Pachinko

I have triumphed. I have reached my self-appointed goal in life. And I did it with my son along to witness my greatest moment, my crossing the victory line under a freshly unfurled checkered flag. I am a great father, now.

This afternoon we rode our bikes around the block. I have to admit that it wasn't a purely recreational trip. OK, we were going to a garage sale on the back side of the block. Sometimes we just have to do these things. I mean, summer is almost over and we haven't put forth our best effort to procure unnecessary junk. He, of course, was looking for Legos, while I, being the older, wiser shopper was looking for treasures with a more immeasurable type of value. Things I might be able to identify as "cool stuff" when in the company of those who may be less appreciative of the finer things tucked away in the garage.

Today, I found it! The holy grail of garage sale finds! I am fulfilled in my most secretly kept desire, one in which I never expected to find balance. Yes, I bought a pachinko game!

And boy am I going to be in trouble when my wife sees it. It needs a lot of work, is missing most of the electronic parts, has spider webs on the inside and corrosion on the outside. I'm looking forward to spending some time tearing it apart, cleaning it up, replacing missing circuits, treating and painting the nasty parts and maybe building a new cabinet for it. The official license sticker is still located in the corner of the play board. How cool is that, honey?

Now I'll have to do some extensive research to find out what is missing and hopefully get a wiring diagram. I took 28 pictures of the insides, so I can put everything back the way it was. I can also compare mine with any pictures I (hopefully) find on the internet. Cool - a real life surfing project for all these rainy days - just what you were saying I needed, right Snookums? But this project has to wait until after the cabinets in the family room are done and the bike is painted, I promise.

Jack