Electronic Detritus

Or things we hate (fear?) to throw away. My last post on this subject was on June 12, 2009 (link) where I reported hauling an SUV’s worth of obsolete computers to Goodwill—thus just a shade over three years ago. Now, way past schedule, I am beginning to think about clearing up the huge disorder caused in this house by the installation of central air. A little “walk about” this morning—first without and then with a camera—resulted in a new inventory of our electronic obsolescence. Herewith some annotations, going clockwise:

• Under the red box, a Smith Corona electric typewriter. It has only sentimental value. If the power fails, it won’t work either.
• A computer complete. Not ours. But the person who owns it (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) does not have the heart to junk it.
• A monitor I used when I was still working. It did not get recycled in 2009 because it would not fit into the SUV already stuffed to the ceiling with other big beige objects.
• An inkjet printer replaced with a laser printer, but, you know... You never know.
• A Cannon copier (under the table). It’s heart is pure and its lungs still work, but you can’t get it to pick up a single sheet of paper—whether using the front or the back feeder.
• Last, one of about six retired telephones and a keyboard that, someday, “may come in handy.”

Now concerning the third item, that massive monitor, it did come in handy just a couple of weeks ago. Brigitte’s slender monitor failed. Wrestling with it in agonies that recalled Laocoon, I got the old monitor and installed it. It worked! It took over the whole table, but it worked. I replaced the defective monitor—and learned to my delight that Staples was willing to take it. They even rang it up and gave me a slip with the credit I’d earned. The figure on that slip? $0.00. Well, you win some and you loose some. For me, getting rid of these things would be victory enough—until I would discover, three years from now, another cohort of electronic corpses hiding in our nooks and crannies.

As for that order making, I’ve made a start. Now I’ll just need about a week to recover from the shock of my walk about.