My electronics graveyard

Hi neighbors. Spring is finally here and I can't wait to get my houseplants back out onto the porch. They always look so out of place in the house, I can tell they are longing for the great outdoors. Well, longing or not, out they go as soon as all threats of frost are over.

I read in the Nevada Daily Mail newspaper that there will be an electronics pick up in April. I am certainly eager to disassemble the electronics graveyard that is my spare bedroom. Just like the elephant's graveyard depicted in the old Tarzan tales, every electronic device ever brought into my home has migrated to that room to rest in pieces.

My conscious is clear in that I have not brought this electronic death upon them. All have died of natural electronic causes. All are old and out dated, worn out and many not able to even turn on any more. There is one old laptop that simply fell apart after more than 10 years of use. That old warrior had been moved to Kansas City (then back to Nevada), Las Vegas (then back to Nevada), again to Kansas City (then back to Nevada), and finally just got too many miles on it -- at least that's my opinion. No one and no thing should have to move that many times!

Yes, this old graveyard shows computer evolution from our first dos programmed one piece complete with a heavy 10-inch monitor -- to the last tower one constructed by my son, mainly from borrowed parts from other old skeletons in the graveyard.

There are other members of the electronic evolution lying about like fossils. One fax machine that quit working, one flat bed scanner that is too old to run on any computer now, at least two printers that have long refused to print and a three-in-one stereo that eats tape cassettes, can no longer read CDs, and has a turntable that will still turn, complete with a needle which is no longer produced and cannot be replaced. Let's not forget the pairs of speakers that attached to each of these relics.

I don't have any old televisions. I never have more than one in my home and when it becomes obsolete, I buy a new one and the old one is recycled. If the old one still works, I have grandchildren with video games and children who think there should be a TV in every room of their house willing to take it.

There is also my old eight-track player, which hasn't played since the 80s. Disco may come back, but I can only wish eight-tracks would. My mother-in-law bequeathed me her eight-track player and stacks of tapes so I am once again able to boogie continuously for hours at a time!

I was talking to my son about this and he said there might still be information and files on the old hard drives that I didn't transfer over. I know that to be true on the computers that just died of heart attacks for no apparent reason.

I suggested that Bill get the word out to any of his buddies who build and repair their own computers to see if any of them want to come harvest any parts. Bill said most of our computers are too old to get parts off of, as they will not function in the newer computers anyway.

My thoughts are that for payment of pizza and sodas, the gang will help me double check the computers for files and photos and transfer these to my external hard drive. Of course, this will only work for those computers that will still turn on!

Puttering with computers is the new "shade tree mechanic" hobby for young people born in the 80s and 90s. My son, and several of his friends, have built their own computers and spend time replacing and upgrading programs and hardware. Just like teens used to do to their jalopies in the 50s and 60s. I seldom need a repairman for my computers.

Then why, you might ask, do I have a room full of dead computers? The ones in the graveyard are the old type, some a single model with the computer and monitor built together in a huge unit. There is one that only had the old A-drive on it and one with nowhere to save other than the computer's internal hard drive.

I hope everyone can take advantage of this electronic pick up offered by the recycling center.

Check the March 22 edition of the Nevada Daily Mail for more details.

Until the next time friends, remember, there's no time like March for spring cleaning!