Day one of NWPAS 2017

I woke up at 6AM, ready for the day, and completely awake. Well ok, adrenaline made me awake, but I knew it would drop me soon enough. I showered, shaved, and ate a quick breakfast because I knew the day would need me soon. Also, traffic would be terrible, so I should head out expecting to be waiting longer. I wanted to play the games a bit, and enjoy myself. This would be my chance, if I could just arrive a bit early.

I needed to find the warehouse first. The fun zone needed some pinball legs, and stands so the smaller kids could play the tall games. I loved the stands, because we used them to prop up pinball tables when putting on, or taking off legs. Also, it meant seeing a 3 year old carry around a stand like it was a teddy bear.

The address was already in my phone, so I just punched it in, and told it where I was headed. Google Maps allows me to download an entire area for offline use, which is really cool when you have bad reception like I do. The directions were a bit different from my usual way out, but I followed them the best I could.

After a few turns, I went down a long road, over a bridge, and passed a McDonalds. That doesn’t mean much to you, but for me it was a revelation. When I had started working with the show, I would go to their meetings. At my second ever meeting I needed a ride. My buddy Chris promised to give me one, and let me have a chance to check out some jobs. Sadly, I only sort of remembered the directions, and got us very lost. The bridge I thought we were supposed to cross was the wrong one, so I checked a McDonalds for better directions, and discovered we were off. I had just passed that same place for the first time after.

It made me realize why Chris was so pissed at me. We were way off. He had lived in the town and knew the area pretty well. I thought I had been taking him on an adventure, and he thought he was showing me this town he lived in. Far worse, all of the jobs and reasons I wanted to move to Seattle and gone under without warning me. So I made this long trip for nothing. The arcade show turned out to be great, but Chris was pissed that he was helping me out, and I did all this stuff without proper planning. Especially since he was from the area. Having now been in the area, and worked in it several times, I understood his point of view. At that earlier time, I considered the land of Bremerton like some foreign place with dragons and stuff. My plans looked weak to him. Chris, I’m sorry.

Right after the McDonalds was a turn, and then a couple weird turns. I found the warehouse, and was ready to be bothered by the neighbors. I had been staying in a fairly middle class area, and was surprised to see how redneck this area was. Still, it worked, and the people seemed nice. I saw a burger place I knew had to be popular back in the day.

Inside the warehouse was nothing but arcade games, and equipment to fix them. I took a few pics, but didn’t stay for very long. What I needed was right there, and I wanted to play those games. I made sure things were set back in order, grabbed my stuff, and left.

It was kind of amazing though. This was the second arcade warehouse I had been in. And I caught myself oggling this game or that. Someone else’s arcade collection always has something cool.

After the warehouse I tried to drive out, but kept find dead ends. A sign would say dead end, and then another, and then another. I could see the highway at some points, and beautiful flowers, but I didn’t feel like taking pictures or staying put. Also, the cars were parked in the most awkward spots, making turns or backing up even more awkward. Several turns later, I found a way back onto the highway, and rushed out.

As I drove from Bremerton to Silverdale, some lady passed me going 80 MPH. I sped up at first to let her keep at flow, but after a while I got annoyed and just let her pass. We were headed straight for a 35 MPH zone, so speeding at this point made no sense. She kept with the curves of the road and did some great handling, and then was out of my sight.

I enjoyed the driving as best I could. The way to Tacoma was open enough to enjoy it. I listened to music, and wondered what song would play when I got to the toll booth. Would it be a fun song, or one that made me look weird? It was toll booth music roulette.

I ended up putting my music on pause. It would be the bigger gamble about the traffic coming up. As I drove out, I saw the traffic, but expected it to be less than it was. I lost that bet. While watching traffic slowly move forward, I saw SIN waves moving at diminishing level. Seriously, I wanted to write the equation right there. The traffic was so bad, the only way to move forward was to break laws, and everyone seemed to be making lines for that. An hour or so later, I was finally back at the convention center with a little time to spare. We quickly got things working and ready before the show started, and I had some time to enjoy games as fast as I could.

Then I looked around a bit, and realized there was way more games than expected. It turned out games had come in that morning, and some were expected to arrive before the show started. Traffic had stopped the trucks completely, so the drivers gave up. We were going to be doing last minute set ups quickly, possibly even as guests came in to play.

Out of nowehere, I realized writing like this takes months, and leaves the reader wondering what happened to me. No really, its November at this writing, and I haven’t even written about PRGE because I am so caught up with this story. So, its going to be shorter notes.

I played a lot of games, and found a Famicom for $50, but felt it best not to buy. I really wanted to though. I also spied a Mystic Ninja from Japan, and really wanted to play that.

I discovered the zoo game had a weird bug, if you made it turn into a wall, it was just stuck there. I had to restart the game to enjoy it. Even funnier, it kept saying Happy Jew, instead of Zoo. Every five minutes it made sure to tell me this.

Ben showed up, and talked about cars, the open source network for cars, and all that. It seems the new Tesla would be 1000 Horse Power, and beat all sorts of records. Not only that, all sorts of cars are open source now, so a person could design and build their own car using 3D printers and laser cutters. That is really cool.

They handed me my lanyard for the show, and it said I was an anthropologist. The night before, I requested that be on there, but then couldn’t remember if I wrote it correctly. Everyone told me to talk so someone with a degree in it. I was the only one, and I was too tired and nervous to remember. By luck, I got it right, and when I posted the picture my old Anthropology professor liked it on facebook. It was a really cool moment for me, a moment of me realizing I really was someone who did anthropology. I wasn’t faking it!

I saw Tennis for Two, and was pretty amazed by the set up. It’s a replica using modern chips. Instead of a room sized computer, it was the size of my fist.

There was a game with a touch pad for the pinball. The ball would brush across it and stuff would change. A cool idea.

Lunch was a burger and I was number 314. It was not enough to fill me though.

Eventually the heat from the sun, made where I was sitting a sleepy little corner. Ben brought me a Dr. Pepper to help out. It had Wonder Woman on it.

The woman in charge of machines had a bad headache. She was in another room, sleeping. It was so bad, even her husband was scared to wake her up. When she did wake up, she wore ear plugs, and shades. It was all she could do to survive this event. I really wished I could help her.

While walking the hall to clear my mind, the vendors talked to me. I guess they all remembered me. They even gave me a card to hang out at their shop.

While trying to figure out how to get home using the new route, Ben showed up. We chatted, and I mostly zoned out trying to find where I was going and talking to him was too much.

Very small kids played the dolphin game for the ride, while their older siblings and parents would play it. There were some really cute moments, as kids played, or tried to as the younger brother or sister didn’t care.

Ben talked about super cooled magnetic cars, pingpong balls being sent out by a vaccum, and other cool stuff. Eventually I admitted I was dropping. He laughed, and apparently had been making bets with himself on how long I would last.

The drive home was the new route, but I didn’t know if it was right. I guessed, and found an exit I needed. A while later, I walked into the house, and was not greeted by any dogs. It was past midnight, so that makes sense. After writing some notes, I fell asleep.