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Science Nerds

Judge said:
Yep, I also grew up with them living in Virginia. I guess I never heard them or gave them much thought as a child though.
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I had to figure out or learn half of everything about half of everything as a child. Perpetual insatiable curiosity pretty much defined my personality, I think.🤓
 
Judge said:
To me that's a big asset- not a liability. :cool:
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General speaking, though there can be exceptions. For example, when you take apart something that you need and can not get it back together. Also, I remember the time when I was little (probably around 5 give or take a year) and we went to someone's house where there was an electric powered treadmill. It had 3 settings "min", "med", and "max". I did not even know that those were short for minimum, medium, and maximum at the time and was curious what they meant. I was allowed to get on the tread mill with it set to "min". Of course I had to know what "max" did. I could not walk that fast at that time and within seconds my adrenaline levels went soaring right along with the rest of me.🤣
 
FayetheAspie said:
For example, when you take apart something that you need and can not get it back together.
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I usually was able to put things back together again but I did that to every toy I ever owned, even the big boy's toys when I became an adult. I taught myself several computer languages with no intention whatsoever of becoming a programmer, I just wanted a better understanding of what goes on inside a computer.
 
Is still recall when I got a Heathkit shortwave radio for my birthday. A company that makes electronics products you build from the ground up. Having to properly solder every single component. Resistors, capacitors, you name it. Having taken electronics in my freshman year of high school I felt confident that I could build it and make it work....and I did. It was so much fun.

They're still around too. I'm shocked. I also recall some years later when my brother decided to build a Heathkit console color television. Unfortunately he had a very different experience. Bit off more than he could chew.

Went to see their website. Sadly they seem to be a shadow of what they once were, but then it really didn't surprise me. I mean, how many people out there actually want to build a modern electronic device?

Oh yeah. How many people out there want to build their own computer? Uh-huh.

I still recall the time back in the 80s when I had the nerve to open up one of my vcrs...lol.
 
Judge said:
Is still recall when I got a Heathkit shortwave radio for my birthday.
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When I was a kid Crystal Diode radio sets were very popular too, I got one for my 7th birthday. Mine was a lot more basic than this setup though.

K2216.jpg
 
Nothing that elaborate but I built a burglar alarm and a door buzzer and a clock and a few other gadgets.
 
I think of it as a "precipice" for people like us. When we're so determined, we aren't afraid to take those screws out and disassemble something, even if we don't really know what we are doing the first time around.

Most people wouldn't dream of trying to fix something, or just take a peek to see what goes on inside a casing....but we will.

I still recall disassembling my legacy computer's joystick, determined to figure out how to tighten it up after decades of vigorous use. Ultimately used thick rubber bands to apply more tension on the stick. It worked!
 
Judge said:
When we're so determined, we aren't afraid to take those screws out and disassemble something, even if we don't really know what we are doing the first time around.
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For people from our generation it was a bit of a necessity unless you were wealthy. Especially the old valve TVs and radios, we only ever paid someone to fix something once and watched them carefully so we could do it ourselves next time, and learnt some valuable lessons along the way.

A friend's TV had one valve that was in a loose socket, so sometimes you'd turn the TV on and nothing would happen. This happened to them so often that the back cover was permanently off the back of the TV and they kept a wooden ruler there. So you'd turn the TV on then poke at the loose valve with the wooden ruler until the TV came to life.

One day the wooden ruler was missing so Allan poked it with a lead pencil instead. All the graphite inside the pencil instantly turned in to molten liquid and shot up his arm, left a scar that looks like a lightning strike.
 
Outdated said:
For people from our generation it was a bit of a necessity unless you were wealthy. Especially the old valve TVs and radios, we only ever paid someone to fix something once and watched them carefully so we could do it ourselves next time, and learnt some valuable lessons along the way.

A friend's TV had one valve that was in a loose socket, so sometimes you'd turn the TV on and nothing would happen. This happened to them so often that the back cover was permanently off the back of the TV and they kept a wooden ruler there. So you'd turn the TV on then poke at the loose valve with the wooden ruler until the TV came to life.

One day the wooden ruler was missing so Allan poked it with a lead pencil instead. All the graphite inside the pencil instantly turned in to molten liquid and shot up his arm, left a scar that looks like a lightning strike.
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Good point. It's definitely something I picked up from my engineer/father. He'd do so much repairing all on his own...or at times try to at least. Brings back memories of going with my Dad to inspect potentially bad tv tubes with the testing device usually found in grocery stores. :p
 
Facebook groups related to your interests? Some are good places to meet people, advertise IRL events
 
You sound like an impressive person, with your interests and aptitudes. Having worked a long career your key is the look for positions requiring technician skills.
 
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