Yes. Most people look at me like I'm insane when I tell them we have 7 at my house and 3 at my parents' house. My mom told her coworkers about her collection and they gave her a really hard time about having a mid-life crisis and buying stupid games. My husband's family won't touch them, changes the subject if we mention them. It seems people either love them or just don't get it, one extreme or the other.

I'm actually having a little pinball party this weekend for some friends, and out of my friends list could only find 5 that were excited about it and thrilled to come over. The rest were like "Um, no thanks. I have better things to do than play silly games." I'm sure they are sitting at home on their XBoxOnes and PS4s.

Luckily my parents, husband, sister, and grandmother all love them. We have family tournaments just about every holiday that is at my house, and my mom's fridge is covered in her tournament certificates I made up. We may be insane, but we're happy about it.

I used to have horses. I realized that by time I paid for boarding ($425/horse/month,) shoes, vet bills, food, hay, etc... my pinball machines are very cheap by comparison. Initial cost and maybe some LEDs or upgrades, but no ongoing monthly expenses.

Yeah, I meant "friends list" as in "the list of people on Facebook that I mostly do nothing with and have nothing in common with, but somehow got a friend request from because we work together or have had business transactions in the past." Husband and I are mostly antisocial. The only true/good friends are the ones coming over this weekend, and that's all I really wanted to come anyway.

Digitalbytes- if they ever say anything about it again, if you are even talking to them now, ask them how much their horses cost per month. That should shut them up fast. lol

Don't forget the market for incandescent/LED/mods for the headstones too...

Dr Whooves... it's real.

If my husband ever bought me a 4 carat diamond ring, I would probably murder him. First of all, I don't want to wear anything that expensive either. I'd lose it, or it would get stolen, or it just wouldn't be worth my nerves being shot all the time. Second, I'd probably assume he was having an affair. Something like that just screams that you're being bought off for some reason. And third... do you know how many pins that could buy?!?

I've had people do that when I am putting gas in my car and my husband is sitting in the car playing on his phone or whatever. "Wow, your man is a real loser to not get out and pump gas for you" or "Real women don't ever need to touch a gas nozzle" or some crap like that. My favorite was one day when I was by myself and had the top down, and the man in the car next to me said "Wow, either you did something nice or you are great in bed for your husband to buy you a car like that." (It's an older Z4, it's not like it is a Lambo.) Depending on my mood I either glare at them or sarcastically tell them off. It's my freaking car and my money. And I don't even let him drive these days because he has chronic migraines and is on a ton of meds right now and probably feels like crap.

I also remarked to negatively at Sams or PetsMart when I'm hauling out 5 or so 40-pound bags of dog food by myself. Yes, I am quite capable of being independent. No, I don't need your smartass comment. Sheesh.