The Measure of a Geek Should be his Potential for Disassembly.....

Or, to put it another way, my old man's a T.V. repairman. He's got the Ultimate set of tools.

Is it a guy thing? Maybe.

Is it a geek thing? Definitely

I'm not sure why, but for just about as long as I can remember, I've been in the business of taking things apart. Big things, little things...

Anythings, really.....

From the first time I found a rare-earth magnet in an old school (pre break up) Phone Company phone, I was hooked. I must have been 9 or so. Somehow, I'd come into possession of one that looked something like this:



I'll have to admit, I was pretty new to the game, and I had trouble with the dial (never did get it off), but when I found 3/4th's of an inch of a cylinder magnet that I could barely pull off the screwdriver?

Yeah, I was fucking hooked.

See, I think magnets are pretty cool.

So, in a search for them, and perhaps answers too, I began a long series of, well, lets call them 'component part reductions.' I've taken apart engines, waterbeds...computers.

Well, pretty much anything.

I've even put some of those things (back) together. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't, but I know I've fixed not a few things just by taking them apart and putting them back together.

And that's the crux of it. See, in order to take things apart well, you need a certain set of hardware. I mean, everybody has a set of wrenches (dont they), and prolly 2 or 3 (each) Phillips/flat head screwdrivers, but we geeks need something more.

This is just part of my current bit set:



Oh, and in case you were wondering, all those fasteners? Yeah, you have to save them. Here's a glimpse my current 'screw jar.' (note the bag of torx in the background):




In addition, my bit driver (not pictured) has a neodymium magnet on an 'antenna' reacher that's like 2 feet long.




I've picked up batteries with it...

Now, with all the diversity of fastening options out there, one of the most ubiquitous, and various, must be the common screw.

I've seen screws 3 inches long, and I've seen them half an inch long. Only two choices, other than size. Phillip's, or flat.

Because I'm a geek, I'm happy to say I had the right driver (phillips) to remove this screw:



Say what you will, but that fucker's small...

Buenos con queso,

T.