Travels, Tribulations, and Triumphs.

It's been far too long since I have been able to find the time to come on here and spell out the gory details of my latest arcade related finds, repairs and adventures. The good news is, while I may have neglected my blog, I have not neglected my mission to save and restore games. So without boring everyone to death too much, I figured I would do a little "cheat sheet" version and fill you in on my arcade travels, tribulations, and triumphs over the past few months.

Since we last met, I have stood in just about every major city on the West Coast. I picked up games in the Seattle, Sacramento and San Francisco areas ( Boot Hill, Super Hang On and Atari Video Pinball ) and dropped off games in Norcal and Socal ( Tron and Warrior ). A quick thanks to all of those involved in those deals and there will be more on that later. I also dropped in on my tech, mentor and (most importantly) my friend Tom who is recovering from a potentially life saving surgery. Get well soon Tom.

I met up with some collector friends and some old friends along the way, met an operator and checked out his warehouse, and took in some sights too. Winchester Mystery House, Disneyland, Seattle Space Needle and the Hollywood "Walk of Fame" were nice breaks in between long sessions at the wheel and showed that you can mix arcade business with pleasure.

While back at the fort it was business as usual. My Gravitar is almost ready for prime time, a couple more Amplifone HV boards have had their death sentences commuted and are now fully functioning members of society, and 2 games belonging to other arcade enthusiasts have been revived. A Star Wars arcade that sat idle for 17 years has been ressurected after I rebuilt the WG K6100 in it and a Crystal Castles is back amongst the living. A Centipede cocktail table was restored and now has a new home. It's honestly just as satisfying fixing a game for someone else as it is fixing my own. Sometimes it's even better.

So there it is. My summer of arcade love all wrapped up in one neat little post. Nothing like an old-school-arcade-infested walkabout to cleanse the toxins left behind by 5 day work weeks and everyday obligations.