Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on December 30th, 2011 in MainSusan and I have celebrated New Year’s Eve several different ways together over the past sixteen years, but this year will be a first for us. New Year’s Eve, Susan is having surgery. It’s minor laparoscopic surgery and shouldn’t be a big deal, but Susan wanted to have it done this year (2011) for insurance purposes, and so the doctor scheduled her surgery for Saturday — New Year’s Eve. The original plan was to schedule the surgery at 8am; that way, if Susan was feeling well enough to go home later in the day, she could. The surgery’s been pushed… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on December 29th, 2011 in MainPaul Revere wouldn’t have stood a chance against Mason’s remote controlled army. By land, Mason is ready to invade with his remote controlled truck, complete with working headlights and taillights. While I don’t know if it would stand up to the sea’s waves, Mason’s got the pond covered with his remote controlled boat. Aha, but what about the air? Mason’s got that covered too. Mason ended up with two helicopters. The one pictured here shoots missiles. I can attest to that fact. Also when it hits a wall, it careens out of control and buzzes toward my head and/or face.… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on December 28th, 2011 in MainA common problem people encounter when taking pictures, especially during the holiday season, is not paying attention to the background immediately behind their subjects. Taking a picture of a person with something right behind their head can make it look like the object is either balanced on top of the person’s head, or growing out of the top of it. This problem is exaggerated on modern cell phone cameras. Because of their small aperture, they have a very large depth of field — in laymen’s terms, that means both things close up and things far away are in focus, which… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on December 20th, 2011 in Arcades/Arcade GamesOkay, I’ll admit it; yesterday’s post was a little depressing. I wrote it after moving 18 arcade games and coming to the realization that I simply don’t have the space or time to continue this hobby. It’s one thing to say it; it’s another thing to hear it from your aching back. What I neglected to share with you all were all the good times I had with my arcade. Here are a few of those. When we bought the house in 2002, what became known as “the arcade” was simply a shed. The previous home owner did woodworking as… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on December 19th, 2011 in Arcades/Arcade GamesThis really shouldn’t feel like an eviction, but for some reason it does. Last Monday I spent from dawn ’til dusk clearing out the last items remaining of our old home: the arcade. For those of you who haven’t seen it before, in better days it looked like this: The “arcade” is really a shed that was already on the property when we purchased it. The actual number of machines inside fluctuated over time, but for most of 2011 it was home to 25 machines. I had another 3 in the garage that never made it out to the arcade… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on December 16th, 2011 in MainAs of Wednesday afternoon, we are no longer members of the “dual home owners club.” Our old house has officially been sold. Closing was yesterday. All went “well”. Moving all of our things, particularly my arcade games, has been an arduous process that I will write about sometime soon. As for the other parts … suffice it to say that I don’t love the house-selling process, and Susan and I had several nights where we didn’t sleep much. Both the mental and physical stress has taken a toll on us both. Last night, for the first time in a couple… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on December 15th, 2011 in MainTuesday after work we found a package waiting for us on the front porch of our new house. The box was festively decorated with red and white stripes and had been shipped from Goodies for Goodman. The package was addressed to the former owners of our house. Underneath the address label written (in bold) was the phrase PERISHABLE: OPEN IMMEDIATELY. The box wouldn’t fit in our refrigerator, so we put it on the kitchen table. The clock was ticking. I’ll be honest — my first instinct was to rip the box open while singing Feliz Navidad at the top of… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on December 10th, 2011 in Arcades/Arcade GamesI’ve had a lot of miserable experiences when it comes to moving arcade games. I’ve dropped machines, I’ve hit drive-thru signs with them … I even almost lost one off the back of my trailer once. Nothing, however, compares to moving a 720 arcade cabinet by yourself. 720 arcade cabinets are essentially a lesson in what not to do when designing an arcade cabinet. It’s tall, and top heavy. It has a 25″ horizontally-mounted monitor in it, precariously balanced on top of a thin pedestal. The pedestal goes into a base that, I think, may contain concrete. None of the… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on December 1st, 2011 in MainI buy most of my computer parts online these days. Radio Shack’s a joke, there’s no Fry’s in Oklahoma, and most of the retail shops I’ve personally visited are overpriced, with parts marked 50%-75% higher than mail order sites (if they even have them in stock). Last week I bought a wireless repeater for the new house. It’s an Amped Wireless SR300 High Power Wireless N Smart Repeater, according to TigerDirect.com. At $89.99 it was higher than most of the other repeaters, but this one has a built-in 5 port 10/100 Mbps switch. I need the repeater for my PlayStation… (read more)
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