Im so jealous of your stories. Even though I grew up in arcades when I was a kid I was never a pin head. I played Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Defender, Centipede etc...
I always walked by pins and was like "Whatever..."
Flash forward and I played Farsight's Pinball Arcade and was hooked. Started learning rules and then the next thing you know, I bought a Gorgar, BK and then discovered EM's and DMD's.
I'm so new to this hobby but I love it so much. Every pin I play now feels like a brand new experience. I look forward to CAX, where the family and I will run rampant and play as many games as we possibly can.
As my beautiful daughter proclaims... "Pinball Forever"