New cabinet - Ms. Pac-Man

Those that know me, know I once had a good collection of arcade cabinets.  Some homebuilt, some restored. All were multi-cades.  Some took me weeks to do.  I had to program, troubleshoot, map out the wiring.  Now we have Arcade1up.  It was not terribly expensive and what took me days in the past to build, now a few hours at most.

My very first Mutli-cade was a Ms. Pac-Man, in fact.  You can follow my progress of my very first cabinet in December 2000 [ http://mrgibson.com/Arcade/arcade1.html ]  Nearly 20 years ago! Wow times flies! I remember putting three of the games on the cabinet, although I had more; I know the build included Mr Pac-man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders.

This 40th Anniversary cabinet has 10 including some favorites I had never had before like Dig Dug, Galaxian, and Galaga.  Don't tell my wife, but this has given me the itch to have at least one more cabinet in the house.

As far as the the electronics of this cabinet, their are really only two pieces.  The monitor has the power supply attached on the back of it.  The game controls has the circuit board built into the panel.  And you just plug the two together.

Although you can tell the monitor is not a CRT, it looks pretty good for an LCD and the horizontal layout is great.

I love the special 40th Anniversary Edition cabinet graphics.

The artwork on the cabinet is spot on for a Ms. Pac-man.  Very happy with it. The pink t-molding is a great touch also!

It has what feels like real Happ Arcade Controls

The menu system works pretty well. My only minor complaint is that you must hold the player 1 button for 5 seconds to return to the main menu.  I would have preferred something different.

The ROMs included act just like the original.  No complaints there.

On Screen Game Selection Menu has the following:

Ms. Pac-Man,  Galaga,  Galaxian, Dig Dug, Mappy, Rally-X, Rolling Thunder, 

Rompers, The Tower of Druaga, King and Balloon

Over all, Arcade1UP made a cabinet that looks like it belongs in a game room.

The Product Dimensions with out the base (I have the base) : 48.5"H x 20.88"W x 22.81"D

With the base it is a little over 58" tall.

Even though this is not a "real" arcade cabinet, I'm pleased with what we got.  The small form factor actually makes it more practical too.  I do wish it had a lit up marque.  That detail feels more important of a detail than have a coin door on the front.  I did notice there was a power out for a marque on the power supply.

 

Illinois Coaches and Managers

 Cubs Extend Contract of Manager David Ross

The Cubs have agreed to terms with manager David Ross on a contract extension through the 2024 season with a club option for 2025.

Ross, 44, is in his third season at the helm of the Cubs having guided the club to a 34-26 record and the NL Central Division title in the abbreviated 60-game 2020 regular season followed by a 71-91 mark in 2021, a campaign in which the team utilized a single-season MLB record 69 players. In 2020, Ross finished third in NL Manager of the Year voting after he became just the seventh manager to lead the Cubs to a division crown in his first season at the helm of the team.

Ross was named the 55th manager in Cubs history on October 24, 2019, after a 15-year major league playing career in which he won World Series titles with the Red Sox in 2013 and the Cubs in 2016. He is the 24th person to both play for and manage the Cubs. He joins Frank Chance, Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers as the only players to win a World Series as a Cub and later manage the team.

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2022 CornBelters Coaching Staff Named

The Normal CornBelters are excited to announce Andy Turner as the Field Manager and Chris Hawkins as the Assistant Field Manager and Bench Coach for the 2022 season.

Vehicle New Announcements

Vehicle New Announcements today 3/11/2022 

- Subaru will not make a 2022 WRX STI.  They will wait until the can make the STI on a electric platform.

- Multiple sources have stated that Bridgestone Tires have continued to do business in Russia.  One of only a few companies what will not pull business out of Russia due to Ukraine. 

- The other electric car companies are watching Rivian struggle to, yet manage to, increase production and profitable.

-  Hyundai tells their dealers: 'We can meet the demand'. The Hyundai National Dealer Council, Chairman Kevin Reilly, says dealers have been fighting through the chip shortage by selling into the product pipeline

workout logs Mar 6th & 7th 2022

Sunday 3/6/2022

Walked dog
Right Arm 20 curls with 10lbs
Left Arm 20 Curls with 10lbs
Right Arm 10 front lifts with 10lbs (+3r)
Left Arm 5 front lifts with 10lbs (-2r joint issue)
right Arm 20 under lifts with 10lbs (+5r)
Left Arm 20 under lifts with 10lbs (+5r)

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Monday 3/7/2022

Walked dog
treadmill 16min at 3mph
Right Arm 21 curls with 10lbs (+1r)
Left Arm 21 Curls with 10lbs (+1r)
right Arm 21 under lifts with 10lbs (+1r)
Left Arm 21 under lifts with 10lbs (+1r)

Little bit of Automotive news. Ford Model E and Hyundai in Russia

Ford unveils a new business model called "Ford Model E". Experts are claiming this is Ford's way of saying they are DONE with Car Dealers in the future! Yes, Ford will be selling electronic direct to consumers. This is the start of the new future. Ford boasts a better customer experience. Of course the main drive of this is that Ford is trying to compete with Rivian and Tesla who have direct sells.

Hyundai shut down their plant March 1st. Hyundai claims not in protest of Russia. Despite the rest of the automotive industry fleeing Russia, Hyundai is opening their plant again in Russia on March 9th. I'm curious how consumers will react to this. What is being manufactured in Russia? 

- Hyundai Solaris (2011–present) 

- Kia Rio (2011–present) 

- Hyundai Creta (2016–present)

Update: There has been an official press release that Hyundai Motor says they are unsure when Russian plant operations will resume.

Santa Cruz - First Mod - Tailgate letters

I received the tailgate letters in the mail late Friday afternoon and this Saturday is warm, so I'm going to apply today. Installation is straight forward.

The letters are raised and have reflective properties in the soft material.

The first step is to clean a prep the tailgate

First I cleaned with water.

Then I cleaned again with alcohol wipes that were mailed with the tailgate letters.

One at a time, I applied the letters to the tailgate.

What the letters look when applied.

Sub note: I ordered a new license plate holder that matches the tailgate letters.

sub sub note: Took the day off of workouts given I had to work Saturday night and my son was visiting.

 

Day 3 : getting Fit

Walked the German Sheppard

Right Arm 20 curls with 10lbs

Left Arm 20 Curls with 10lbs

Right Arm 7 front lifts with 10lbs

Left Arm 7 front lifts with 10lbs

right Arm 15 under lifts with 10lbs

Left Arm 15 under lifts with 10lbs

two days of workouts

I am literally the heaviest I have ever weighed. Nearly 245 pounds. (I just weighed tonight at 10:20 - I weigh exactly 245) I'm pretty sure that is beyond the line that is considered obese. So I promised my wife and my doctor to do something about it. Two days of workouts and I have decided that I need to log this somewhere to keep my progress honest and public.

This will consist of cardio and weights.  I'm not trying to become buff.  I just trying to get somewhere near healthy.

I will need to do some research also on how to properly log the workouts.  Lets see how far I can go with this.