If you’re reading this then you probably got here via my twitter or facebook page and if you’ve been reading either of those things over the past few weeks you probably know that in the last year I’ve developed a distinct affinity for pinball. I was turned back onto the game by my friend and co-worker Paul and between the gameroom at work and the Williams Hall of Fame Collection for Wii I kept my appetite pretty well fed. Eventually though, the desire to own one took root and when all was said and done I ended up with three tables.

I just sold them all.

The thing I love about those old pinball games is the same thing that drives me nuts about them. They require a certain level of care and feeding. Eventually stuff breaks down and needs to be replaced, rewired or swapped out. The “fixer” in me gravitates towards that and even finds it rewarding. However, at the same time there’s this side of me, the sys-admin side that is constantly concerned about if/when the next thing is gonna break. It’s anxiety producing in a way that’s hard to articulate. The games were at the Northwest Pinball & Gameroom Expo last weekend and I found myself kind of cruising by them periodically just to check and make sure that everything was working. Granted there were technicians at the show who were charged with repairing the games but there was a part of me that just couldn’t let it go. I’d see that a light was out or that the targets on a game weren’t behaving properly. I’d get this kind of knot in my stomach & start wondering what’s wrong. “Is it just a burnt out bulb? Is there a snapped solder joint? What if it’s something worse?” Eventually, I’d run over, grab the keys off the keybaord, pull the thing apart and dive into troubleshooting. I couldn’t help myself. It’s in my nature.

When the machines crossed over from being fun games to just another thing I need to fix is when I decided I might need to re-evaluate. This is supposedly what I do for fun and the thing that I find the most fun is actually playing them. So, I sold my three classic games and just put in an order for a brand new Iron Man table, which should be arriving in a couple weeks.

…with a warranty.

I also really enjoy how into pinball Joel is. I took him and Isaac down to the show on Friday morning and a photographer from the Seattle Times followed us around for a bit. Here’s a little slideshow he put together (the boys and I are featured in the second half).

2010 Northwest Pinball and Gameroom Show from Cliff DesPeaux on Vimeo.

Posted from benaar’s posterous