Holiday Dress Up

Unavoidable Disney Reference

I didn't think we'd have a white Christmas this year, but we got about an inch of snow last night.

You know what that means...

I'm Over the Moon

Somewhere in our house I have a "can safe" that's similar to this.

I found mine at Goodwill, and I bought it because it reminded me of the stickers my dad put around his beer can so he could drink in public.

Anytime I take my change to the bank, receive money as a gift, or I earn a little extra cash by flipping a bicycle or making a spoon ring, I put the cash in my can safe. I've been doing that for about eight years, but I can't tell you why. I suppose I was saving up for something, but I didn't know for what. Until last weekend, that is. 

I have the Iowa Pinball website bookmarked, and every few months I window shop. I've dreamed of owning my own pinball machine since I was in kindergarten, but this game from 1979 was as close as a kid could get.

It's not very fun, despite what this commercial wants you to believe.

I picked up this X-Box collection a few years ago, and it is fun. You'd be surprised how well pinball translates to video. There are seven pinball machines to pick from, and they range in years from the 50s to the 90s. I like 1973's "Big Shot". It's simple, but addictive.

Over the years I've also collected vintage books about vintage pinball machines, but X-Box and these books are all I thought I'd ever own.

But this month the Iowa Pinball site has a sale going on, and that caught my attention.

They had 14 pinball machines for sale, and one of them looked like this (photo taken from the Internet Pinball Machine Database).

This is a Mars Trek machine that was produced in Spain and exported to the US in 1977. Sonic (Segasa) manufactured it, and they're well known for making playing fields that are beautiful and tough as nails. On the internet, Mars Trek enjoys a solid reputation as a tough game that's fun to play, and although it was overlooked in the 70's, the machine is slowly becoming more desirable in the collector's market. In 2012, Mars Trek was one of the pinball machines used in the Pinburg Match & Play Championships (Pinburg is the largest pinball tourney in the world).

I didn't know any of this before last week. I just looked at the pictures of that pinball machine and thought, Dang. That thing looks soo cool. And when I looked at the price I thought, Dang. I can afford that! I have more than that in my can! I had to think that, because you shouldn't say, "I have more than that in my can!" out loud.

When I showed Daphne the pictures (and the price), she was very supportive. Daphne also loves pinball. I contacted David Gray at Iowa Pinball to set up a time to see the machine, and on Monday the three of us drove over to Mr. Gray's place to give it a whirl. 

David has his side business in the basement of his country home, and the "nice" machines are in the display room. He keeps the lower entry machines in the repair shop, and that's where the Mars Trek was.

It's at this point my eyes glazed over, and all I could think was, Oh man, I want that. I gave the Mars Trek a spin, Daphne played a ball, and David flipped over a milk crate for Char to stand on while she tried it, too. Char pounded the flippers, and when she hit her first target a light clicked on and Char's eyes lit up. The best part was that Daphne admitted that she didn't have much for me in terms of Xmas gifts, so she suggested that we each pay half and give the pinball machine to ourselves for Christmas! 

Done deal. 

It was delivered to our basement on Tuesday.

Somebody else is also excited!

That Spanish back glass artwork is trippy-cool.

And it looks pretty neat when it's lit up.

Char's Princess tent was moved out of the way, and Mars Trek claimed a spot in the corner. 

I took down the Iowa State Fair and Blank Park Zoo Prints, and I moved some of Char's glow-in-the-dark stars into the shape of a meteor shower (only because I didn't know where to put 24 plastic, sticky stars). The stars are kinda tacky, so I'll probably take them down soon. Probably.

The Pac-Man back glass was found at a flea market about five years ago, and I thought the Star Wars and other Galactic Funk album fit the Mars Trek theme. The picture of me on a Big Wheel is a testament to how long I've been dreaming of this day.

The original Goonies movie poster doesn't really match a space theme, but it's still pretty cool.

For about $600 (delivered), you don't get a perfect, 37-year-old pinball machine. There's some work to do, and nothing makes me happier. Last night I successfully replaced some bulbs and started waxing the play field. When I showed Daphne she remarked, "This is the perfect project for you. It's too cold to work on your Bug, and this will keep you out of trouble."

She's right; I haven't watched TV in a week. 

Mary (and Joseph) Had a Little Lamb

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd type: Sheep costumes are adorable.

But it's true:

This year's Christmas Pageant at church was a great time. Char didn't have any speaking lines. All she had to do was stand in the right spot and sing whenever possible. She was pretty excited to get to her "mark".

Since none of the other kids sang, Char didn't either (typical sheep), but she was doing her moves.

Char belted it out "Go Tell it on the Mountain". It's her favorite song.

After the play it was time to run to mom, 

 tell her all about her "performance",

get a hug,

and go out to eat. Char picked Hy-Vee, and here's the picture she took while we were celebrating. 

What a nice morning.

I Don't Know How the Christmas Program Will Go This Year...

...but Charlotte knows her lines.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

"I been in the right place
But it must have been the wrong song."
- Dr. John

Tonight was Char's first public performance as a ballet dancer. Char's dance academy secured the open space in the mall that's in front of a Sears store. Yup, nothing spells culture like leaf blowers, ballet dancing, and Craftsman tools.

Daphne and I went into the mall with low expectations. And I mean low. Like, if Char just stood there the whole time without running away we'd call that a win. Char was excited, so things were looking up for her Christmas dance to "Jingle Bell Rock".

The place was packed, and after I took a team photo Daphne left to see if she could fight her way through the crowd.

I stayed in the back in case Charlotte fled the scene, but she didn't. She stood in her place with the rest of her team. She stepped out onto the floor, and when the music started she did her best to follow the instructor.

Now here's the rub. Char's regular teacher is a senior at my high school, but he wasn't there. Instead, another high school student was the substitute. And she was in a leg cast. And then someone played the wrong song. And then the substitute danced/ hobbled her way through the wrong routine for the girls to follow. Those poor kids didn't have a chance.

Char's the second dancer from the right. Check it out.

You can hear me laughing at the 44-second mark. I feel a tiny bit bad about that, but the whole thing was ridiculous. But what's so impressive is that those girls are trying. They're in front a huge group of people, dancing moves they've never done to a song they do not know. And they're smiling, and they're having fun.

That's so cool.

Char ran over to me when the music was over and exclaimed, "I LOVE to dance!" When Mom joined us Char did a little move and jumped into Daph's arms.

Char has no idea the dance didn't go as planned, and we have no intention of telling her. It was a positive experience for her, and that's all that matters.

Before Char was even born Daphne and I made ourselves a promise. If our child was to participate in an activity, when it was over we'd ask three questions.
1) Did you have fun?
2) Did you do your best?
3) Where should we go to eat?

The idea is that we'd celebrate best efforts regardless of the outcome, and... we love to eat.

So we went to Taco John's.

Then we went to get some frozen yogurt.

I love ballet. link

Daphne's Favorite Turkey (No, it's Not Me)

We had our first Thanksgiving in St. Louis last week. Daphne's dad lives on the outskirts of St. Charles, and his house is situated along the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Daphne cringes when I say, "the mighty Mississippi", so I typed that twice for her. The snowy roads and a quick visit with Great Grandma Ruth made a six-hour drive a nine-hour trip, but we made it in one piece.

On Thanksgiving morning we jumped in Andy’s (my father-in-law) vehicle and drove about a block to a neighbor’s machine shop. He has every tool a guy could possibly want, and that includes a turkey fryer. Frying a turkey for Thanksgiving isn’t anything new, but I hadn’t watched one prepared like that. 

Check it out, he lowers the bird in with a chain hoist. Genius.

Andy’s neighbor has got it down to a science, and there wasn’t much for us to do except watch the TVs mounted on the walls, listen to the oil sizzle, and covet the racks of equipment. He uses Bob and Tom’s Original Fried Turkey recipe, but thinks 4 minutes per pound is too long. He set his timer for 3 1/2 minutes per pound, and our first turkey was done in 47 minutes. That is fast.

Once you get it home and in the kitchen, no one would ever know you made this in the garage. 

Honestly, Daph isn't a fan of whole bird turkey, but she loved this, and this is the first year she has actually been excited about Thanksgiving leftovers. We trucked a large, take-home box back to our place.

While we were busy watching our birds fry, Char was "working" on the computer with the hat she stole from her mom.

After dinner Char hung out with her grandparents.

I've got this thing for wearing offbeat, thrift store t-shirts on holidays. Here's this year's selection.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

recipe link

Bug Update: Tooting Your Own Horn (Don't)

Two years ago I wrote a post about working on my Bug's horn, and I ending the post with, "...so excuse me while I brag a little."

You know what? The horn consistently worked for a few more days, but it's been nothing but trouble after that. Occasionally the horn sounds when I press the horn button, but often not. Sometimes it will work in the morning, but it's silent in the afternoon. The horn won't beep at 50 mph, but it will beep at 30 mph. I've cleaned the contacts on the steering shaft with sandpaper, scrubbed the wire connections with steel wool, and I smeared dielectric grease on both ends. I still get the same results. It doesn't make sense. But I think I know why the horn is such a pain. 

I bragged about how well it worked. 

Charlotte, the Greeks called this "hubris", and the word means excessive pride or self-confidence. I call it "bragging".

There's a fine line between bragging and humor. When the three of us are shopping at Target and Daphne says, "Char and I are going to go look at dresses. Where will you be?" If I reply, "I'll be in the Beauty section... where I belong," that's humor. When the three of us are shopping at Pet Smart, and I tell someone we have the prettiest dog you've ever seen (she isn't), then that's bragging. It doesn't matter if we think our dog is pretty; it's an ugly comment to make.

But bragging isn't just ugly; it causes you trouble. The world has a way of dealing with you when you brag about yourself. It might not happen right away, but you can bet trouble's coming your way. 

However, I can't fix my horn by simply admitting that I was wrong to brag. The world doesn't work like that. I still have to fix my horn problem, and I think I did. 

While researching the hard start relay on my Bug, I discovered that people have used relays to get their horns to work. The idea is that the relay can boost what little electricity is getting to the horn. I was curious if I could make my horn more reliable, so I bought a 6-volt relay from Amazon.

link

The most helpful wiring schematic I found was created by Samba member, Glutamodo. link 2

Even the most basic schematic can confuse me, so here's my version.

I mounted the relay right behind the horn, and I tried to keep the wiring as neat as possible.

We have an old tube of clear silicone sealant in the garage, and I used that to help weatherproof the connections. 

For now, my horn is much louder and its pitch is higher, but I have no idea if it's more reliable. Time will tell. But I have to believe that a louder horn adds some safety value.

And on that note, here comes the ironic ending: