Just a general update on things, since I've not posted much lately. I'm currently working at Ashland University in the ACCESS Programme (aka Center for English Studies) teaching English as a Foreign Language (ESL) - same thing I did when I lived in Japan, but with international college-age students instead of Japanese(-only) high school students. I'm an adjunct, so it's just part-time, but it's pretty good so far.

I also finally caved in and picked up World of Warcraft. I successfully avoided it for over a year and a half, but between a free demo and a Best Buy sale (which I price matched at Circuit City to score it for $18), I couldn't resist. I'm playing both Alliance (Draka realm) and Horde (Sentinels realm), and I've managed to get my wife hooked also. Now we just need a second computer...

My Beatmania machine is totally up and running. Turned out to be a bad board - bought a replacement and a different mix kit and got it up and running. It also turns out that the US board has some kind of difference when compared to a JP board, so my US CompleteMIX 2 doesn't work on my new JP board. I was able to get a CompleteMIX (original) and a 5thMIX, so between the two I've pretty much got the same thing as CompleteMIX 2, albeit with some internal swapping. About the only thing the machine needs now is a couple of button lights and a marquee that matches the mix that is in it.

So, it appears that a few people stumbled across my oft-ignored blog - welcome, and thanks for the comments. It also appears that I have attracted some spambots - I just deleted over 1000 comments. Should they come back I might have to do something about changing the no-login commenting.

To sum up some of the questions that were asked of me, yes, I'm fine, no, as of about March I don't work for Temple Games any longer (and do not wish to go into the reasons in public), and yes, the Beatmania machine is up and running :)

I'll try and do better about updating, but with life as busy as it can be, I won't guarantee anything. Regardless, thanks for reading!

Yesterday and today have seen two updates to my Beatmania machine restoration. Day 2, Part 1a - The machine shows the new machine after unloading it and getting it upright. Day 2, Part 1b - The monitor shows the non-working monitor, mainly for diagnostic purposes. Finally, Day 2, Part 2 - Control panel cleaning shows the wonder of soap, water, and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers on a horribly dirty arcade control panel. This might not have been the most interesting day, but it all needed to be done.

Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Regardless, it was something that needed to be done. Upon getting home we found that two buttons stuck 100% of the time, and a few others stuck quite often. Upon disassembling the control panels we found that the buttons were hideously dirty. Luckily we've not included the shots of the dirty buttons, but instead how to disassemble and clean the buttons for anyone with their own machine. See the Day 1, Part 2 gallery for all the pics.

The control panel of my new Beatmania machine needed a lot of attention, given its 8 years of grime. I document the disassembly process in my Day 1, Part 1 gallery.

This weekend Megan and I went to Detroit for our anniversary. We stayed at a 4-star hotel, went to the zoo and for sushi, stopped at a few arcades, and had a really great time. And then afterwards, we swung by Milwaukee and picked up a toy that I had won on eBay on Sunday... To be more specific, a 750 pound toy that barely fit on the Grand Caravan with all the seats taken out.

Read on for the full story...

Ever have one of those days where you are busy (or should be busy) but you don't feel like doing anything? I've been having a week like that. Granted, having the flu sure doesn't help, nor does the total exhaustion that was the New York Toy Fair (which was during the blizzard that dumped almost 30 inches on NYC). Of course, during that week I put in quite a few extra hours, so taking a little bit to get back up to speed is ok.

Regardless, I'm glad that it's Friday.

This weekend ended up being pretty decent. Friday was my birthday - I was able to take most of the day off work (thanks to extra hours worked earlier in the week) and we had a nice dinner of curry rice. Ended up getting many of the various games that have been clearanced out at a number of stores:

- Mr. Driller Drill Spirits (DS)
- Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA)
- WarioWare: Mega Microgame$ (GBA)
- F-Zero GP Legend (GBA)
- WarioWare: Mega Partygame$ (NGC)

A trip to Mansfield also yielded the following:

- Gungrave: Overdose (PS2)
- Jak II (PS2) - non-GH version
- Rise of the Kasai (PS2)
- F-Zero GX (GC)

Also got a copy of the board game expansion Runebound: The Island of Dread, along with the micro-expansions Crown of the Elder Kings and Scepter of Kyros. Played Scepter of Kyros and rather enjoyed it. I just wish that I had more people around that enjoyed board games.

Also ended up getting some money, which works out well given my new relapse into BEMANI addiction.

Saturday was fairly low-key, as was Sunday. Went out with Megan, my father-in-law, and his wife for both my birthday and Megan's birthday. Red Lobster - 'twas good.

Today just brings more fiddling with company websites. Such fun.

Thanks to everyone who is seeing this thanks to me mentioning it in my LiveJournal. Hopefully everything works fine - I've had some issues with comments, but I think it's alll straightened out. You also shouldn't need to log in or register or anything ever (something I've had to fight the script regarding). Obviously, if you see something that isn't working, just contact me through the normal methods. Thanks!