Wow, those are some long-lived machines! It was the case that x86-based hardware wasn't relevant in the UK home computing market until around 1996 (I mentioned way back in my original post that my C64 was my only computer until early 1996 - that was when our first x86 box came along), so I always find tales from places where they were more commonplace to be interesting - especially since DOSBox now allows me to catch up on games* that I missed out on at the time!
Both of my parents have also been working with computers since the early days of computing, so not only did we always tend to have more computers and more computer hardware around than most people I know, but it's a rare computer problem short of actual component failure that one or another of them wasn't able to fix (and I got fairly good at taking care of my own computers, as well). I spent a reasonable percentage of my childhood, often one day a week, hanging out in the server room at my mom's work (she was a sys admin for the nearby college for the first ten years of my life). That was actually where I played both Quake and Doom first -- the server techs played those a lot on their breaks, and I joined in every now and then.
For similar reasons it's always interesting to me to hear about people who grew up mostly with consoles, as I never even saw one in person until I was fourteen years old, and I still don't own one. The only way I've ever played things like the Sonic the Hedgehog games is via emulator. Just as well, since the few times I have played on a console at someone else's house I've come to the conclusion that the controllers are never sized right for my hands, and are often seem a bit awkward for left-handed use (though that could just be my lack of familiarity).
*I must say, this isn't the first time that I've heard Hocus Pocus mentioned, but to date haven't tried it. What's it like?
It's a good deal like most side-scrolling platformers, with the theme of wizardry applied, so you're firing spells instead of guns. There are also often some puzzles in the levels, at least in order to gain the most treasure you can, and I always thought that the graphics were fairly neat. I don't like it as much as I do Commander Keen, for instance, but it's a fun game. I'm also clearly not very great at describing it!
I enjoyed the naming tangent, by the way, and I'm now going to continue it. 
My computers (and tablet and phone) all use names derived from skills, difficulty ratings, and Tribes from the Lemmings games. Current devices are Turner, Polar, Runner, and Circus. Previous machines have been Space, Planter, and Thrower. Thrower was the computer that exploded recently - it lived up to its name in that I had to throw the wreckage out. 
Cool! I'm not sure exactly why the fictional-city naming scheming started in my house, but I've just stuck with it, since there are a good deal of names to choose from there and it's something of a tradition now. I don't know what scheme I would've picked to name my computers based on if that hadn't been the case.
I've never seen a computer explode, although I've heard tales. The closest I've come to that with my own computers is the one whose CPU melted down the first time it turned off after it had been running for years straight, but I once witnessed my brother's monitor fry itself in a moderately impressive fashion -- it emitted a horribly loud popping sound and then acrid white smoke billowed out of it all along the top of it.
