I’ve noted before how I only have to put an item in my head and eventually it’ll turn up at a garage sale. This works so well that my house and my small “workshopette” are both furnished almost entirely with garage sale & thrift store items.
One thing that had been on my “GS vibe” for a while is a trickle charger for car batteries.
This became more urgent when I went to start the XTerra last week and couldn’t.
So yesterday, right on schedule, there it was …
Kewl. High-tech electronics and everything. A little beat up cosmetically, but since the same model sells on Amazon for 100 bucks, I was hardly complaining.
Got it home. Put it on the battery. Lookin’ good.
About an hour later the nice guy working on my yard says, “Something’s wrong with that thing.”
Definitely wrong. He found it blinking oddly and when he tried to get it working, nada. Went completely dark. I tried, too. Nada.
This morning I reluctantly took it back to the man who sold it to me. He offered my money back with no hassle. (I opted instead to swap it for a fire extinguisher.)
But a friend of his who was standing there was certain I had done something wrong: “Are you sure your battery wasn’t already fully charged?” “Well, then, are you sure your battery wasn’t so dead that it just wouldn’t take a charge? You know these things are designed to shut down if …”
“Yeah,” I’d say. “I know. I tried this. I tried that. Really, no matter what you do, it just sits there and hums. No lights. No functioning controls. Go ahead. Give it a shot, I’d be really happy to be wrong because I need one of these.”
We all trooped over to the wall and he plugged it in and punched buttons and did all those “manly” things we’d already done. And sure enough. Humming but otherwise dead.
“I guess you’re right,” he conceded. “Yep. dead.”
He emphasised the final word by thumping its top. Thump. Flicker. Hey, what was that? Thump. Flicker. Press handle down. Glow. Lift handle up. Lights off. I set the fire extinguisher on it and the charger’s controls glowed steady.
“Hm. Something to do with the handle,” said Mr. Mechanic.
“Well, I’ll just put ‘free’ on it,” said the garage sale guy. “Maybe somebody who’s mechanically inclined will want to tinker with it. Otherwise, I’ll landfill it.”
I left with my fire extinguisher, thought about it, came back a little later, asked if I could have the charger. “Sure. Take it. I can’t sell it if it’s got something wrong with it and I’m not mechanical enough to fix it.”
At home, I opened it up & found it full of dust and cobwebs. And there was one tiny plug popped half-way off a circuit board.
Took me longer to get the case off and back on than it took to fix the thing. I am a “mere girl” when it comes to matters electrical and electronic. I felt like freaking Superwoman.
Oh. And I also got this:
Yes. A USB-powered mini-lava lamp. Which is of course exactly what every computer needs.
And it’s sitting on this glorious blonde oak desk I bought at some millionaire’s garage sale two weeks ago.
It had a sign on the ground next to it: $15.
I asked, “That can’t be the price for that desk, can it? I know it can’t be that low.”
“No, that’s not the price for the desk,” answered that garage sale guy. “The price is $5. It’s late in the day. I just want it out of here.”
Thank heaven for garage saling girlfriends with big vans! Cost me more to get somebody to bring it into the house than it did to buy the thing.
Great job on the fix! Love that feeling. Wish folks would do it more often… atleast open it up and see… often times it is something very easy or just needs cleaned. Cheers to you… One hundred dollars saved and no tax for them bastards.
Congrats on the electronic fix.
Wow…. what a great looking desk.
Of course girls can! I recently repaired our 20+ year old washing machine. My Bff couldn’t understand why I didn’t just get a new one for $300-500 plus delivery fee, when a $10 part, ordered online, did the trick. You go girl!
Garage sales are even more generous for the tinkerers among us 🙂
Congrats Claire on a job well done!!!
This once again proves that your own brain can be your worst enemy. I tell everyone that, before saying “I can’t do this, I’m not (insert skill here) inclined”, to try it first. If it doesn’t work then at least you gave it a shot. More often than not you’ll be amazed by the things you can do when you put your mind to it.
If someone would have told me ten years ago that I’d be building my own timberframe cabin,from scratch, with only hand tools I would have declared them insane. Guess what I’m doing right now (and for the next three more years)?
I never understood the misperception that “girls” are less mechanically inclined than men. Knowledge of mechanics, electronics, how things work seems to be as much about personal preference and background than mere ability.
You’re still a girl, albeit a Girl Who Can Fix Stuff.* 😛
Never forget the old saying:
Use it up;
Wear it out;
Make it do;
Or do without.
*Though Matt, another, pretty much nails it. Whatever gene guys have that let them turn wood into works of art? I ain’t got it. 😀
Nice job, Claire !…..it’s amazing what a bit of stubbornness and straight up determination can achieve…..
Ahhh Claire….good for you!
It seems to me that sometimes its mostly a matter of being BOLD enough to open it up and simply take a look.