Second coat of paint applied, graphics, the story of ZEN

Painting is really going well - I got the second coat on tonight, and should be done tomorrow night with the third coat. Friday night I will mount the graphics and do the polyurethane. I was really pleased with the job that Diane did at Kinko's; it cost about $75 (at $10 / sq. foot) for the control panel overlay, and 2 18" sideart logos - I increased the size at the last minute, and I am glad I did - they will really look good, and will be the only graphics on the side. I am going to test the polyurethane on a piece of scrap I have been painting, to see what it looks like over a test logo I printed up. If all goes well, I may not put plexiglas over the control panel, but just coat it in poly - ill just have to see.

I was cleaning the brushes when the thought occured to me to sign the cabinet... I decided to do it where it wouldn't be obvious - the only way you'll see it is if the monitor is removed, or you use a flashlight and mirror - a kind of easter egg. I have been putting ZEN on high score tables since 1986; my roommate at Cameron Univ., Greg Ellis, and I used to play 1942 in the snack bar of the Shepler Center (The Aggie Barn, for those who remember)... anyway, one night we were taking over the high scores, and I goofed putting my initials, entering a Z as the first letter... after a few seconds of thought, I completed the entry as ZEN, the only 3-letter word I could think of at the time. Then, Greg came up with the idea that we could use the high score display to leave messages (did I mention we spent a *lot* of time in the Aggie Barn? :) ) So we kept playing, tailoring our scores and entries so that, hours later when we left, the high score table had the following entries (no, I don't remember the scores :) ):

1. ZEN
2. I S
3. THE
4. WAY
5. M Y
6. SON

Goofy, I know, but it was the best we could come up with, and ever since then I have been putting ZEN on the boards.