One year ago today Ted (RS) and Rosie (BR) were delivered by Martin… life hasn't been the same since.
In 2019 I rediscovered pinball, I don't recall how, but something led me to discover PinballFX3 had real tables on it after having played it in previous years… then I discovered Pinfest was in a few weeks and immediately booked a B&B for one of the days.
Back in 2019, I was living in a small council flat with my then girlfriend, i had been saving for a deposit to own my own home for nearly half a decade but never really felt the urge to buy a house until pinball came into my life.
I joined this forum after discovering it researching Pinfest UK, visited Flip Out whenever I could and probably the biggest influences was going to one of Majestic Pinballs little meet ups as he was local. I think that made me realise having pins in your own home was something achievable. James became one of my best friends and I hold him responsible for my growing pin problem.
Just as Covid took hold of the UK in early 2020, I bought my first home…motivated by the want to own pin, (not to settle and create a family like many!) It took 9 months finally moving into the house in July 2020.
For some reason in the mean time, I developed an obsession with Road Show (after initially hating it at Flip out, thinking it was too hard), but i stuck with it and it was the first pin I loved that wasn't the typical MM, AFM etc.
So i knew it was what I wanted to be my first pin.
I had been saving for my first pin separately to the house fund, as I wanted my first pin to be a housewarming gift to myself, afterall this was why I suddenly wanted to own my own home.
The sourcing of a Road Show is a saga in itself, i might have paid over the odds slightly but I had to take the opportunity at that time or maybe I'd not get another (and even then they have shot up in value due to Covid times).
I had a little money left so impulsively bought Black Rose also… a pin I wasn't a fan of on PinballFX3 so my theory was I would be able to let it go easily in order to get a different one.
(I struggle to get rid of things and with limited space I worried I'd not let pins go)
Rosie is still here
Both Road Show and Black Rose were delivered by the legendary Martin on the same day. With an impulsive purchase of DEJP a couple months later and a long time loan of Pinball Magic from James)
Unfortunately the house ended up being a bit of a disaster, a total rewire and new boiler was required, making every room a building site.
An already turbulent and abusive relationship of 5 years, ended only two months after moving into the house (Luckily she wasn't on the mortgage due to debt history so it could have been messier).
I'm someone who has always struggled with life in general, depression, anxiety among other things. So a break up, after moving into a house like this knocked me back and a year later I am still not 100%
It also came to light that I most likely have ADD (attention deficit disorder), which has symptoms that are exacerbated by situations like I ended up in.
Despite the above I am grateful to have my dream job, (I drive trains)... Yes I know, how can someone who apparently has ADD drive trains? I don't know. I've been doing it 6 years now with no real issues. ADD isn't as black and white as popular culture makes you think and is different as an adult.
For example most days I am crippled in this house, where nearly every room is a building site or incomplete even a year later. (I know houses take time and it's not a race, it'll get there in the end etc)
I obsess over little things, struggle to prioritise, jump around from one thing to another and can be very hasty. It's different at work, as it's structured, I know what's expected of me ~ it's a different world and environment to being at home.
Point being, despite struggling nearly daily I think my life would be a lot worse without pinball.
There's something about pinball that works for my brain. When that balls flying about you are truly present in that moment. Games can be quick and fast, and then you hit start again.
But I can also put music on and work on my pins for hours and hours. I'll spend hours or months obsessing over a LED order and the choices (I'm awful at decision making).
It's a double edged sword.
Sometimes I worry that I'm too obsessive or too much of a perfectionist for pinball. Most of my pins were in decent condition but had niggling issues (missing or incorrect bulbs, dodgy rollovers, leaf switches).
Even a year later I'm still tweaking them.
It's almost as If I find problems that sometimes don't exist so I can fix them, as I feel like like it's in my comfort zone and not too challenging (any psychologists in the house?!)
I know this is a long winded and very candid post, probably quite erratic (like my brain!) but the purpose was to celebrate the positives, a year of owning pinball, all the things I've learnt and continue to learn.
So in a (maybe overly dramatic) way, pinball saved me.
And for that I am extremely grateful to this community as a whole.
Without it owning a pinball machine would be incredibly daunting and I don't know if I'd have done it. I am so excited for Pinfest,
So thank you all!
See you at Pinfest!
(if you see a tall guy with long dark hair hanging about with a blue haired girl, please say hi and play a few games! I don't consider myself great socially but would love to talk, play and learn
)
David
P.s
Initially I had Intended to post this as a celebration of the anniversary and how a year ago I knew next to nothing about the workings of a pinball machine, but thanks to this forum, and my best friend @MajesticPinball I have learnt how to care and maintain them… even add great new features like Pin2dmd, afterglow GI and Nano (a thanks to @stumblor , his crimping tutorial and tolerance of a novice asking silly questions and breaking things..)
In 2019 I rediscovered pinball, I don't recall how, but something led me to discover PinballFX3 had real tables on it after having played it in previous years… then I discovered Pinfest was in a few weeks and immediately booked a B&B for one of the days.
Back in 2019, I was living in a small council flat with my then girlfriend, i had been saving for a deposit to own my own home for nearly half a decade but never really felt the urge to buy a house until pinball came into my life.
I joined this forum after discovering it researching Pinfest UK, visited Flip Out whenever I could and probably the biggest influences was going to one of Majestic Pinballs little meet ups as he was local. I think that made me realise having pins in your own home was something achievable. James became one of my best friends and I hold him responsible for my growing pin problem.
Just as Covid took hold of the UK in early 2020, I bought my first home…motivated by the want to own pin, (not to settle and create a family like many!) It took 9 months finally moving into the house in July 2020.
For some reason in the mean time, I developed an obsession with Road Show (after initially hating it at Flip out, thinking it was too hard), but i stuck with it and it was the first pin I loved that wasn't the typical MM, AFM etc.
So i knew it was what I wanted to be my first pin.
I had been saving for my first pin separately to the house fund, as I wanted my first pin to be a housewarming gift to myself, afterall this was why I suddenly wanted to own my own home.
The sourcing of a Road Show is a saga in itself, i might have paid over the odds slightly but I had to take the opportunity at that time or maybe I'd not get another (and even then they have shot up in value due to Covid times).
I had a little money left so impulsively bought Black Rose also… a pin I wasn't a fan of on PinballFX3 so my theory was I would be able to let it go easily in order to get a different one.
(I struggle to get rid of things and with limited space I worried I'd not let pins go)
Rosie is still here
Both Road Show and Black Rose were delivered by the legendary Martin on the same day. With an impulsive purchase of DEJP a couple months later and a long time loan of Pinball Magic from James)
Unfortunately the house ended up being a bit of a disaster, a total rewire and new boiler was required, making every room a building site.
An already turbulent and abusive relationship of 5 years, ended only two months after moving into the house (Luckily she wasn't on the mortgage due to debt history so it could have been messier).
I'm someone who has always struggled with life in general, depression, anxiety among other things. So a break up, after moving into a house like this knocked me back and a year later I am still not 100%
It also came to light that I most likely have ADD (attention deficit disorder), which has symptoms that are exacerbated by situations like I ended up in.
Despite the above I am grateful to have my dream job, (I drive trains)... Yes I know, how can someone who apparently has ADD drive trains? I don't know. I've been doing it 6 years now with no real issues. ADD isn't as black and white as popular culture makes you think and is different as an adult.
For example most days I am crippled in this house, where nearly every room is a building site or incomplete even a year later. (I know houses take time and it's not a race, it'll get there in the end etc)
I obsess over little things, struggle to prioritise, jump around from one thing to another and can be very hasty. It's different at work, as it's structured, I know what's expected of me ~ it's a different world and environment to being at home.
Point being, despite struggling nearly daily I think my life would be a lot worse without pinball.
There's something about pinball that works for my brain. When that balls flying about you are truly present in that moment. Games can be quick and fast, and then you hit start again.
But I can also put music on and work on my pins for hours and hours. I'll spend hours or months obsessing over a LED order and the choices (I'm awful at decision making).
It's a double edged sword.
Sometimes I worry that I'm too obsessive or too much of a perfectionist for pinball. Most of my pins were in decent condition but had niggling issues (missing or incorrect bulbs, dodgy rollovers, leaf switches).
Even a year later I'm still tweaking them.
It's almost as If I find problems that sometimes don't exist so I can fix them, as I feel like like it's in my comfort zone and not too challenging (any psychologists in the house?!)
I know this is a long winded and very candid post, probably quite erratic (like my brain!) but the purpose was to celebrate the positives, a year of owning pinball, all the things I've learnt and continue to learn.
So in a (maybe overly dramatic) way, pinball saved me.
And for that I am extremely grateful to this community as a whole.
Without it owning a pinball machine would be incredibly daunting and I don't know if I'd have done it. I am so excited for Pinfest,
So thank you all!
See you at Pinfest!
(if you see a tall guy with long dark hair hanging about with a blue haired girl, please say hi and play a few games! I don't consider myself great socially but would love to talk, play and learn
)David
P.s
Initially I had Intended to post this as a celebration of the anniversary and how a year ago I knew next to nothing about the workings of a pinball machine, but thanks to this forum, and my best friend @MajesticPinball I have learnt how to care and maintain them… even add great new features like Pin2dmd, afterglow GI and Nano (a thanks to @stumblor , his crimping tutorial and tolerance of a novice asking silly questions and breaking things..)
. I get bollocked when surfing property porn and dismissing places as “too hard to get a pin into” or rejecting them for similar reasons. 
