What Non-Pinball Projects Are You Working on?

[ralphwiggum]

I haven't done a full pinball refurb in almost two years now, and just realized it is because all of my other projects have consumed all of my time. Pinball collectors are pretty DIY type of people, so what DIY has been taking up your time?

Over the last 12 months, I have-
Built a new shed (Gave old 16x16 shed to neighbor, as seen in pic)-

Removed some of my Gameroom and built a Master bedroom with walk-in closet-

And I just finished restoring a Hot Tub-

Next up on the project list is the restoration of Three Volkswagens, Restoration/Repair of a Bayliner Boat, Building a full enclosure for the Hot Tub, and then finally, maybe a pinball project or two.......

So, what non-pinball projects are keeping you busy?

[KingPin Games]

.... enough said.

[ralphwiggum]

.... enough said.

??????

[KingPin Games]

sorry, the picture didn't attach.

[ralphwiggum]

sorry, the picture didn't attach.

Yeah, those two projects are super time consuming, but super fun.... when do you start your 3rd project?

[KingPin Games]

no more of those projects. two is enough for me.

[Methos]

I've been working on a man,
with blond hair and a tan....

[ralphwiggum]

I've been working on a man,
with blond hair and a tan....

Nice... so you have been prepping Ian for RHPS..... LOL

[Methos]

I've been working on a man,
with blond hair and a tan....

Nice... so you have been prepping Ian for RHPS..... LOL

He's got a no nonsense attitude, so not sure RH is something he would "get".

On a serious note, I've been working on my musical career these past several months, so pinball projects have virtually stopped. It's funny how little time is available after a while.

[Chris K]

I don't think that's a "shed", in the way the USS Iowa isn't a "boat".

We bought a new house, and moving in and tweaking stuff has been keeping us both busy. It's largely "done", except the basement is unfinished, and will be until Spring. I'll probably just hire someone to do that for me, cause I have to move the pinball out to finish the basement, and if I did it, it would take a few months.

In the mean time we're getting rid of a ton of crap we only kept at the old house because we had more space than we needed, and I'm screwing around with smart home stuff and setting up a little home theater and gaming room. Heavy doses of gaming and beer are my only real impediment, as usual.

[DeaconBlooze]

I've got pretty much the same projects going as both Chris's. It's a real challenge getting to 8pm in our house with any real motivation left. When I do, I've been working on getting things organized at the new house, and tinkering with game room and theater stuff.

One of the more frustrating things that happened to me recently - I had a hotkey profile on my HTPC for my universal remote. Nothing too sophisticated, but it eliminated the need for a keyboard to launch and navigate most of the programs we use. Somehow that profile just vanished. It's not a ton of work, but it will take me a couple of hours to get it back to how it was.

When frustrations like that hit, I tend to take a nap.

[ralphwiggum]

Funny how this kid thing is a time/energy consuming recurring theme. Who would have thought they could be so much work? I thought you were just supposed to put them in front of the tv and let them fend for themselves....

[Methos]

It amazes me how for the first 25 years of my life, saturday afternoons seemed to go on forever and there was never enough things to go in a single weekend...


all changed.

[Chris K]

I remember thinking my friends with kids were just BS'ing when they said they were super busy. I mean, I was the same as them, I just didn't have to pick up a kid from school, feed them, put them to bed, and then resume my awesome fun-filled life. What were they actually DOING?

What I didn't realize was like Dave alluded to: that after they're in bed, I don't WANT to do anything that consumes energy. Having 0-2 hours of energy per night a big change from 4+ per night!

On the other hand, last night I didn't play many video games, but I DID get to teach my 2nd grader some simple algebra. It's probably alright that Diablo lived to fight another day, but my daughter realizes she's a couple years ahead of her dad in math skills for her age.

[DeaconBlooze]

One of the big challenges for us is travel. Our families are both in Green Bay. That's close enough that it's hard to say no to things, but far enough that it means writing off a whole weekend.

It's a good problem to have, but it does make projects difficult to tackle.

When I do get the garage cleaned out, I plan to recreate the golf sim area I had in the old place. I go back and forth between making it more permanent (studding up a part of a wall) and making it more flexible (allow the flooring to lift, and the curtain sides to pull in).

I'm very jealous of the lack of building restrictions some folks have. That was one of the things that I had on my list when house searching that just didn't get filled.