I literally don't have the wall space for backglasses, every square inch of wall space in the workshop is utilized for racked storage to try and keep things off the valuable floorspace. If you can't go out you have to go up!

3 full games AND a second universal cabinet!

Gary

It boils down to ease of handling, safety and safe storage.

1) Has to be a rolling rack of some sort which leads to the next, orientation and size.

2) Store loaded playfields vertical or horizontial? Vertical makes the most sense as if they were horizontal you would have to bend to get the lowest and the highest might be over your head. If vertical they are all on the same plane. Vertical it is!

3) Playfield with apron down or up? Due to the wiring harness, makes sense to have apron DOWN. Your base will have to have slots to clear playfield hangers. The base should have three wide support strips to support the playfield with openings large enough for the hangers and coated with rubber or dense impermeable foam to protect the apron and playfield edge.

4) How to pull playfields? If you slide, risk damaging, lifting up and out your back. I'm going to try and make it so the playfield tilts out. The back wall of the cart will have vertical slots to keep the playfield in place.

Here is a rough sketch. I have plenty of steel around here so will weld together so it will be plenty stout.

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A lot of heavy work the last several days, not much pinball related aside from the 5v on Blackout crapping out while in attract mode. Parts on order.

Trying to get a lot of heavy lift stuff done now as come June 7th. not happening for several months after.

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5V regulator on Blackout was having a bad day, all better now.

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A lot of hard work last night.

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Even though I have a Seawitch & Quicksilver, I have never owned a "Stern Pinball Game" complete till yesterday.

Welcome in Meteor.

New MPU, SDB, drop targets, yopp lamps in some of the inserts, new popper/bumper caps, LED displays, fresh shop.

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Spent yesterday trying to relax; issues getting worse. Starting the lose sensation in upper leg area.

2 more weeks.

Did some some LDB repairs on Meteor (one lamp was out) and took care of 2 spares at the same time since I was doing testing. Replaced all the backglass incandescent lamps with Comet retro warm white. Might try swapping the SB300 with a new unit to see if it sounds the same, very "tinny" sounding compared to the other two cabinets. Maybe the speaker is just done.

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Easy test would be to swap boards; Both "universal cabs" have new boards from Andrew that sound great.

In comparison this Meteor sounds a bit sad.

Might get a chance to poke this with a stick tonight, still running flat out trying to get everything settled before surgery. Really enjoying Meteor when I get a chance to play, the action is fast & furious. Rack'em up is interesting, sharp shooting skills required!

Getting in some game time while I'm still upright. Black Hole was nice for once and broke 500,000.

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Ghostbusters also rocking it!

Blackout, JP and LW3 beat my ass in retaliation!

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Work after surgery.

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Heading off to hospital, wish me luck!

Oh I hope to have some FG playfield updates to post in several days. Waiting for check in.

Alive, out of post op. Feeling tough

First meal in 24 hours, going to walk me soon.

Good morning everyone!

Doing hot laps around nurses station. No pain standing or walking, modest pain sitting.

We won't talk about the transition between the two, slightly spicy.

Surgeon came in and updated- things went long on the table due to all the nerve impingement but surgery went great and I'm being booted out at 11AM after PT pays a visit! I'll post some CAT scans later today.

Nap time, home.

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Pain is pretty rude at the moment and I have a fairly high tolerance.

Hurt bad the last 24 hours guys, doc says should be turning a corner come Saturday.

Got an ambulance ride yesterday when the meds lowered my blood pressure and caused a blackout. My wife is a wreck.

It's small but better today. Still rough sledding.

It's 2AM and I'm awake; this is a good sign.

Pain is starting to subside and I'm moving with less difficulty. I think another day or two i'll be able to venture outside for some fresh air.

Dealing with some side effects of the operation and medications and that has finally "cleared up"

Have not noted any reduction of range of motion but I wasn't a gymnast to begin with.

Getting surgical work done seems to have improved my scores on GB.

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Still trying to keep busy

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Perfect.

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Medical update:

My pastor (who is a radiology technician) is astounded at my progress. Frankly, I told him I'm just following the instructions I was given by the hospital and surgeon! It helps a lot that I have no comorbidities, don't drink or smoke and keep physically active. I can walk without a cane at this point, still have some pains related to surgery, particularly if I try and do something quickly like catch a falling screwdriver (OUCH)

Went for a drive to work yesterday to drop off a few dozen doughnuts, driving is still a little tough between being jostled by the roads and pressure on my backside by the seating. I can sit for a half hour or so before I have to get up and walk around which is good exercise. Meds at this point are a mild muscle relaxant and mild pain relief down to twice a day. Follow up with the surgeon is on the 22th.

Great pastor too, bills need to be paid though!

30 days ago and today.

Almost time to put the fence back up after it fills out a bit more. So far it seems to be a success but we only had two thunderstorms this month and they seemed too brief for a good test.

Might have done too much yesterday but we will see, little sore this morning. Picked up some batteries for the solar array and installed them, post office run, stopped at work to have my wrappings inspected and changed out (nursing supervisor says the incision looks very good) fired off a few e-mails towards vendors who are being chuckleheads. Starting to think about that Flash Gordon playfield, its not going to finish itself.

The workshop is now on 100% solar aside from the dehumidifier and welder. The panels are not in an optimum location but that will have to wait several weeks for me to relocate them to the roof surface. Running a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter and it seems to be working just fine for what is going on in there.

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Display board for cabinet #2

You know what the say about time and money. Since I have more time on my hands than cash I elected to dig some scrap wood out of the bin and fill in the display locations. Some Gorilla glue, let sit overnight and then go over with the belt sander and it will be ready for routing and paint.

I'm going to just use the display mounting points from cabinet #1 to make a template and transfer over to cabinet #2.

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Looking good! Will setup for routing in the morning.

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Marine grade 3/4" plywood at $113 a sheet plus tax makes this a viable option in my book.

If I was building a pure "clone" or restoration it would be a different matter. For Seawitch from Scratch #2 it will serve its intended purpose just fine.

Wish I felt well enough to bring pins to Pintastic, I'd bring Seawitch and Quicksilver for the freeplay area. Only been 2 weeks and prohibition on lifting anything over 5 pounds and I still tire easy. Healing burns a lot of energy.

One more coat to go.

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Mo' better.

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Better still.

Not all are hooked up but at least enough to provide some backglass illumination.

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Follow up with the surgeon yesterday...

Surgical Procedure: L2-3 decompression and fusion
Date: 6/7/22

The patient presents for post-operative evaluation. Pain is managed reasonably well. No fever, chills, or wound drainage. There are days without pain, other days with tenderness even stabbing pain with movements. He is able to stand and work at a table. He has no thigh pain at all.

Examination demonstrates that the wound is healing, without erythema, fluctuance, or discharge. Strength is normal. Sensation is normal. Gait is reasonable. There is no swelling in the region of the surgery, no leg swelling.

All very good news! States I'm rocking it and keep up the good work. Doc stated at the start of surgery when they "got under the hood" he said the L2/L3 area was heavily inflamed and clearly the cause of the problem.

I'm heading to Pintastic Friday! Looking forward to playing some pinball, great list of games this year.

https://pntstc.com/games.html

Back from Pintastic! Thanks to everyone who brought pins!

Played the following; Terminator 2, Williams BSD, Meteor, Cross Country EM, Gottlieb Surf Champ EM, Dr. Who, Butterfly EM, The Getaway, Tales from the Crypt, Rush (pro), Avengers (prem) The Mandolorian (prem) Rocky and Bullwinkle, Waterworld, Lightning, Stern Indiana Jones, DE Royal Rumble, Starship Troopers, Iron Maiden, Time Fantasy, Party Zone, Party Animal, Coney Island, SharpShooter II, Alien Poker, DE Simpsons, Addams Family, Pinbot, Stars, Queen of Hearts (EM), Stern Magic, Wizard (EM) Kings of Steel, Flash, Cyclone, Captain Fantastic (EM) and Robo-War.

Whew.

Some games I was able to play a few times to get a feel for the shot angles and improve. Notes below for various off the top of my head.

T2: A game I really want to like as a fan of the franchise but have not taken a shine to yet, really can't put my finger on why. Need more play time.

BSD: Was able to play 2-3 games, by the 3rd game I was dialed in and had a 20 minute 3 ball game with 2 extra balls earned! Played a very nice example that was well setup in the main game room with a color display, kudos to the owner!

Dr. Who: Another game I want to like, still not taking a shine to the gameplay for some reason, very nice example with color display. A number of SDTM drains you could do nothing about.

Rush & Avengers: Both shot very sweetly, impressed with these 2 new Sterns.

Mandalorin: Playfield feels to tight to me, a title I want to like but not taking a shine to it after playing.

Stern Indy Jones: Left flipper kept getting stuck, wasn't expecting much and wasn't disappointed.

DERR: Considered adding one to the DE collection, I think the constant grunting sound effect changed my mind. Fun layout though.

Addams Family: Sweet shooting example I played, I see why they retain value. Very nice example.

Kings of Steel with right target mod: First time I have played one, hard to evaluate. The target is replaced with a rollover button and a path is made through the plastics back to the pop bumpers.

Time Fantasy was the big surprise for me, played several games. The theme does nothing for me but enjoyed the gameplay very much though I never did make it to snail time. Thanks for the Western Mass club for bringing it!

Pins there fell into 2 categories in my opinion: They were either well setup and good condition or was just something vaguely operational to get through the door and I was there an hour before the open so stuff had not been hammered to death by the public. Dead displays, rolling displays, dead flippers, shotgunning slingshots, drop target banks with only half resetting, etc. The majority of pins were in good playing shape though! And there were A LOT of new pins to play, if I had to guess I'd say 50 at least.

My back held up on the trip there and back with the aid of a comfy pillow, better every day! Gas prices between $4.66 and $4.88 a gallon depending where you were at. Good seeing jrpinball the96stang Butch2099 and a few other Pinsiders! Might see if we can make the Saratoga show and bring Seawitch and Quicksilver to support.

Gary

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