So, it was a boondoggle, but now that boondoggle is over. After consulting with the guy last week (and paying him good money for his time), we found what was wrong. I ordered a new board off of eBay (Super Streefighter 2 (the first streetfighter game I’d played)) with the guarantee that it was working so that we could test it out with the monitor. once that was fixed.

Fixing the monitor took about 5 minutes broken up as follows:\ 1 minute finding where to solder again, 2 minutes waiting for the soldering iron to warm up, 1.5 cleaning the soldering iron tip, and about 30 seconds actually applying the solder.

Then to test it out, I turned on the cabinet with the odl game still attached. And ye, it was good!

Turns out the reason we couldn’t get any play out of the old board was because it started up into the test screen instead of going right to the game. No probs, that means I’ve got two working boards for the game now (suicide battery possibilities aside).

So I played a couple rounds of SF2, cleaned up the mess that is an arcade machine taken apart, and return to looking for a house.

Having an arcade machine to play is pretty nifty…unless that arcade machine is at a friend’s house. *shrug* Such is life.

I’ve also got Bust-a-Move coming in the mail, which was probably the first arcade game I’d dropped more than a few dollars on…they had it in the lower union at BSU, and that can plug straight into this cabinet. w00t!

And perhaps Mortal Kombat 2 as well, if that auction goes as planned.

Arcade Machines = Good times.

don’t leave your computer on overnight. Somehow malware will get put on it.

Then said malware will appear like a windows update icon when, in fact, there are no windows updates.

#(*&$#’n windows.

EDIT: On the other hand, there was an update published yesterday. Hmmm.

honestly…I just installed their newest update this morning like the good lil’ robot I am (and the fact that I don’t want my OS screwing up because I don’t follow their fascistic policies)…now? NOW??? THe computer is hanging. It was hanging for a while on the “Loading Personal Settings” screen, now it’s hanging on a blank desktop.

I did a system restore to before the update was installed, still hanging.

This displeases the Froyd©.

just picked up that pcb on ye olde bay of e. Hopefully it’ll work better than the other one, seller said it’s been tested and working.

UPDATE:
well, funk dat. Turns out they tested it today and it wasn’t working so they refunded the cash. More like that they didn’t want to sell it for so cheap…

maybe I’m just cynical.

So the guy came over and helped me figure out what was wrong with the machine. Apparently two things.

The first has to do with the monitor…a little piece is broken off under one of the soldering joints, so I just need to re-solder that with some wire to complete the circuit, and that should work fine.

Secondly, has to do with the game itself. Seems that it is busted right good…no sound, no nothing. I figure I’ll take it apart and see what there is to see. It was pretty loose when it was “secured” inside the machine, so I’m guessing it got banged around a bit and roughed up. That’s probably a lost cause.

Good times, good times.

Caveat emptor.

interesting times. but totally awesome times too…because when it started I moved my car.

Free car wash, baby!

Don’t know if I’ll be home for Chrimmus this year. I just looked at the airline ticket costs and about had a heart attack.

these things neeeever quite work out the way they’re supposed to.

On the way there, I forgot the guys number at home. No problem, thought I, for the address was still in my hands. Turns out he lives in a gated community. So we snuck in behind another car, because the machine at the gate to contact them wouldn’t work.

Once there, we got it loaded up in the Jeep. Let’s just say I completely underestimated the sheer size of this monstrosity. It’s about 1.5 times as deep as the donkey kong machines, and about twice as heavy. It’s ginormous (and if you knew how much I hated using that word, you’d understand how big this thing is).

So it was standing up in the back of the jeep, and with really high winds. It was an interesting drive back to my buddy’s apartment. Once there, we really had no idea how to unload it. Thankfully, there’s a REALLY nice sand dune by his apartment…it’s made by sand blowing off the beach and then down some stairs. We just backed up to that and flopped it down. It went really smoothly.

Then when we pushed it to his apartment, we found it wouldn’t go through the gate. It’s one of the wider arcade machines. We were disappointed for sure. After a few calls, we were able to track down a pick up from another one of my friends, and we loaded it up on there. The house where I have bible study on tuesday nights has a garage that is basically unused, so we traversed over that-a-way, and unloaded.

I tried to plug it in, and lo and behold, it wasn’t working. It worked before we picked it up, we played a game on it. So I’ve got some troubleshooting ahead of me to get it back up and running. The CPU and the speakers turn on, but nothing from the monitor. I’m guessing some wires came loose and just need to sort through and check the connections, or if all else fails to buy a cap kit for a few bucks and spend a couple hours resoldering. That’ll be good times.

Now to find a house to rent.

has been a lot more aggravating and troublesome than pretty much any other week. I’m going to get my dissertation work done tonight and tomorrow afternoon, and then going to just lock myself in my apartment on saturday, close the blinds, turn off the lights, and immerse myself in video games.

I shall be in California for at least another year. Most likely.

got through Walter Burkert’s Greek Religion today…or rather, the parts that specifically deal with my dissertation. I’d read it about a year ago, and knew it was going to be exceedingly useful (even if he has some wacked out ideas about all ritual action and sacrifice operating to calm communal guilt for society…and he’s one of the main proponents of a theory which I find laughable, that of the scapegoat complex first dilineated by Rene Girard)…and I got about 11 pages of notes/quotes for the diss.

Very useful. But I know when I should stop working, and that’s when I can’t type well anymore, my fingers start tripping over themselves. So I halted, and am planning on chilling the rest of the day in my 90 degree apartment.

It was required of me to help this country. The government entered a sacred trust with me, it said “Son, we need you to do this for us. We need your specific help.”

My response, like any good citizen, was to say “Ok, buddy.” Uncle Sam himself beamed at me as I took hold of the means with which to help the country in these dark times. He gave me a check for $300 and told me to stimulate the economy.

So I did. I took that money, and as the state of California and the owners/operators of Ebay took witness, I probably single handedly saved this economy. I bought me another arcade machine. It is a mid-90s case, probably with Street Fighter Alpha in there, set up in JAMMA interface.

But, fellow Americans, you must know that this decision was not undertaken on a whim, or lightly. I thought long and hard about how best to benefit this great country of ours. Ought I to buy flat screen monitors to help me increase my productivity? I say thee nay! For such things come from China. How could I help the industry and economy of our society with such a purchase?

But lo, some may say, by buying an arcade machine, I was still helping China. To that I say only one word: Poppycock. This arcade machine was purchased new some decade and a half ago, when our economy was strong. By buying used, and locally, I am helping an honest American merchant by increasing his purchasing power and while benefitting my growing collection of arcade machines.

By gum, sir, this is how a true American operates!

And I am nothing if not a patriotic son of this great nation.

about SPF policies and websites.

And that if necessary, I can bring up Aesop’s Fables as a aspect of myth for my dissertation.

The two obviously aren’t related, but such is the life of Froyd©!

in the morning. There’s nothing quite like it. Esp. when the coffee maker is over on the counter.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned how enjoyable it is at times to work from home.

annoys me.