Friday, February 8, 2008

The Ultimate Dork Reveals Himself

I admit it, I’m a dork. I always have been, always will be. The most mundane geeky ideas are what pique my interest most often: the fish pond design, the idea of garage ceiling storage using a system of cable and pulleys, building a ceiling suspended bridge for the train set around F’s room, a funky canopy design for the back patio, a homemade LED light fixture for the play room, the pending master bath remodel, Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, the “Coaster Bus”, and the list goes on. The projects that appear in my head endless times throughout the day could keep me busy until my last breath. Unfortunately, or not, depending on which way you look at it, I forget half of the ideas before attempting to start them. If started, they remain in a state of suspended animation while I bounce to the next with little to no follow through.

So being that I’ve developed a tinkering habit, I started screwing around with my PC. I took apart an old one lying around my office, then took apart my laptop (still have one screw missing) in a search to figure out a way to run Soldier of Fortune 3 from my not-so powerful video driver chip set. You were warned, dork. The irony here is I’ve never been a computer geek and barely know how to navigate windows much less screw with hardware and system settings. I found a way. Message boards are a blessing to the technically challenged. They turn the untalented and mechanically challenged geeks of the world like me into cyber info junkies seeking results. It took me several weeks to figure out how to run the game, which I have never played before, but finally met with success. With all the time spent, I have logged only one solid hour of playtime. The challenge is over, so it’s no longer as fun. If I were earning a paycheck for all these dorky projects, I’d be selling plasma to pay the light bill.

Enter the YotaTech.com forums. If only I had a dollar for every minute wasted clicking aimlessly around the 4runner pages. It did help me replace the brakes DIY style, replace the rear axle seals, pinpoint the problem with my door locks, and even gave me ideas on how to mount my iPod inconspicuously as an auxiliary to the head unit. Irony strikes again. I’ve never worked on a car before. Never changed my own oil or replaced plugs, filters or belts much less brake pads and axle seals.

Tonight I sit wasting time finding templates for constructing a scale model trestle bridge for the aforementioned train set. There are some good ideas out there, but mine must be unique. I’ll be sure to post pics of my endeavors (translation: mistakes and countless prototypes) for your entertainment. Now you know my secret. I am a dork, but proud of it!

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