(Featuring Emotional Support Spotify Shuffle & Incidental Exercise Receipts)
Tonight’s league night was less “clean competitive pinball performance” and more:
“woman survives Arizona heat exhaustion recovery through pinball, hydration, stubbornness, and 50 years of music history.”
I came into Tilt Studio already feeling physically off. My readiness score was sitting at 58 even after an excellent 10 hours and 52 minutes of sleep, which was my first clue that my body still wasn’t fully recovered from the heat exhaustion nonsense earlier this week.
And honestly? Ghostbusters Pro immediately confirmed that my nervous system and that machine were not on speaking terms.
Round 4 felt like emotional damage cardio:
– Craig Bolton casually dropped over a billion
– I fought for every point
– my stomach was still weird
– and Spotify shuffle quietly became my emotional support co-pilot through one earbud
At some point during the night I realized my playlist sounded absolutely unhinged for competitive pinball:
– Drowning Pool – “Bodies”
– Luke Bryan – “Play It Again”
– “Hooked on a Feeling”
– Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – “Dancing in the Street”
-Beegee’s – “Staying Alive”
– Rob Zombie – “Dragula”
– One Direction – “Story of My Life
– Grundy County Auction
– Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”
– Styx – “Too Much Time On My Hands”
– Dexys Midnight Runners – “Come On Eileen”
– Jelly Roll – “Liar”
– Any Given Sin – “(I Just) Died In Your Arms”
– ELO – “Mr. Blue Sky”
If somebody looked at this playlist without context, they would assume a confused raccoon got access to the aux cord.
But somehow the emotional support shuffle worked.
Then came Stranger Things Pro.
At first it looked like another rough round, but eventually I started settling in:
– skill shots
– Trap ’Em Multiball
– Telekinesis progress
– actual mode building instead of survival flipping
Meanwhile, Andrew absolutely turned into a Stranger Things gremlin:
62M → 95M → 110M → 178M
There were giant comeback moments, Telekinesis Multiball chaos, Bullies started, and multiple moments where everyone around the machine quietly pretended they were not watching while absolutely watching.
Then Hailey Buhrman casually ascended into Hawkins, Indiana pinball godhood with a 243M game while “Mr. Blue Sky” played in my earbud like a sarcastic emotional narrator.
Final Stranger Things scores:
– Hailey Buhrman – 243M
– Andrew Kohtz – 178M
– Christy Kohtz – 63M
– Elaine Hecht – 13M
And honestly? That 63M meant a lot more to me than bigger scores on easier nights because I had to claw my way back mentally and physically just to get there.
Now for the “incidental exercise still counts” receipts:
League Night Fitbit Stats:
– 4 hours 10 minutes logged
– 681 calories burned
– 1,966 steps during league
– 43 active zone minutes
– Average heart rate: 94 bpm
– 37 minutes moderate zone
– 3 minutes vigorous/peak
– 7 flights upstairs
– 7 flights downstairs
– Weekly cardio progress: 216/224 minutes
People outside competitive pinball think league night is:
“standing around pressing buttons.”
Meanwhile Fitbit was basically like:
“No. This was a low-grade endurance event with emotional spikes and intermittent combat phases.”
And honestly? That’s exactly why I talk so much about incidental exercise.
Not every wellness victory looks like:
– perfect workouts
– matching gym sets
– flawless motivation
– high-energy days
Sometimes it looks like:
– showing up exhausted anyway
– standing for four hours
– climbing arcade stairs
– regulating your nervous system with music
– surviving emotional turbulence
– staying socially engaged
– finding rhythm again one ball at a time
Tonight wasn’t polished.
It was messy.
Funny.
Competitive.
Emotionally weird.
Music-assisted.
Community-supported.
Pinball Receipts
Still counts.
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