Hi
I want to address some of the posts:
Spencer: I do not know why you and others only see what you want to see, I have listing several items for sale and asked that the money go into the fund, nobody seems to mention this, there are several boards, and a lot of items on EBay as well, I also added that if anyone would like to help, it would be appreciated and they could made donations if there was nothing I had listed for sale that they were interested in, but nobody seems to bring that up in their attacks on me. I wish people like you who have nothing positive to ad would just stay out, and move on to something else.
Ladyslingshot. I have no idea if your Kaneda or not, seems that a lot of people think you are, but I have no idea. On my conditions, let me just say that genetics can be a good thing or a horrible thing depending on how you do in the gene pool, unfortunately both my fathers parents had diabetes, My Mother, My Father and his brother all had Diabetes and heart issues, my doctors all made the same statement to me, you were born with a genetic disposition to these illnesses, I spent the past 20 years working in retail management with crazy long hours, and a lot of stress, you eat when you can and usually it is whatever is close by and fast, my weight is 190lbs, when people see me they always say, you look like your in pretty good shape, and are surprised to hear about the conditions I have. I will say, if that offer for the end is legit, I would take that deal, as I plan on starting an in home pinball shop, where I will be offering shop jobs, and minor repairs to games, once I move some of these items off EBay as that has been taking up a lot of my time, I have already begun changing my diet completely 2 years ago when I was diagnosed, My A1C started at 8.1, the normal number is 6 and under, I have it checked every 3-4 months, and the numbers have been 5.6,5.8,7.4, and my last one was 6.0, however years of having the disease had done it's damage. 6.0 and lower is normal, and with the exception of one test, I have worked hard to get those numbers. The 7.4 was a disappointment, but the 6 was a welcome turnaround.
The Black knight, I have mentioned several times, I do not own the machines listed in my collection, I cannot sell them, as I do not own them, some of you may remember my pictures of my game room with 10 machines, well that was paid for by my wife's aunt with the stipulation she could come over and play them whenever she wanted, and that I could not sell them. I put all the work into them, I put money into them, and I did a ton of driving around to get them, out of the blue she decided she had too much money in the room, and I was forced to sell them off and get her money back, she had 19500, after today she has 8K invested, but she took 5 of the machines for her house, Stern Batman, SWT, T3, Flintstones and LW3. Addams is going today, I am driving to PA to help the buyer reduce the driving, I am nervous about this trip as it is a 4.5 hour drive for me, and with my eyes it is risky, and the other half of the money I am picking up goes directly to her, I do not see a penny, so I am out a lot of money (I was working at the time) time, effort, just about every one of those games was a project and I did full shop jobs on each one of them, well over 200 hours of time invested, and if we got a game she did not like, I had to get rid of it, even if I loved it, and there was those 4 that were sold off as well. The 3 machines here, I do not own, I cannot do anything with them, and only hope she does not decide to take those as well, or force me to sell them too..
Vicjw66, thank you for noting that, I kept asking myself why do people keep saying that, when I stated it a few times.
This machine means a lot to me, it broke my heart when I had to sell it, my friend knows this, and that is the only reason he made the offer to let me get it back. My intention was to sell off everything I can to raise the money, a large part of the go fund me is money I transferred over from sales of 2 boards, and blu ray movie sales off EBay, but it would probably be half that amount without the 20-50 dollar generous donations made.
One point that no one seems to make, is that the donations inspire me to continue to try to hit that number, I don't care if they are one dollar, it makes me believe I am going to get there, and have some joy in the situation I am dealing with, to have something back I thought was lost forever, and means so much to me, that I do not have the words to express it, and those who have supported it, either by wishing me well, making a small donation, or just sending me positive vibes, give me encouragement that I can make this happen, and not affect my family.
The positive support just makes me feel that I will make this happen, do I expect a free machine, NO!!! I never said that, all I stated in my long post that many just seem to skim over and read what they want to read, basically looking for negatives and go on the attack, is that if anyone wanted to help me get there it would be beyond appreciated. I keep reminding everyone I have boards for sale at good prices, I have parts for sale, I have blu ray's for sale, I have a TV for sale, but the negative people never mention any of this, that make discouraging comments towards me. I would not do this to anyone trying to make something difficult happen, if I did not agree, I would just move on, but it is a forum, and people get to say whatever they like from behind a screen.
It might take me a year to pull this off, maybe 2, who knows? In the end I am not going to have a free machine, I am going to have a machine that has more sentimental value to me than just a machine or toy or whatever people choose to call it. When it is done, I am going to say I will be paying for 80% of it at least myself, through sales, maybe some shop jobs I can do, but the donations are not going to pay for it, and I would not use any money that would effect my family in any way. I have personally transferred more than half of the money to the go fund me myself, on items that were sold, and 2 donations were sales of boards.
I believe I have been more positive then negative on this site, I know I have helped a lot of people out on this site, I try to stay out of the fights, the negative stuff, and if I can offer some help with a repair, I chime in and offer what I know might help. Am I perfect, NO, do I slip up sometimes here, YES.
I am NOT and again I repeat NOT asking for a free pinball machine, I never expected it, and it is NOT realistic, I know this, but you know what, the donations that were made, inspire me, every time I see that number go up even by a dollar, it makes me believe it is going to happen, and I have to keep working as hard as I can to raise whatever I can, and the donations make me feel supported and appreciated, and give me additional motivation that someday this WILL happen. Please stop with the Free Machine posts, PLEASE.. It is not going to happen that way, I know this, and you know this.
Thank you again to all the supporters, and those that choose to be negative, well I cannot stop you, but I just ask you READ everything before you judge, and for the final time, I am not expecting a free pinball machine!