Quote Originally Posted by Cochlearmom View Post
Who you are?
Hello, I am cochlearmom, or Erin, either is fine...

Where you live?
I live in beautiful Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California border.

How you found the forums?
While I was online researching a few game systems from my youth, specifically systems from the late '70's/early '80's.

What your favorite games are?
I like my PS2 system and I enjoy playing Frogger and Tony Hawk; however, as of lately I mostly play games on my iPhone. I have never been good at the games, especially as they have progressed over the years! I remember not being very good at Pong. I'm looking forward to hooking up the old Atari and the old Bally/Astrocade systems because I'll probably be good at those games now, 30 years later!

What systems you collect for?
I'm focusing on the Bally Computer System games right now; originally we had all the released games and then some, but now I am missing a few carts and am thinking about replacing those.

What you do in "real life?"
In "real life," I am a mom first to my two children, my daughter who is ten and my son who is seven. My children are a full time job, but I also do bookkeeping for a flooring company. I am co-president for the start up chapter of California Hands & Voices, which is a parent driven support system for parents of deaf or hard of hearing children. The name "cochlearmom" was created because my daughter, who was born profoundly deaf, is a bilateral cochlear implant recipient. Getting her diagnosed, learning sign language, speech therapy, special ed services, advocacy, and so on has consumed my life since she was born.

Any other interesting facts, like how you began collecting, etc?
I grew up in Silicone Valley and my mom worked in the semiconductor field. The company she worked for in the late 70's/early 80's had some type of contract to package the Astrocade game carts and do the shrink wrap; we were so lucky to get the system and every single game! She was the supervisor, however she was right there next to her staff doing the production work. She worked swing shift and she told me that her employer was saving on energy costs by shutting down the A/C in the evenings. The packaging of the carts was set up in a small room with no ventilation and no air conditioning, she said the fumes from the shrink wrap was horrible, but they didn't really know any different back then. It was truly a sweat shop! Pulling out this system in the last few weeks has brought back a lot of memories, it has made me realize how much these old systems had built a foundation for the PC's that came later, I have always been very savvy with both hardware and software.
sounds like you have a lot on your plate. welcome!