doesn't quite make sense (perhaps insert period here) except for people that live around here.

Governor Wolf's plan is a boat full of holes though. He constitutionally can't require them for people who claim to have a medical condition, and the HIPAA laws prevent businesses from asking or going into detail whatsoever on why that is, so those two things combined has created the world's biggest loophole, and we have a lot of people around here that eat that up. Say you are medically exempt and you're in any PA business. He keeps making more orders making it sound more scary but so far it seems he is really limited by that because it's been danced around the whole time, and is a fatal flaw. I just wish people would wear 'em so we can just get rid of this thing and get it over with.

Even if I'm not convinced of the science (which I feel pretty convinced about, but for example), it bothers me so little to just wear one, I'd rather just try it and do it - couldn't hurt. Not so easy for some people though apparently. Some get very very upset. It's weird.

The governor has attracted a lot of heat for sending COVID-positive people to nursing homes (godawful) and has now cut off Lebanon County's funding for some pretty political reasons so a lot of people are not happy with him - which doesn't help any.

Maybe it's not the HIPAA itself, but it's described in Wolf's policies that the medically exempt are allowed in AND documentation is not required to be presented, like I said. There's some kind of legal boundary in place to get them to say that... otherwise they wouldn't in a million years. It's a very specific phrase. A lot of people are using it as a loophole in stores everywhere here.

I know our local Walmart has a lot of "medically exempt" people entering... I would say about 40% are unmasked, and they do have people policing the doors. Pretty sure they're all just saying it's medically and they can't dig deeper legally.

Ha you even deleted your goodbye message.

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Since you’re doing so well now why don’t you cut Boob that check?

"Businesses can’t require that a mask be worn if someone can’t wear one because of a medical condition. There shouldn’t be many ailments that prevent wearing a mask, and hopefully people won’t take advantage of that exception, as businesses aren’t allowed to ask for medical documentation."

https://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-opi-pennsylvania-mask-requirement-muschick-20200417-a7bfhkn4pnc7vipixr6mh4rr5y-story.html

----------------------------------------

"Under the order, those who are exempt from wearing a mask are not required to show documentation that an exemption applies."

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/coronavirus/wolf-to-pennsylvania-if-youre-leaving-your-home-wear-a-mask/2453539/

----------------------------------------

"An individual does not need to provide documentation that the individual fits within an exception to the order."

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/07/what-if-i-have-asthma-and-other-questions-about-pas-order-to-wear-masks.html

Here it is from PA.gov itself, ye olde loophole lots of locals are using in local businesses & big box stores. Pretty sure it is something constitutional as I know they wouldn't leave that gaping hole open if they didn't have to. Unfortunately it's being highly abused, but what did they expect?

"An individual does not need to provide documentation that the individual fits within an exception to the Order."

https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Guidance/Universal-Masking-FAQ.aspx

Can we finally put that one to bed yet? I can prove it.

Otaku donation hoax never happened, not even close.

Me buying a pinball machine at Pinfest so soon asking for money was naive and shitty, but it wasn't the donation money. Totally separate. I had already blown the $660 on dehumidifers, shop vac, several gallons of dry-lok and paint, and other accessories pretty shortly after I received it. Here, I'll attach a picture of the white drylok and the red paint on top of it. Did two or more coats of each over the entire basement... it added up quick. Stuff is $50 a gallon, it's crazy.

I actually just discovered this post for the first time which actually says it pretty well and backs up what I've been saying all along. Like, to a tee.

It was stupid & naive not to pay the people back when I had a random influx of money shortly after from repairing pinball machines for people like djreddog (picture attached in original post actually, which is helpful), but it was entirely seperate. I made like $1,200 shortly after fixing pinball and arcade machines for a few different guys, and it came oddly quick and unexpectedly (if I had known it was coming, I'm sure I wouldn't have made the thread). I'm actually really glad I found this post, as much as I cringe to read it. I even noted how I immediately removed the PayPal link once I received the income.

Nobody ever claimed I stole anything until somebody misheard the situation years later (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers), I was just bashed a bit for not paying people back with my newfound income. I should've paid people back for sure, but the first two or three people just said pay it forward, so I stopped asking because I thought I may be offending people by insisting I return their donations (like returning a gift - I was still figuring things out mind you) and did that. Again, I was still figuring things out and if I did it now (which I wouldn't do now at all), I would've forced the payments back whether they wanted to accept them or not. I was naive, but not a thief in any amount, shape, or form, nor were the funds misused whatsoever... not even a cent.

I'm actually happy I found this quote for the first time as it backs up everything I've been screaming to the heavens for the past 3 years perfectly... It's a very naive quote and not something I'm proud of, but specifically separates the donations and Pinfest, so there's that. By the time I finished the basement shortly after writing that, said separate account was empty to the point of where I put a few bucks of my own money to finish buying the gallons... there was not a single cent of those donations that didn't go to that basement, and there's been picture proof on here for years. Jesus.

I remember actually spending the money before the $1,200 came through from PayPal into my bank (takes a few days), so there wasn't even an overlap in funds... by the time the $1,200 personal money arrived, the $660 was already gone and spent on the basement. I sleep well at night!

Make fun of my fundraisers all you want (which are a commonplace thing in today's society for even more petty reasons than you could imagine), but I have never come close to being a thief or misusing funds... ever. Just saying. Nor have any of those fundraisers been posted here by me

Quote from the very original thread (16 upvotes! People still loved me back then):

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Short version:

- Received $660 in donations in early April 2017 for helping fix my basement
- Spent $660+ on fixing said basement as intended in early April

- Weeks later in late April I received an unexpected mass amount of service calls after a year-long period of practically nothing and EARNED $1,200~ from various sources for machine repairs I did in late April, including fixing djreddog 's machine(s) at his house (picture below, did like 8 hours of custom wiring and relays... that was a fun one)
- Spent some of that on a Team One at Pinfest 2017 next month
- Pinside years later came up with this conspiracy that I took the donation money to buy the Team One, not at all true, and that had already been long spent on the basement before May 2017, and it had to be, otherwise I had no money to buy all the drylok, pictured dehumidifier, shop vac, paint, etc., photos of which were posted in April 2017

Should've taken the money earned in late April to refund those who donated in early April as a sign of goodwill, but was too young and dumb to think of it, and the few I asked humbly said to just "pay it forward" (which I did). Should do it now, but I lost the PayPal account and the e-mail domain expired (and transaction history only seems to go back 2 years anyways on my current account? Remember this was not actually a GoFundMe), so I'll likely just end up donating the whole amount to a charity when I can as a thanks for the kindness of Pinsiders. That's all I can do, and I was never a thief. Not sure what else I can say, but that's the truth.

I will gladly be the GoFundMe king but I am not a thief nor somebody who misuses funds. Never have been, never will be.

The proof is obvious. There's no way I could've bought the dehumidifiers, dry-lok, paint, shop vac, etc., and still had anything leftover to spend on anything else... and all of those things are clearly pictured in April 2017, long before Pinfest. It's just impossible for that to be false. There was no money leftover to spend on a pin even if I was that shallow.

I'm really happy with this explanation and hope it finally clears things up. I refuse to admit to something I didn't do. I have took the flak for it for so long but it was, and is, never deserved.

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Let's see some opinions....who else has already seen a years worth of novellas requiring skimming at best since the triumphant I'm different this time this time return?

Just curious

You have a GoFundMe up RIGHT NOW begging for money.
You will never understand why we see you as a grifter.

All I was doing was “stirring the pot” or is it “egging someone on” and look what popped back up. Just in time for the weekend. Is Sugar Daddy coming back too?

You know you can turn people away that won't wear a mask right? You don't have to let them in.

Man I was hoping you weren't coming back. I've already blocked seeing your posts in all the FB groups we are in together. I got tired of seeing you give bad repair advise to people that didn't know any better. Hopefully your involvement on this site is restricted to this thread so i can drain it and not see you on here either.

Steven did you open another account under Gameseum today?

That's an official account, yes, but isn't run by me (to comply with Pinside rules) - I can confirm with moderators if need be. We're looking forward to hopefully utilizing some of the Pinside Pin Biz services and whatnot and just generally spreading a more positive message here.

Not sure why you're alienating me as a "grifter" during a local pandemic and an owner of a business in one of the hardest hit industries. It's not like it was a light-hearted move or one that wasn't in good faith.

I mean, it's all around. You can't blame me - we needed the support - and the support of the community was certainly very helpful and kind. I don't really care what you think about it, because if you looked around, you'd see your logic is outdated and silly. GoFundMe is very common place now and is being used by the majority of arcades. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and there's nothing to be ashamed of, and clearly the customers of these arcades agree - I know people who have made over $10,000 from that, it's gone to very good causes & arcades.

fgttrrtyyryr (resized).png

^This

We're all hit hard, no matter how well we're doing. It's all relative. The period of being open before this went down was a huge success. That has nothing to do with right now, whatsoever, and it will return that way as soon as this passes. It's an issue outside of my control, my doing, etc., so I can't attribute it to lack of success - quite the opposite since we're still afloat and recovering decently.

Can't really be successful if I'm not allowed to have the doors open, can I? That is dead silence for anybody no matter how successful your business is. I think you're missing the point. The fundraiser was great for getting through the toughest spot - the quarantine - which puts a wrench in your plans no matter how successful you are, how much you have saved up (any realistic amount), so on and so forth. Very few people have a safety fund for 4+ months of 0 income, and small businesses tend to run on smaller margins.

I'm thankful for our success, because it's helped us actually get through this unscathed... some were not as lucky, and that's a shame. But every little bit helps, and our community loves us, and is happy to help out. I actually started mine way later than most people, as I wanted to ensure we toughed it as long as we could on our own and went through our savings, of course.

Here's some other great fundraisers that have done really well, just a few of the many:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-break-arcade
https://www.gofundme.com/f/timeline-arcade-virus-relief-2020
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-go-play-retro-arcade
https://www.gofundme.com/f/billy039s-midway-arcade
https://www.gofundme.com/f/nftz9k-add-credit-to-continue-morristown-game-vault
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-support-the-vortex-arcade
https://www.gofundme.com/f/musee-mecanique
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-xray-arcade-staff-through-pandemic
https://www.gofundme.com/f/logan-arcade-staff-relief-fund
https://www.gofundme.com/f/flashback-games
https://www.gofundme.com/f/abarigamebar
https://www.gofundme.com/f/io-arcade-bar-relief-fund
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-neon-retro-arcade
https://www.gofundme.com/f/gofundmecomfsave-the-arcade
https://www.gofundme.com/f/1xk3b7hwmo

I have tens of thousands of people waiting to come back, and our heavy social media presence has not waned. February, like every other month since opening, was slammed before this all went down, and this summer would've been an extremely good one. Well, if the doors are locked (March - July), no matter how successful you are, it doesn't pay the bills. It's a hard stop, even if you're the best arcade in the world. If a majority of people don't feel ready to venture out to recreational facilities yet, that doesn't pay the bills. It's just a means of getting from point A to point B, to continue to enjoy the fruitful business I've built and welcome all of our valued customers back into our facility - but there's no doubt me and every other arcade owner is struggling right now. It's not a result of the business or how it was run, it's a global problem. My business is successful, but is also struggling, like every other arcade in the world. It's not an unsuccessful business, it's a successful business afflicted with a national issue we're all struggling with. It's not that black and white. Heck, any unsuccessful business with this weight added on top of it is already out of business from the struggle, so we're blessed to be able to be doing well enough make it through, and the fundraiser certainly helped lighten the load.

There's lots of people donating for the sentimental kind-hearted reasons, but I'm sure there's people donating just because they don't want to lose their local arcade - and that makes sense too. Lots of people looking forward to our return!

This is good stuff. I’ll sink into it this evening after I’ve had a few beers.

That has everything to do with right now. If you are having "huge success", that means you need to put some of that "huge success" money in the bank for a rainy day. Maybe when you say "huge success", you don't mean financially. If so, I think you need to reevaluate how you are measuring for business' success. Have you ever actually taken any courses on running a business? Or finance courses to know how to actually handle your finances appropriately?

4 months of bills is literally the standard for a financial safety net. With your "huge success", you should have at least that. Maybe you can blame this on an age thing again. I personally couldn't sleep at night knowing that a small bump in my income could financially ruin my family to the point of me asking strangers for a hand out. Hell I used to clean toilets for $5.00/hr and I'd do it again to take care of my family. If I was in your shoes, I would have been driving for some food delivery service or grinding in any way to take care of my family. Instead of sitting behind a computer screen asking people in the same financial situation to give me money.

Am I actually seeing him say how much better they planned than most etc etc. And that they are doing good on recovering (yet still asking for money)!??

Just curious....will XeXPinball be having a business account too?

We know, you tried to advertise these in this topic under a shill user i.d.:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/arcade-gofundmes-for-covid-good-cause#post-5660512

If there was ever going to be a pinside thread of best quote of the week, this would certainly be a good condidate
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This is a good time. Oh boy.

Yes please...let us not forget the day Steven created another account to shill his own bullshit. And then was immediately called out on it. He will probably say "Gee shucks that was when I was a lot younger and naive." Except it was only a couple of months ago.

Shouldn't you be running your business right now instead of dicking around on Pinside........

Keep laughing, but the numbers don't lie. It's a hard couple of months right now, but I hope to soon be back to easily serving over 10,000 customers per year. I'm not sure why that number sounds so far off to you guys. Just checked the books and it's not an untrue statement. Our customers have a very heavy return prescence, we have over 5,000 dedicated Facebook fans, and with all the press we've got our network is around 75,000 seeing our Facebook posts now in the local area. 10,000 seems like a fair number. Keep hatin'

We all would LOVE to see your books. Are they written in Crayon?

You clearly said you have enough to make it through the hard way. The fact that you have another GoFundMe says otherwise.

That's why the pinside "business account" will 'not be run by him'

Believe me, I'm not dumb enough to post those here - as much as I would love to, because a lot of people would have fits And if I did, you'd say I'm bragging

Crayola. No RoseArt BS around here.

Waiting to flip the breakers on at 12. Until then, it's fun times with Pinside

Because you have the money to afford the good stuff from all the donations...

Gofundme makes high end crayons more affordable

Or perhaps the crayons were bought last year? That is actually a great analogy for the situation...