Volume 2, Number 14

(The Electronic Graveyard) (Re-Cycling/Re-Shmykling)

While I was growing up, one of the 'rites of spring' in my neighborhood was the cleaning out of attics and basements. Part of the process was putting the unwanted stuff by the curb, the night before the big collection. It seemed as if the entire local population was involved in this endeavor. It also seemed that every teenage boy, including myself, felt like they were participating in a very important race. We had to get to the choice garbage before the two other armies. Those enemy camps were the other kids from local neighborhoods and the sanitation men themselves. After some experience we developed ways to get to the better areas of town prior to the other camps. We had our spies. These were exciting times for us.

A discarded pair of roller skates was especially prized. You know, the old fashioned metal kind. Anyone who laid claim to at least one skate was considered a real winner. This find provided instant mobility. Something an eleven year old really values. The skate would be broken in two, each part with two wheels. These would be secured to a two by four(2X4) about three to four (3-4) feet long, one pair of wheels at each end. A wooded orange crate from the back of the local grocery store was nailed to the front in a vertical position. A piece of one by two(1x2) nailed across the top of the crate provided the crudest method of steering this unwieldy machine. We never figured the cost of the sneakers we wore out in the service of brakes. The personalizing came in with the unique paint jobs we all gave our vehicles. Of course the colors were largely determined by what was available at the 'midnight paint sales' that took place at construction sites around our neighborhood. We called them scooters and once acquired they were the vehicle of choice for movement around the community.

In my area today, when it's time for bulk pick-up, I don't see anyone interested in the stuff my neighbors and I place out at the curb. No one even bothered to take their foot off the gas pedal when I put out all of my son's hardly used weight equipment. I really felt sad when the old comfy chair I had used for a few years and replaced with a more contemporary comfy, didn't cause an eyebrow to raise. I don't doubt that the base of my old Bar-B-Q could have been used as a planter for an innovative gardener. I notice that this relates especially well to the world of electronics.

I have what I refer to as my 'electronic graveyard' in my basement. I tend to think that there are others who are also crypt keepers themselves. There, gathering dust and interesting looking cobwebs lie all the electronic machines that I have decided no longer have a place in my life. Of course there is the Eight(8) track tape player along side the Reel to Reel player/recorder. What can I use those reels and reels of taped music for. I have already replaced it all with CDs'. What about my first CD player? It stopped working long ago and I decided not to even try to find out if it was fixable and for how much. I just can't believe that somebody can't find a use for all of the good stuff that is being left at the curb or gathering dust in a basement or attic... How Come?