So, I went to the auction in Maryland. It was great! It went on pretty much all day. I didn't take any pictures, but I wish I did. I'm glad that I took the trip (versus the other alternative: staying for the Mt. Holly auction).

I came home with a Super Mario Bros. pinball! I know, I know, that wasn't the purpose of the auction, but this machine was in great condition. In fact, my wife fell in love with it. Now if I could just get her to stop playing so that I can get in a few games...

I was shopping around for arcade cabinets. Again I saw another one that I liked, and I was going to bid on it. Again, it went for a bit more than I wanted to spend.

This is almost a blessing in disguise. I've been working on some prototypes of rotating monitor assembles, and none of the cabinets that I've been looking at have been wide enough to accomidate such a set up. So, after looking at several cabinets (including my current cabinet), I've decided to build one. Something like this sketch here, probably. This way I'll be able to build it the width that I need to make the monitor rotate.

But, I need to put this project on hold for the summer. My wife is a Ph.D. student at Temple University, and during the summer is just about the only time I get to see her (she's a much better student than I was). And, since the summer time isn't considered "Arcade season" anyways--what with no auctions or anything--I'll just wait to continue this when she heads back to school.

Never fear, though. Come September I'll be actively working on this machine.

--James