Send Help! (A Moving Tale)

[XWL]

I commiserate with Ken regarding moving, both as a person who has moved, and as a person who has helped people move.

It seems like one of the few activities where friendship or kinship coupled with ownership of a truck or van suddenly obligates a person to engage in taxing physical labor for the price of fast food and maybe a beer (for the non-teetotalers amongst us, anyway).

Also, I want snapshots of the mass of boxes, arrayed similarly to the final shot of the good Indy picture (call me selfish, if you will)

As far as my 'moving tale' (and yes, I'm starting this thread expecting other moving tales), it's not exactly a moving tale in the having to move a whole house worth of stuff, it's more of a moving tale in the Laurel and Hardy's Piano Movers sense. My friend made the mistake of late-night eBaying, and ended up being high bidder on a Star Trek: Next Generation Williams pinball machine, shipping not included. He works at a rent-a-car place, so he 'borrowed' a truck and we picked up the machine at the seller's place.

Thing is you don't realize how heavy those machines are until you actually are expected to lug them up a flight of stairs. On top of that you don't realize how long they are until you try and negotiate a staircase that has a landing with a bend 3/4ths of the way up. After struggling to get the machine up to the landing, getting it around the landing proved impossible. While in an awkward position with him at the top end of the machine and me holding up the bottom, my friend did some quick disassembly of the back portion of the machine to give us the manuveurability required to get the machine in his living room (why didn't we do that before getting stuck at the top of the stairs? planning is for wimps!).

He enjoyed having that machine, though, for awhile anyway, now it sits buried beneath a pile of junk in a side room (his wife (needless to say he bought the pinball machine, pre-wife) didn't agree that a pinball machine belonged in the living room (even one as good as ST:TNG), and most folks know how that conversation usually goes)

(also, thought I'd toy with a poll, since the Add a Poll buttons call out to me every time I post here)

[TheConfessor]

I voted for the living room because if you're going to make a lifestyle statement, you might as well go all the way.

I own two pinball machines, and most of the time, I wish I didn't. One is in my dining room and the other is in a downstairs junk room that I rarely enter. Moving them would be more traumatic than leaving them where they are, so inertia wins out for now. Neither one works satisfactorily, and if I ever get them working again, I'm sure they would stop working again within months. Same story for my 1970 era jukebox. Most of what I own falls into the category of "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Pinball machines are truly nasty to move, especially if your doorway is about 1 millimeter wider than the machine, as mine is. Is yours a 1-player, a 2-player, or a 4-player machine? I have a 1-player Gottlieb "4-Square," which wasn't too bad to move, but the other one is a 4-player model, and all the extra scoring mechanisms make a huge difference in weight. It was originally called "Rock Makers," but it was totally stripped and repainted by a friend of mine in the 1970's who redesigned it as a one of a kind machine whose new theme paid homage to a certain notorious erotic movie of that decade, and which was photographed and featured in an issue of Playboy. Years later, said friend needed money and his most fungible asset was the custom pinball machine, but he wanted it to go to a good home, and not just to someone who might not respect his artistic creation, so that's how I acquired it. At this point, I'd welcome the chance to give it back to my friend, but unfortunately, he died a couple years ago, so I guess I'm stuck with it.

I could go on about pinball machines, but I really need to start packing for the Game Show Congress. Hope to see many of you in Burbank this weekend.

[JayLewis]

Throw me the whip! Throw me the idol! Throw me the whip! Throw me the idol! Throw me the whip! Throw me the idol!


(probably the wrong movie)

[XWL]

Somehow I suspect that the venn diagram of Ken-Jennings.com readers/trivia enthusiasts and coin-op entertainment device collectors would overlap significantly.

(I love me some set theory)

The ST:TNG is owned by my friend, not me, and it's described as a wide-body 4 player machine (Addams Family is still the best example from that time, in my opinion, though).

If I were to a small coin-op collection, they would go in the garage (which I guess I should have made an option, but most people keep cars in those things).

[ajsnavely]

Oh my God, I hours on end playing the ST:TNG game in the rec center when I was in college. I would love to have that one. That and a monster music themed one. I pumped a lot of quarters into that one too.

[Robert Hutchinson]

As a child, I aspired to own several pinball machines in my future. I'm not even a huge fan of *playing* them, but the mechanics just fascinate me.

Then I found out how much they cost. I didn't love the mechanics *that* much.

[cinemaniax7]

I own two pinball machines, and most of the time, I wish I didn't. One is in my dining room and the other is in a downstairs junk room that I rarely enter. Moving them would be more traumatic than leaving them where they are, so inertia wins out for now. Neither one works satisfactorily, and if I ever get them working again, I'm sure they would stop working again within months. Same story for my 1970 era jukebox. Most of what I own falls into the category of "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

I've always wanted to own a pinball machine, but I confess that I had not seriously considered the question of upkeep. It's not like Bally repairmen are a dime a dozen these days. When the game is well designed and built, pinball is a truly intoxicating pastime. No video game is its equal (yet). But few things are sadder than a non-functioning pinball machine gathering dust in a corner. This is one dream I may just let die. Someday, my wife may build a shrine to you, Confessor.

[suzette41]

Moving sux. No matter if you have a pinball machine or not. I feel bad for Ken. I hope this is the last move he ever has to make. I hope I never have to move again. The last move I made was done without any knowledge or preparation because an elderly parent unexpectedly got extremely ill and could not live alone. It took me months to get everything moved. But now, I am settled, and expect I will never be moving again. I hope Ken expects to never be moving again as well. I hope all of you reading this never have to move again too. Because moving sux.

[Ken Jennings Jr.]

Put it in the "family name" room right next to the Jennings "Sun Chief" slot machine (hang the Jennings crossbow on the wall). I never wanted to buy a pinball machine, but I love those vintage slot machines that go for four figures on eBay. I can't bring myself to do it since filling it with buffalo nickels for authenticity would double the price. But wait! There is a solution. You can have two gauche antiques for the price of one with the Jennings Sportsman Payout Pinball Machine circa 1935. The founder is bound to be one of our relatives as we come from a long line of gamblers, horse theives, and Civi War deserters (both sides).

http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/1bar10der/IMG_1535.JPG

Still gotta have those dang buffalo nickels!

Cheers!

[BryceI]

I spent many an hour (and many a quarter) playing Black Knight 2000, the finest pinball machine that I have ever had the pleasure of playing.

I'm moving in two weeks. All week my wife and I have been in denial, watching "24" on DVD instead of packing.

[irene]

Let me tell you a tale of moving woe (still fresh in my mind as we moved just three months ago):

Take two separate-but-equal households and move them into one. Yep, my boyfriend and I bought a home together, decidedly larger than what either of us owned alone, but still not enough room for it all... Imagine combining two complete homes into one. And, most of our possessions were equally “nice” and "tasteful”.
We had doubles of nearly everything: gardening tools, patio furniture, TV’s, stereo systems, beds, kitchen gadgets, washers, dryers, and so on. We did keep several of the duplicates but how many blenders, futons and bookshelves can one home use? (Especially since the home we bought had built-in bookshelves).
Craig’s List came in handy as far as selling off some of the stuff. But mostly the Goodwill was the lucky recipient of some very high quality goods and furniture.

By the way, we can completely relate to the Raiders of the Last Ark landscape; our home was that way for weeks.

As a previous poster noted "moving sux"

[BryceI]

Put it in the "family name" room right next to the Jennings "Sun Chief" slot machine (hang the Jennings crossbow on the wall).

Can we get a picture of said crossbow?

[NeilFraudstrong]

As a child, I aspired to own several pinball machines in my future. I'm not even a huge fan of *playing* them, but the mechanics just fascinate me.

Then I found out how much they cost. I didn't love the mechanics *that* much.

I was always a huge Skeeball fan and one time I searched on Amazon and they actually sell Skeeball machines for 5000 dollars. If I hit it big on Powerball or something I would consider buying one. I'd be broke in a year

I also loved the little basketball game in the arcade where the backboard moves back and forth.

Also, there's a great company called www.rhinocourts.com that can build custom gym's and stuff at residences. Talk about needing some money. I think having your own personal indoor basketball court would have its advantages, but I think that would be a case of having more money than I had sense for me.

EDIT:

80,000 big ones?! Psh!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GF ... &n=3375251

Only 5199 for the Skeeball.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GF ... &n=3375251