RickR

I plan on getting involved in this later this coming week.

I remember one guy I sold an Atari 800 to complained about the packing peanuts I used being "dirty". Ridiculous. I asked for a picture and he showed what looked like a tiny bit of grass clippings on a few peanuts. I was at a loss, and asked how that could possibly impact the 800. He then proceeded to call me incompetent, blah blah blah. "If you don't give me a <$XXX> refund, I'll leave a negative feedback". I thought about it overnight, and decided to give the guy his partial refund so long as he promised not leave that negative feedback. After it was done, I blocked him. He then proceeded to contact me using a different account and this time, he told me "no hard feelings, that 800 is only worth (whatever it was he ended up paying)." I blocked that account too. This was a long time ago, and I just decided to keep selling and doing my best. Haven't had many problems since. Sadly, there are too many human wrecking balls out there that cheat the system to get what they want. Block them, and move on. That's what I do.

For DS, I highly recommend: The "Professor Layton" series - they are brain puzzles set inside a story. Warning: Some of the puzzles are really hard. Use a walk-through if you get stuck. The "Phoenix Wright" series - it's very Japanese "solve the crime" type of game. Very funny and not too difficult. When I'm in Reno this weekend, I have a goal of finishing up the second Phoenix Wright game while relaxing.

A Neo-Geo Mini! I totally stumbled into this one. I had no idea these even existed. And the built in screen is really nice.

Here's one of my favorite ghost stories. By sports writer/vlogger Bill Simmons. http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmonsnfl2010/week17picks&sportCat=nfl I've copy/pasted the sidebar story below: I flew to Oklahoma City on Wednesday to cross "See Durant play a home game" off my bucket list. After the Zombies thrashed the Nets, I joined some friends at Mickey Mantle's (a local restaurant) for a late dinner and a few beers before heading back to my room. I was staying at the Skirvin, a local hotel that's supposedly inhabited by a ghost named Effie. As legend has it, Effie got knocked up by the guy who owned the hotel back in the 1920s, then jumped out of a window with the baby. She's been allegedly haunting the place ever since. When we were checking in, I jokingly asked the clerk to put me on one of the haunted floors. She claimed that she did. We laughed and that was the end of it. That night, I was so tired that the ghost stories never entered my mind. I got ready for bed, called my wife, watched 10 minutes of "SportsCenter" and fell asleep. So you know: I am a heavy sleeper. Once I'm out, I'm out. That's what made it so strange when I woke up at 4:30 with my heart pounding. I swear on Tom Brady's ACLs that the following happened: At first, I heard a baby crying and realized that was why I woke up. I thought it was one of my own kids before remembering that my kids weren't babies anymore, then remembering that I was in Oklahoma City and not Los Angeles. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I wasn't alone. I had an overpowering sensation that someone else was in the room. Until you've experienced that feeling, you can't understand what it's like. Your blood is swishing through your veins at 200 miles an hour, only you don't understand why -- your body reacts a few seconds before your brain does. I decided to turn on the light. Stretching to my right for the switch, out of nowhere, I heard the sound of (what sure as hell sounded like) a baby crying urgently to my far left (right near the window). Wahhhhhhh. Wahhhhhh. Wahhhhhh. Wahhhhhhh. The urgency freaked me out just as much as the crying itself. I fumbled for the switch, couldn't find it, fumbled, fumbled some more, then finally turned the light on. The crying sound stopped. I hopped out of bed and turned on every other light in the room. I turned on the television and jacked up the volume. Then I grabbed my BlackBerry and Googled "Skirvin crying baby." A slew of results came up. See for yourself. I kept the lights on. And the television. And that's how I spent the next three and a half hours -- half-asleep, half-awake and totally spooked. The words "Man Up" did not enter the equation. Not even a little. I came to Oklahoma City for Durant and Westbrook and left telling stories about Effie's baby. Just know that the next time someone tells me a ghost story, I will believe them.

And I love to read about UFO tales as well. There's a very recent one from the navel base in San Diego that I have found to be very compelling. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/filmmaker-discusses-ufo-footage-captured-off-the-san-diego-coast/509-48e29f33-4e18-4a07-846e-9026f00b645d

This is such a coincidence, but I spent a good 30 minutes or more yesterday re-familiarizing myself with the famous Patterson–Gimlin film (the footage of the "bigfoot" in California from the 60's). I guess in the last 20 years there has been some evidence that it was faked. It's fun to read and make up your own mind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson–Gimlin_film

OMG, this is GOLD. I love it. How interesting that the sign is in English, and the music from the USA.

It's been a while since I posted this, and just as an update -- I STILL love it. I recently came across what I thought was an Atari joystick with two buttons and it turns out it's actually for Colecovision. I'll make a blog post about that thing as soon as I get some time.

I'll be honest with you all: If I could retire today, I would. But I have to solve the medical insurance financial dilemma first.

Maybe 20 years...

Oh wow. I certainly didn't know. So if I understand correctly: You need an ATGames Legends Pinball machine The Legends machine has a cart port or something to allow these packs to be used? I really am staring at this with zero knowledge. Is that Legends pinball machine easy to find? THANKS!