Free
Parking
Shiuming Lai
discovers another good reason to visit Cheshunt
Computer Club
Summer this year
has been a whirlwind of events in the UK scene.
I was still very excited for days after Classic
Gaming Expo UK at the end of July, I certainly
wasn't getting any work done on MyAtari, so
thought why not take time out to visit Cheshunt
Computer Club as well, and challenge some of
the boys to my new 2600 games!
I had a late
afternoon job booked on the day, so took my
own car instead of the rattly old company transport,
thinking to burn rubber all the way as soon
as finishing the job. Unfortunately it wasn't
to be, there were jams all the way, and I also
had to suffer a couple of louts in front of
me driving a clapped out repmobile minus
its hub caps, attempting to do burnouts
as we crawled from Gunnersbury Park up
to Hangar Lane.
Eventually I
arrived over an hour late, to face more frustration
in the form no parking spaces in front of Wolsey
Hall, so into the neighbouring car park I went.
It's not expensive, but my loose change was
about five pence short of the fee required by
the ticket machine. By now feeling the
steam coming out of my ears, I spent more time charging around looking to
get some change then read the notice more carefully
and deduced that parking was free at that hour
anyway. I wonder how much money I've wasted
over the years paying for parking there.
The evening was
in full swing, Steve Sweet came out to help
me bring my kit indoors, and he brought along
a portable television for me to play my Atari
2600.
As soon as I
set myself up, next to Felice and Ian Smith
with their Falcons (Felice's one in need of
technical attention from Steve later on), I
went out with some of the lads to get some much-needed
grub, as I had not eaten all day! Ian, Felice
and Steve's son, Marshall, came with me to Pizza
Hut, where the girl at the counter cut me a
good deal on a deep pan Chicken Supreme with some burnt garlic bread thrown
in.
Back at the club,
how difficult do you think it would be to share
one's nosh? I nearly had to eat all that
lard myself! Surely this lot aren't all health
fiends?
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Steve
attending to Felice's non-working
Falcon.
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Fed and watered,
I felt suitably refreshed to participate in the meeting
more fully. Mark Branson had his super CT60
Falcon tower again, this time sporting a proper
badge.
SCSI problems stopped anything too exciting
happening on Mark's Falcon. A few new members
were in attendance on the PC side, where Steve
was also doing some repairs and upgrades, although
one particularly ancient PC amusingly choked
on a 200 GB hard disk. I could have told them
that for free!
Peter West was
not doing much translation work this time, he
is currently rather engrossed in the game that
was given to the first 50 attendees at JagFest
this year, Oxyd. This is a cult classic. I've
been so snowed under, my copy is still in wraps,
but it definitely looks like a game with long-lasting
appeal. Anyone mind if we suspend the magazine
for six months while we try out all the goodies
we've picked up this year?
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Peter
West looking busy, number 1,345,120.
Young Marshall witnesses the
grand master's devastating skills.
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Derryck Croker
was chatting to a first-time visitor who was
into collecting all manner of vintage computers,
starting with Atari 8-bits. It seems the club
is still managing to attract new visitors, which
is great.
![[Photo: Club in action]](images/ccc03.jpg)
![[Photo: Felice and Steve]](images/ccc04.jpg)
![[Photo: James, Peter, Ian and Jeff]](images/ccc05.jpg)
![[Photo: Marshall playing Activision Tennis]](images/ccc06.jpg)
![[Photo: Mark's CT60 tower]](images/ccc07.jpg)
Before long it
was my turn to get Steve's technical assistance,
with a failed Falcon power supply. Steve always
comes well tooled up to these meetings and rushes
from one job to another with precision that
belies the state of this makeshift workshop,
my power supply took less than five minutes
to fix. Of course it helps to tell Steve in
advance of the symptoms, and bring gifts of
spicy food or the odd bottle of finest whiskey.
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Fitting
a replacement, uprated specification
capacitor.
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Testing
the repaired unit under load.
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The fun was
over too soon for me. Maybe I could take the
day off work next time, but then I always like the
rush of trying to get there on time straight
after work, it's like part of the event itself.
Big thanks to Ian
and Felice for the drinks as well, a most refreshing
treat after a long trek to the club! I look
forward to meeting again this month, at JagFest
Vindaloo Reloaded.
shiuming@myatari.net
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