As the title suggests, I've been down in the basement, playing pinball and drinking Caipirinhas. Bali Hi needed some major brain surgery the other night, so while I was digging around in it's electro-mechanical guts, trying to find the problem, I took the opportunity to polish up the playfield, replace burned-out bulbs, clean the relay contacts, and resolder a bunch of wires that were barely making contact. I also installed a couple of posts in the left and right outholes to keep the ball from draining so quickly.

My efforts paid off handsomely, the machine plays so beautifully now that I can turn the scorewheel over past 100,000...no problem!

I also cracked open my bottle of Cachaça Ypioca and mixed up a couple of potent Caipirinhas using my brand-new muddler. I modified the recipe a bit by using Trader Vic's Rock Candy syrup instead of granulated sugar. Consequently, they came out much smoother than the ones I had in Boulder.

Man, that silver ball really flew around the playfield once I applied a little lubrication!

The only thing my bar is lacking at the moment is tunes, and that situation should be rectified shortly. I ordered a 5-CD changer and a pair of JBL wallmount speakers in cherry cabinets that should arrive just in time for the weekend.