Car Repair - MAME woes

Tonight, GP helped me replace a worn shock bushing on my car before he jumped on the MAME machine. His attention span lasted thru jacking, removing all six lug nuts and rolling the tire around for a while.

I worked Friday night on a 22" flat-screen CRT monitor that I bought from work for $10. It fits into the cabinet perfectly and looks like it was designed especially for me. Trouble is, when I plugged it in, it refused to work at all. My friend at work suggested that I part it out and make an electric squirt gun (similar to peeing on an electric fence, but with more control over who gets shocked). I need to hit the library and see if it would be worth learning TV repair. Until then, we will have to put up with the 17" screen.

GP's 1st B-Day

GP's birthday officially marks the beginning of the fall birthday season. We have his real birthday, then his celebrated birthday and party with the Grammas at the skating rink, then CP's party with friends, then CP's official B-Day, and finally, a multi-boy celebration with Gramma & Grampa when they pass through Lincoln.

Then it's on to Halloween and the rest of the holiday season. My calendar is full until January.

Fall Scout Campout

This past weekend we were blessed with absolutely perfect weather for the Pack 15 Fall Campout at Wagontrain Lake.

Due to the weather and the lack of a Husker home game, the campground was full. We had at least a dozen families from pack 15, plus the boy scouts from troop 15, as well as several other scout groups from the surrounding area.

MAME Progress

This weekend, I worked on the MAME machine. Katrina does not care.

Saturday, I installed an old Gateway 17" CRT. It looks absolutely minuscule in the cabinet. I remember when this monitor was hot stuff. I think they were around $500. Now you can find them for free. When I can afford it, I'll stuff a 22" LCD in the cabinet - that will look about right.

I drew up the control panel and it's in the queue to be lasered. Until then, I built a cheezy plywood panel and used a whisker switch for the fire button (no superzapper). I need to get with it and order some real buttons.

Sunday, I painted all the parts. I used flat black: mistake. The paint is so flat that it shows every spec of dust that blows in on the wind (25 mph all night & day today) and my skin rubs off on it. The sides are primered and waiting for some nice enamel.

I rewired the guitar amplifier I built so that it plugs into the computer and puts out stereo. The crappy little 4" speakers actually sound great and very authentic for an 80's arcade machine. Next: buttons, smoked glass, and a marquee. The side art decals cost $100, which is about $80 more than I am willing to pay, so I am contemplating painting the sides myself.

GP's New Smile

Last night, GP lost his front tooth while eating popcorn. CP overheard that the tooth fairy was coming and yanked out one of his big baby teeth while he was lying in bed.

Husker Football

I spent last week in Kohler, Wisconsin, at the Kohler factory. What a beautiful town! It's right out of a story book. Of course, I forgot my camera. I had lunch at each of the Kohler resort golf courses, as well as tasty beers at the Kohler pub, The Horse & Plow.

Friday night, my neighbor called and asked it I wanted to go to Saturday's game. How could I pass that up? We hooked up with GT, our Budweiser neighbor, and he got us into the Champion's Club for some primo tailgating. After the half, he gave us his club level tickets and we watched the game in style.

The picture above was on the front page of our paper this morning. It was detailed enough that I was able pick out my neighbor and me (circled) in the stands as we cheered on a kickoff-return-touchdown against San Jose State.

After the Husker game, I spent the afternoon at my neighbor's house watching the Penn State game and playing his newly completed skee-ball game. He has a PC running the game and he did all the programming himself, which is fun, because he can create crazy scoring routines and sound effects for the games.

I took some pictures of GP before I went to Kohler, as I was sure that he would be sans a front tooth when I returned. He still has his tooth - I don't know what is holding it in place.

Today I worked on the MAME cabinet. It's assembled now. I need to do some more carving with the belt sander on the control panel to make it fit better. I can't wait to plug it in.

Last night our neighbor had a movie party for the kids. The adults played Galaga on his MAME machine. I really need to practice.

Project Tempest Takes Shape

After sanding and staining half of the swingset this weekend (ran out of stain), I launched into my latest project: building a replica of the 1982 Atari arcade classic, Tempest. It's made out of birch plywood and 2x2's. It will use a junk computer and will run MAME. My neighbor built a beautiful Centipede machine that will be a tough act to follow.

Last week, I assembled my prototype Tempest spinner. I saw some pitcures of the original and copied the steel 72-tooth opto-interrupter disk. It feels really nice and I'm anxious to play it in the finished cabinet.

NE State Fair

Today (Labor Day) was the last day for the 2008 Nebraska State Fair. We took advantage of some free tickets and warm sunshine and enjoyed a couple of hours at the fair. Both of the boys rode the Chinese Dragon, but only GP was brave enough to go with JP on the Wacky Worm.

In a couple of years, the fair is supposed to move out to Grand Island, where it will become a full-day adventure for us to attend.

Offutt Air Show

Last weekend, we took Gampa to the Offutt AFB airshow in Omaha. We saw every cent I've ever paid in taxes, and then some.

My favorite plane was the A-10, which did a straifing demo. There's just something about big guns that fire 6,000 rounds per minute...

We saw 3 P-51's, a couple Zero's, a B-25, A-26, and a B-17 all in the sky at once. GP remarked that they were taking things a little too seriously when they started the straifing and bombing.

GP's New UW Camera

The Grammas bought GP an underwater digital camera.

I had it all set up before our hard drive died. I finally found the driver CD and got it reinstalled the other day.

JP Gets Up on Waterskis

JP tried and tried and tried and finally got up on skis for the first time.

SCB also tried & tried until the skin on his hands fell off, and he also got up on skis for the first time.

Both of the boys got up, but all we have is video that will have to wait until I feel like plugging in the video camera...

MB showed us all how to do it, including getting up on a slalom after taking a break for 10+ years.

Cousin

We celebrated second MB's b-day at the lake.

She was a trooper the entire week. Whether in the boat, pool, or lake, she was having fun.

The boys latched onto their little cousin.

Ha-Ha Tonka Spring

This is the sinkhole/canyon underneath the ruins. It has a big natural bridge with trails under and over it.

The spring emits beautiful 54 degree water year-round. On the day we were there, it would have been nice to dive in.

There are 316 wooden steps on the trail to/from the spring.

Ha-Ha Tonka Ruins

These are the ruins of a 1900's castle on Lake of the Ozarks. The guy that built it was killed in 1906 before it was complete. He was one of the first auto fatalities in Kansas city.

The castle was eventually finished, but it later burned down and is now part of the state park.

The castle sits on top of a bluff that overlooks a spring that feeds into the lake. I can't imagine how cool it must have been before the lake filled in. Fortunately, the spring is still above lake level.

Lake of the Ozarks Cave

What do you get when you mix peleozoic carbonates with groundwater? Caves!

We walked through the Lake of the Ozarks cave in the state park. It was small and fun.

I never realized that the ozark limestone & dolomites are nearly the same as the rocks we climbed on at the palisades in Illinois.

MB had a good time and managed to find some cave mud.