I’m afraid, Dave

I got ambitious this weekend and finally rounded up all my obsolete computers and peripherals (zip drive, printer, two flatbed scanners, etc.) to donate to a place that will find new uses for them instead of just recycling them for component materials.

Here it all is, stacked up in my back porch (the cat carrier is not part of this mountain of crap). The next step is to move everything to the car which will require several trips spread over a few days, and then the final step is to chauffeur this stuff around town for a few weeks until I finally get around to delivering it to its ultimate destination.

Before packing my old Powermac 7600, I scrubbed the harddrive by reinstalling the operating system it came with back in 1996 (OS 7.5.3). It definitely felt like I was giving it a lobotomy. I expected it to start singing “Daisy, Daisy.” It was my first computer, it was hideously expensive, and it served me well through my community college career and beyond. It’s still in fine working order, unlike my next computer, a secondhand iMac that wiped out a year’s worth of files when it went down (I’ve learned my lesson). I hope someone will get some use out of it.

ReuSe

Edmonton’s city-run Reuse Centre opens tomorrow. The sign, made from reused letters, is awesome. For a small fee, individuals and groups can help themselves to donated items that would otherwise end up in the landfill. The list of items they accept for donation includes art & craft supplies, wallpaper, fabric, magazines and books, records, floppy discs, office and school supplies, seashells, hockey sticks (broken), cellphones, bingo dabbers, and even, I daresay, bowling trophies.