Deconstruction

So this week the Librarians set up a Deconstruction Station where kids could come in and take apart different electronics and see what makes them tick.  Cool, right?  We had been collecting items for the last month or so.  What really helped were the 'special' garbage days when people could dump anything. I picked up a vacuum cleaner, a coffee pot, and an old computer monitor.  The monitor was especially exciting for the kids and they kept checking back to make sure they were really allowed to take it apart.  Like it could have been some type of Librarian trap, luring in unsuspecting kids and spitting them out in the front office for disciplinary proceeding. muhahahaha.

Things were going fine until a tech teacher came in.  Now my only experience with IT folk was in a corporate setting but it seems they're all punched from the same mold. "Did you save a copy?" "No, I didn't save a copy. Can you get it back?" Well, okay, those times were on me but it's the TONE. Ugh. Am I right?

So Copernicus comes in and says something to the effect of, "Oh you must enjoy electrocuting students.  You know those things can hold a charge?"

Naturally the Librarians were more than a little miffed because 1) thanks for pissing on our parade and 2) now they had to pull the monitor because this bozo came in and spilled stupid all over the floor.  

Unfortunately I was not present for this exchange and I sooooo wish I had been because, Sweetie Pie, ignoring the fact that it was unplugged in 1993, I've actually worked on those behemoths. You know what happened when you unplugged it? It turned off....that's it. Even if it did hold a charge somewhere in it's gargantuan guts, which it didn't, it couldn't have been much of charge because it took another 3 minutes to turn it back on. Don't get me started on the cpu that had to call up the mother ship every morning or the blue-screen of death lurking over your shoulder.  Why do you think we hung out at the water cooler? It wasn't just to talk about Friends. We were waiting for our fucking equipment to turn on.

So go on back to your computer lab with it's flat screens and ipads and automatic file saving and soft back lighting that is gentle on your precious eye sight. We need to set up next week's Electricity "Friend or Foe?" Station. It'll be over against a wall and everyone can stand in a bucket of water while sticking tools in the outlets. Who's first?