I was going out with a really cute girl with a great personality. While I was making plans such as marriage, family etc. she had other ideas. I was ready to look at engagement rings and she wanted out. Fast foward to me with a broken heart and a friend who wanted to take me out to get my mind off of things. We went to a local bar and as we walked in one of the regulars asked if we wanted in on a game of pinball. I declined because I had no interest in something that I considered lame and from the 70s. The guy who was playing saw my long face and said that doing anything was better then drowning my sorrows and feeling sorry for myself. OK. Good point. We played a few games and he explained the rules of the machine. I had to admit that I had a good time. Playing pinball at "Shennanigans" became a constant in my life. The guy who first got me playing became a good friend and 20 years later we still have good memories of marathon playing and local tournaments. My friend Chris who dragged me out that night wanted to go to a pizza joint one time and we noticed that the owner had 9 machines. I asked if they were for sale and I bought all 9 for $1000. Chris introduced me to a couple of girls and we would hang out all the time going from place to place looking for new machines to play or buy. The virus spread through me and after almost 40 machines owned, here I am. I ran into one the girls, "Holly", name not changed because she would be happy to be mentioned on this forum, asked me when we would hang out looking for new machines to play. After all these years. That was her first comment. Kind of cool. I introduced Holly to my girlfriend who later became my wife. She was not into pinball but later converted and has logged more time on my Theatre of Magic then I did. She was so understanding of my passion. I loved playing with her and was happy to see her get into the games and even curse at the straight drains down the middle. Her son got a little older and ended up getting bitten by the bug as well. If he is not playing World Of Warcraft he can usually be found playing Frankenstein or Revenge from Mars. Strange how life takes you in different directions then what you intended. When I lost my sweetheart many years ago, I thought that nothing would make me happy. I hated life and did not want mine anymore. Pinball kind of saved me. That girl did me a favor by leaving me because it opened all kinds of doors. I now have a beautiful wife with two awesome kids. And pinball is still a big part of my life. The hobby of collecting and playing pinball is now something that kind of defines me. The ever growing collection of pins is always a source of pleasure for me, even when I break a screw head off into a post or swear at a straight drain down the middle. Even to this day when things go bad I find it very theraputic to get in under the hood and wax a playfield or change some coil sleeves. I guess thats it for my story. I have to call it a night. Got to work tomorrow. And call a guy about a listing that I saw on Craigslist about a machine..........