Everything's coming up Milhouse

The gods of pinball fortune, if there are such beings (and clearly there are), have smiled on me once again. Not only did I win a tournament and a league this year, but now I've won...

wait for it...

my very own pinball machine.

Ridiculous, but true. At the pinball league party last night, everybody who played during the past year got an entry into the raffle for a 1979 Bally Star Trek. Improbably my 2-in-82 shot came in... the game is now mine.

I still have to move it out of the Schobers' basement, and somehow figure out where to best squeeze it into my apartment. (Aside: Kimberly is the best wife in the world for allowing this. When I told her, she said, "I can't deny you a pinball machine," while laughing hysterically. Kimberly, I love you.)

And even after I do that, it needs a little bit of work... there are some lights that won't come on, and some... capacitors? that are blown? Or something? That's the other thing; I know a lot about software, but very little about electronics. So taking care of my own game is going to be a bit of an education. But, of course, I'm really looking forward to it.

MY OWN PINBALL!!! WOO-HOO!!!

Star Trek, by the way, is one of the earlier "solid state" games. That is, rather than being entirely electromechanical like older games with scoring reels (generally pre-1977), it's controlled electronically by chips and transistors and software, and the scoring displays are electronic (but numerical-only). So, there's a bit of boring history for you.