When you share a computer with other folks in the household, there are bound to be complications. In fact, there are times when my wife dispairs of using the computer at all when she has to contend with two teenagers and myself in the waiting line to use the machine. The only way to get past this is to establish some rules. For instance, my need to finish the current week of Working Daze and Gamecreature cartoons trumps my children's need to play a game or chat online with their friends. In fact, I'm the only person allowed on the machine on weekend mornings. And homework (during the school year) trumps a lot of other computer needs. However, I'm not quite so forgiving if they wait until the 11th hour to suddenly remember that they need to use the computer for a project due next Monday. What's the moral of this story? Learn to schedule and stick with it, friends!

Arcade Update - Communicating with the beast (in style!)
The printed art for the control panel came in over the week, so it was time to put it together. The old control panel was sanded down and then my son and I drilled the holes for the 18 switches and joysticks. Then I crossed my fingers as I put the printed overlay on top - and it matched almost perfectly! After that it was smooth sailing, puting in the switches and wiring them to the interface. The only glitch came when I discovered that there was a block of wood in the way of where I installed the player start switches. Oops! A little trimming and the thing looks like it has always been in an arcade. Cool!