Re: Re: Brr
By: Rob Mccart to MIKE POWELL on Sun Nov 23 2025 08:13:46

One year I found a mouse had built a nest under the hood of my
pickup truck, so I set a trap under the hood, and when I checked
the next day I'd caught a mouse. I figured I should set the trap
again in case there were others, and sure enough the next day
I'd caught another mouse... So, set it again just to be on
the safe side? Long story short, after I caught my 17th mouse
I decided that the bait in my trap was just drawing them in so
I stopped setting the trap and they didn't come back..

LOL, that will teach you. ;)

Mike
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Hello Rob!

** On Sunday 23.11.25 - 08:13, you wrote to me:

This year my sister, whos cottage is not used from late October
until May, built one of those Pail traps, ...

The beauty of these is that they have unlimited capacity since
the mice never get to the bait and the pail can hold lots of
them, and the antifreeze not only kills the mice but it stops
them from smelling if it starts to warm up..

I emailed you a pic of one that was built and used here. It
wasn't as effective as a plain ol' bucket with some water!

--
../|ug

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Rob,

That might sound like winning a free game but, what it involved
was running the machine out of free games. Most machines could
only rack up 15 free games, and then if you won one more, it
made a loud 'CLACK' sound, and the whole place would know that
you had 'Beat the Machine'.

I remember when you beat the high score, you got 3 free games, but
they usually had a max of 5 or 10 games to win. You tried to TILT it
just before it rolled over from 999,990 (for the games that had that
as the high water mark). Now, in some of the games, it takes well over
a million just to get 1 replay.

At that point, you usually grabbed some kid and told him he had
15 free games to play and walked away..

I did that myself...especially when I had to get to my next class
in college...although I enjoyed the Student Union Gameroom more. <G>

It drove the owners nuts because you can imagine the how much
time you had tied up that machine on just one lousy quarter..

A former Sysop (who passed away several years ago) got to where
he could beat the original Pac-Man video game multiple times on just
one quarter.

Daryl

... July is National Baked Bean Month...get your sponsor sheets now.
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Re: Re: Brr
By: Daryl Stout to Rob Mccart on Sun Nov 23 2025 22:09:32

I did that myself...especially when I had to get to my next class
in college...although I enjoyed the Student Union Gameroom more. <G>

I was like that with Tempest. I also spent lots of time in the SU. In my freshman year, I spent so much time there, I got put on FA probation; Seems my grades didn't quite thrill them. Next semester I was pretty much holed up in the library. Heh.
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(Copperheads) are Not shown in Florida for some reason, maybe the

>heat but they are all over Texas so maybe not that..

Maybe they have a natural predator there, or maybe it has something

>to do with the composition of the soil... or the type of areas they
>prefer may be too damp in Florida.

Maybe.. Hard to say but the map seemed to show a straight horizontal
line near the top of Florida which seemed odd.. Visa expired? B)

---
* SLMR Rob * A good general knows the right time to surrender
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This year my sister, whos cottage is not used from late October
until May, built one of those Pail traps, ...

I emailed you a pic of one that was built and used here. It

>wasn't as effective as a plain ol' bucket with some water!

Yes, it will be interesting to see if we have any luck with them.
(She bought 2 - for 2 buildings) The ramp setup might help or
hurt that. As I mentioned ealier, I took a tiny bit of peanut butter
and touched it along up the ramp hoping the mice would smell that
more easily and follow it up looking for more.

The ramp on hers looked pretty steep to me but I guess it's been
tested by the maker, plus I've seen mice walk vertically up a wooden
wall so they are pretty good at getting places..

---
* SLMR Rob * God Himself could not sink this ship. - The Titanic
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That might sound like winning a free game but, what it involved
was running the machine out of free games. Most machines could
only rack up 15 free games

I remember when you beat the high score, you got 3 free games, but

>they usually had a max of 5 or 10 games to win. You tried to TILT it
>just before it rolled over from 999,990 (for the games that had that
>as the high water mark). Now, in some of the games, it takes well over
>a million just to get 1 replay.

This was a long time ago and the machine was very mechanical.
I'm not sure if it even kept track of a high score, and there
was no way to put in a name or initials if it did..

---
* SLMR Rob * Genius does what it Must and Talent does what it Can
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(Copperheads) are Not shown in Florida for some reason, maybe the

>heat but they are all over Texas so maybe not that..

Maybe they have a natural predator there, or maybe it has something

>to do with the composition of the soil... or the type of areas they
>prefer may be too damp in Florida.

Maybe.. Hard to say but the map seemed to show a straight horizontal
line near the top of Florida which seemed odd.. Visa expired? B)

Maybe their state does not report stats on vipers or, at least,
copperheads. <shrugs>

Mike


* SLMR 2.1a * AAAAA - American Association Against Acronym Abuse
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Daryl Stout wrote to digimaus <=-

Sean,

I've never watched "Top Gun" so don't feel bad. But if you do
ever want to watch it, let me know.

There was a neat pinball machine by that name. If you set a high
score, or when the game finished, it played "Anchors Aweigh". It
made me want to stand and salute. :)

Yeah! Nothing to do with the movie, but a VERY cool machine!

I have it on an iPad app too... :-)



... Cap'n - the spell checker kinna take this abuse.
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Daryl Stout wrote to Mike Powell <=-

I found neat YouTube Channel last night, Alpha Bravo Pinball...
I watched videos on "Top Gun" and "High Speed", both manufactured
by Williams in the mid 1980's.

No telling how much money I spent over the years playing pinball, earning a Master Of Student Union and a Doctor Of Pinball in college,
when I wasn't studying for my Bachelor Of Arts in Radio, TV, and Film.

I played some video games, but love pinball to this day!!!


... If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
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Rob Mccart wrote to DARYL STOUT <=-

No telling how much money I spent over the years playing pinball,

>earning a Master Of Student Union and a Doctor Of Pinball in college,
>when I wasn't studying for my Bachelor Of Arts in Radio, TV, and Film.

In my misspent youth, age 16 or 17, I spent a lot of hours hanging
around in a pool hall that had a few pinball machines. I had a
favourite I played most of the time and I learned all the tricks to
make points and we used to have a contest to see if we could do what
we called 'Beating the Machine'..

That might sound like winning a free game but, what it involved was running the machine out of free games. Most machines could only rack
up 15 free games, and then if you won one more, it made a loud 'CLACK' sound, and the whole place would know that you had 'Beat the Machine'.

At that point, you usually grabbed some kid and told him he had 15
free games to play and walked away..

I definitely did that twice, possibly 3 times..

It drove the owners nuts because you can imagine the how much
time you had tied up that machine on just one lousy quarter.. B)

Love it!!!

I didn't know there was a limit like that. :-) I enjoyed the pre-
digital days where you could 'roll over' the score. :-)



... Got my tie caught in the fax... Suddenly I was in L.A.
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Rob,

This was a long time ago and the machine was very mechanical.
I'm not sure if it even kept track of a high score, and there
was no way to put in a name or initials if it did..

The numbers for the score were on wheels. Now, it's all digital
electronics.

Daryl

... ¯ìûÔÔh·¤ ŽCþhanks for hanging up, dear.
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Jimmy,

There was a neat pinball machine by that name. If you set a high
score, or when the game finished, it played "Anchors Aweigh". It
made me want to stand and salute. :)

Yeah! Nothing to do with the movie, but a VERY cool machine!

It's amazing how much technology has advanced with that.

I have it on an iPad app too... :-)

Really?? I found one pinball game for the Android, that has several variations, but I've played more with Pyramid Solitaire lately.

Daryl

... Astronauts are out to launch.
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Jimmy,

I played some video games, but love pinball to this day!!!

You and me both.

Daryl

... Time Marches On. So does Life, Newsweek, National Geographic, etc.
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Jimmy,

I didn't know there was a limit like that. :-) I enjoyed the
pre- digital days where you could 'roll over' the score. :-)

And, there was 3 claps of the board as you rolled it over.

Daryl

... A government shutdown is a redundancy in terms, if there ever was one.
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(Copperheads) are Not shown in Florida for some reason, maybe the

>heat but they are all over Texas so maybe not that..

Maybe.. Hard to say but the map seemed to show a straight horizontal

>> line near the top of Florida which seemed odd.. Visa expired? B)

Maybe their state does not report stats on vipers or, at least,

>copperheads. <shrugs>

If you just ask the question, it says online that there are copperhheads
in Florida in very limited areas, maybe a few more places than the
huge map of the USA showing their range I saw showed the other day.

They said they are far less common than the other 5 venomous snake types
in Florida.

---
* SLMR Rob * Irony is the stem of the rose
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At that point, you usually grabbed some kid and told him he had 15
free games to play and walked away..

It drove the owners nuts because you can imagine the how much
time you had tied up that machine on just one lousy quarter.. B)

Love it!!!

I didn't know there was a limit like that. :-) I enjoyed the pre-

>digital days where you could 'roll over' the score. :-)

Yes, it's a long time since I've touched a mechanical pin ball machine.
I still play video games on my computer, and occasionally cell phone,
but I don't frequent many places where I run into other options.

---
* SLMR Rob * The majority is ALWAYS sane
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This was a long time ago and the machine was very mechanical.
I'm not sure if it even kept track of a high score, and there
was no way to put in a name or initials if it did..

The numbers for the score were on wheels. Now, it's all digital

>electronics.

Yes.. as I said I don't recall a high score on the machine but it's
possible there was one. I was about to say that if I could run the
machine out of free games then I should have had the high score but,
in reality, to win 15 free games, you play a lot of separate games
where you may win 2 or 3 free games that add up, so you could still
be a long way from the highest score in a single game..

---
* SLMR Rob * I know I'm paranoid - But am I paranoid ENOUGH
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Daryl Stout wrote to Rob Mccart <=-

Rob,

This was a long time ago and the machine was very mechanical.
I'm not sure if it even kept track of a high score, and there
was no way to put in a name or initials if it did..

The numbers for the score were on wheels. Now, it's all digital electronics.

And I love the sound of the 'reset' when you start a game...
The knock downs pop up, the wheels turn, lining up one at a
time until they are all at zero. :-)

Lots of servos and sounds. :-)



... Got my tie caught in the fax... Suddenly I was in L.A.
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Daryl Stout wrote to Jimmy Anderson <=-

Jimmy,

There was a neat pinball machine by that name. If you set a high
score, or when the game finished, it played "Anchors Aweigh". It
made me want to stand and salute. :)

Yeah! Nothing to do with the movie, but a VERY cool machine!

It's amazing how much technology has advanced with that.

I have it on an iPad app too... :-)

Really?? I found one pinball game for the Android, that has several variations, but I've played more with Pyramid Solitaire lately.

I think it's called Pinball Arcade... Several good machines have
been duplicated on it!



... Back the Metric System every inch of the way!
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Rob Mccart wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-

At that point, you usually grabbed some kid and told him he had 15
free games to play and walked away..

It drove the owners nuts because you can imagine the how much
time you had tied up that machine on just one lousy quarter.. B)

Love it!!!

I didn't know there was a limit like that. :-) I enjoyed the pre-

>digital days where you could 'roll over' the score. :-)

Yes, it's a long time since I've touched a mechanical pin ball machine.
I still play video games on my computer, and occasionally cell phone,
but I don't frequent many places where I run into other options.

There are still places you can go where they have them, but it's been
a couple of summers since I've been to one. They usually have a mix
of mechanical and digital, and arcade games too.




... Conserve toilet paper...use both sides.
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Yes, it's a long time since I've touched a mechanical pin ball machine.
I still play video games on my computer, and occasionally cell phone,
but I don't frequent many places where I run into other options.

There are still places you can go where they have them, but it's been

>a couple of summers since I've been to one. They usually have a mix
>of mechanical and digital, and arcade games too.

I doubt I could beat the machine anymore.. It's probably 50 years
since I last touched one... B)

But, as I said, I play a wide variety of games on the computer..

---
* SLMR Rob * Misery loves company - but company does not reciprocate
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Jimmy,

The numbers for the score were on wheels. Now, it's all digital electronics.

And I love the sound of the 'reset' when you start a game...
The knock downs pop up, the wheels turn, lining up one at a
time until they are all at zero. :-)

Some of the Bally games would have the "dings" make the sound of
"post time at the race track" when you pressed the start button.

I need to make a list of pinball games I've played over the years.

Lots of servos and sounds. :-)

Just like the audio of the dial-up modem connecting to a BBS or to
an ISP.

Daryl

... The CD/DVD Drive is NOT a computer cup holder!!
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Jimmy,

I think it's called Pinball Arcade... Several good machines
have been duplicated on it!

I think that's correct. I need to find more time to play it, but
I've been playing Pyramid Solitaire like crazy, to keep my brain
sharp.

Daryl

... Police station toilets stolen, police have nothing to go on.
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I've been playing Pyramid Solitaire like crazy, to keep my brain

>sharp.

I play a few games before shutting my computer down for the night
and one of them is a Solitaire game, a 2 deck version of Golf
Soliatire (A/K). I have nearly 4000 games in my stats on that one
and they say the average chance of winning is about 25% but I've
managed to get up to close to 80% wins.. Currently just over 78%.

I like that one because it goes quick and, even at 25%, you have
a decent chance to win now and then..

---
* SLMR Rob * Could you repeat the part after "listen very carefully"
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Rob Mccart wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-

Yes, it's a long time since I've touched a mechanical pin ball machine.
I still play video games on my computer, and occasionally cell phone,
but I don't frequent many places where I run into other options.

There are still places you can go where they have them, but it's been

>a couple of summers since I've been to one. They usually have a mix
>of mechanical and digital, and arcade games too.

I doubt I could beat the machine anymore.. It's probably 50 years
since I last touched one... B)

When I had been years since I touched one, then went in one of those
'pay one price and play all day' places, my ARMS were sore by the
end of it! :-)



... What's worse than raining cats and dogs? Hailing taxis!
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