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Pintastic 2023 T -3 The People Behind the Scenes

Posted: September 4, 2023 by datechguy in fun, pinball, special events
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Yesterday In my post on the EPM crew it was noted how much the crew make a difference for their ability to safely pack and move dozens of machines from Providence RI to Sturbridge MA. There is a another crew at every Pintastic that is worth a shout out and that’s the crew of volunteers like Lisa:

And the People like David Marsdon one of the founders who keep things going

You will see folks like them working hard to make sure you are able to have a good time. If you attend Pintastic NE 2023 this year, make it a point to say thanks.

Three Quick Burning Electric Car Questions

Posted: September 3, 2023 by datechguy in business
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With the news of Electric cars spontaneously combusting outside of the confines of an internal combustion engine, sometimes repeatedly after being exposed to salt water these questions immediately came to my mind:

  1. Exactly how much salt water does it take to cause this to happen. Do they have to be flooded, soaked briefly or is an angry ex with a bucket of salt water enough to spell fiery doom for an electric battery?
  2. If you are an insurance company what kind of rates are you demanding to cover a car with a history of spontaneous combustion. If you are a bank approached to finance such a loan, what kind of coverage are you demanding to protect your investment?
  3. What is going to happen with communities that went all in on electric school buses. If you are a parent, are you going to feel safe with your kids on such a bus, and how long will it be before we see the first electric school bus go up in flames with a bunch of kids in it? How fast will the virtue signaling city counselors who ordered them run for the hills?

I submit and suggest until there are answers to these questions it might not be a very good idea for the US government to subsidize these vehicles and it is likely an even worse idea for anyone to consider spending tens of thousands of dollars on one them.

Do something more useful with your money, buy a Pinball machine. It’s more likely to appreciate and less likely to go up in flames.

Pintastic NE 2023 T – 4 Mike & Emily of Electromagnetic Pinball Museum of Providence RI 2021 and 2022

Posted: September 3, 2023 by datechguy in fun, special events, short films/interviews, pinball
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One of the reasons that Pintastic is able to exist is the number of games that are available for people to play. A huge chunk of those games come from Gabe D’Annunzio’s private collection (see the extra ball lounge) some come from vendors, and others come from individual collectors who are given a free pass in exchange for allowing people the pleasure of playing their games.

But other than Gabe BY far the biggest batch of games that people enjoy comes from Mike and Emily of the Electromagnetic Pinball Museum of Providence RI who bring a plethora of pinball machines every year from their Providence location to the event and each year the number of machines has increased:

Anyone who has moved one pinball machine understands that it requires effort, picture the amount of effort to bring two dozen or more AND maintain them in the free play room during a four day festival that runs basically 9 am to 2 am.

Last year in our closing interview they made a special note of their team that makes it possible to pack and secure DOZENS of machines (many of them over 40 years old) so they can be safely moved.

The most amazing thing is that after those four days they still have their place in Providence open by 10 am the next day. It’s definitely worth a visit

With this year’s show now in Marlborough it’s a shorter trip and might be a tad easier but if they keep increasing the number of games they bring it will only be tiny tad

The most amazing thing is that after those four days they still have their place in Providence open by 10 am the next day. It’s definitely worth a visit

Some Fast Thoughts Under the Fedora: Virtue Signaling on Fire, Dishonest folk acting dishonest, Disney Death Spiral, The Bottom Line and an odd development.

Posted: September 2, 2023 by datechguy in Uncategorized

Electric car sales might not have caught fire throughout the country but in Florida they’re catching fire for completely different reasons:

Owners were being warned to move their EVs at least fifty feet away from any structure. That’s how serious of a fireball can be created. Authorities said that the fires don’t happen immediately, but tend to break out several days or even up to two weeks later. Apparently, as the salt water dries up it can leave behind a trail of salt that can form a “bridge” between the terminals of the EV’s batteries. And if that causes the electricity to arc across, your battery is burning and you’re off to the races.

Well yeah, so your car can burn down and your house can be burned down but at least you can feel good about yourself when it happens.

I keep getting reminded of John Adams words concerning public business:

Public business must always be done by somebody. It will be done by somebody or other. If wise man decline, others will not; if honest man refuse it, others will not.

That came to mind when I saw this story:

City Health Department workers already making six-figure salaries allegedly ripped off thousands of dollars in gift cards purchased with taxpayer money and meant for HIV-prevention programs.

Three staffers from the agency’s Bureau of hepatitis, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections swiped a total of 131 gift cards worth $4,855, which they blew on pizza, iTunes, and Amazon purchases, according to Queens Criminal Co

That applies to all public business, not just elected office.

Ace reports on another bad sign for Disney:

I noted yesterday that the television app Samba reported that the new Force Is Female Star Wars failure Ahsoka had only garnered a Brian-Stelter-like 1.2 million views over its first few days of release, which is much worse than the previous Disney Star Wars disaster’s ratings. Obi-Wan garnered 2.4 million viewers in its debut, and was, as far as I hear, just a wretched piece of shit top to bottom and back to front.

I hear that Ahsoka is far less aggressively awful, and that’ a problem: You expect your terrible shows to get bad ratings. But if you put out a show that is good — well, let’s not get carried away; I hear Ahsoka is okay and at least has a bigger budget than these other cheapo-beepo Disney Star Wars shows — and that also gets terrible ratings, that means people aren’t deciding not to view based on the quality of a specific show.

Disney’s problem is a lot like Bud Light there are just too many other entertainment options for people to be forced to watch shows made by folks who hate them.

If you want to know why the Biden Admin’s diplomacy isn’t working you can’t do better than this line:

“But the truth is, when we’re engaged with the Chinese, we get an airport. And when we’re engaged with you guys, we get a lecture.”

The world isn’t full of liberal leftists no matter how much the right people want to pretend it is.

Finally something odd that I’ve noticed lately that doesn’t involve any links.

I’ve been driving for the past 40 years or so and I could count the number of times somebody passed me over a double yellow line on the fingers of one hand with digits to spare.

This week alone it has happened three times, this last month it has happened over a half a dozen, over the course of this year almost a full dozen and at least one of those times it was done in full view of a police car that didn’t bother to move.

I can’t account for this change except for the idea that people no longer worry about being pulled over because they know the police aren’t going to bother to take any risk that doesn’t have to be taken.

If you can think of a different reason feel free to let me know.

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