Upcycling an old Modular Classroom to be my home office and arcade

@cwilkson Thats awesome! Thanks for sharing.

A few years ago, I was walking around my old elementary school with the aforementioned temporary buildings (after hours) feeling nostalgic and taking pictures…and a janitor came up to me an asked me what I was doing, I told him how I used to go to school there, and was visiting from out of town. He was super cool…and told me hes been working there a long time….and that the elementary school, built in the 70s….was originally was in 6 of the ranch houses directly across the street from the school!

He said when the sub division was built in the early 70s, the developer was obligated by the city to have an elementary school ready for the kids that moved into the new neighborhood….so while they were finishing the actual school and park next to it, they used part of the row of brand new houses directly across the way on the other side of the street. Once the school was finished, the they sold the homes.

That's crazy because I never knew that all those years walking home from school passing by all those homes. Haha.
 
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But wait, there's more! @Wyo had packed additional goodness inside the gaggle of Goonies gadgetry... what could it be??
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Carefully removing the plastic and foam and bubble wrap revealed meticulously handmade "grade 8" signage! Immediately I flipped on the blacklights so I could bask in its glorious green glow.
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Of course I had to play some Goonies first, but then wasted no time in mounting the signs to the designated spots on the walls. Here is what the entrance now looks like.
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And here is the south wall.
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And the south wall as viewed from the Inferno.
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I really do treasure these signs. @Wyo, thank you again for your time, artistry, and craftmanship on everything!
 
Wyo said:
By the way! Sorry about the peanuts and mess….I needed something to fill that cavity in front and I tried to bag them but I think it must have ripped open. Actually, most of those peanuts came from @thegleek when he did one of his infamous insane packaging jobs for a singular metal Frogger control panel I bought from him. Maybe he'd want them back?

Come on Gleek, you know you do! 😂
Click to expand...

hah, i'm good, i have so much packing material, i could start up my own shipping company --- GPS - Gleek Parcel Service! :)
 
Organization is not one of my strengths. In fact.... I SUCK at it. But just like thinking maybe Zaxxon is a good game, I also think I can learn to be better at organizing. Hmm.....

After rearranging the furniture and partitions in the Northwest "repair corner" of grade8, I got the wild hair to organize, so I purchased two of these Wall Control kits. I started installing them two weeks ago, mounting them directly to my 4ft wide partition panels.

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There was a bit of trial an error, especially figuring out where anchors were required versus where I could screw directly into the panel. Eventually I got all 6 panels securely mounted and had 8 ft of peg space!
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So... now what? This is where I kinda stalled out the last couple weeks. What should go where? Do I have the appropriate accessories? Should I buy more tools??? Yes, duh! LOL
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An hour here, a few minutes there, and several distractions throughout, I began to make progress...
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... to the point I arrived this afternoon where most of the desks are cleared, and I have some workable surfaces.
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Do I feel organized? Probably not. But I do feel a bit better about it. And now maybe I'll work to get my Q*bert boards operational again. I can dream, right?
 
Setting up my workbench to actually function and flow and not just be a TOTAL disaster is something I struggle with constantly. This is awesome to see it all getting organized and I FULLY understand and appreciate the struggle.
 
TastyBoogerz said:
Organization is not one of my strengths. In fact.... I SUCK at it. But just like thinking maybe Zaxxon is a good game, I also think I can learn to be better at organizing. Hmm.....
Click to expand...
Awesome man! What I wouldn't give to have a dedicated space and fresh start.

I wanted to suggest one item. Grab a magnetic strip or 2 for the metal tools, or for at least that bottom row of tools. Its SO nice to just plop them right on there and not have to worry about getting them in the 'slot' or on the hook properly. You can just mount it right on the pegboard too. It was one of those, why haven't I done this sooner things for me.
Amazon search link
 
It's been over a month since my last post on grade8, and there have been a couple additions!

The Weird Al pinball machine I received in July also came with a autographed translite and I had been searching for good way to display it. While I was ordering some Midway parts for some minor Mortal Kombat repairs, I saw this backlighted translite frame by LitFrames and added it to my Marco Specialties shopping cart. It arrived quickly and was very simple to install the translite. However, the translites from Multimorphic must be just a tad smaller than the Williams ones that the frame was designed for, so there was a tiny bit of light leakage on the sides. I solved it by simply adding some strips of black electrical tape along each side of the back glass. I'm very happy with the results!

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I also got a couple small floating shelves to display my ... ahem.. action figure, and an autographed Roku remote (ok, yes, I'm a an Al groupie).

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Because grade8arcade is a bit rural and off the beaten path, we don't get Trick or Treaters, so I brought in my own permanent one. He also makes a nice office mate, except when he gives the stink eye for being awful at his pinball.

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Ok, end of the creepy part of the posts. LOL.

Here is my pick up from yesterday.... grade8's first cocktail!
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I think it fits quite nicely here. Thanks @bicyclenut !
 
So a year and a half in, the project is (mostly) complete (I know, nothing is ever complete lol) and I'm just curious if you use the arcade much? My arcade is a bit more confined being in a garage, so it's really just all games. But I find that we don't entertain as much as we did before covid, and my arcade isn't getting the use I want it to get. Wondering if I'm the only one.
 
OdinM said:
So a year and a half in, the project is (mostly) complete (I know, nothing is ever complete lol) and I'm just curious if you use the arcade much? My arcade is a bit more confined being in a garage, so it's really just all games. But I find that we don't entertain as much as we did before covid, and my arcade isn't getting the use I want it to get. Wondering if I'm the only one.
Click to expand...
Great question! In fairness, my games have only been in the building since February, so let's use 9 months as the measurement. Still, I'm embarrassed to say… other than my younger daughter, I've only had a 3rd party enthusiast visit once. (Thanks @TheNickDuong!). No parties or "open houses" yet. This is due to a few reasons, that I seem to justify to myself;
1. I do spend on average 10 hours a day in grade8, 6 days a week. Do I play the games? Umm…. Sometimes? And mostly Weird Al Pinball. Hence the addition of my new "office mate". (He's also very bad at fantasy football).
And 2, I still don't have the building very accessible as it needs concrete pads front and back, and some exterior repairs completed.

Goals!!!
 
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