My "B.J." moment...

So, I had a few projects around the house that required a tool that I did not have so Logan and I took a trip to the Home Depot and found a soldering iron. (Sorry dad, if you are reading this, I was going to do what you told me and buy the electric one but I could not pass up the opportunity to buy a torch)

I have never really used a soldering iron before, I watched my dad use one when I was a kid but never really had the need for one until Logan got a little too excited playing his guitar and he threw the mic up in the air and when it hit the ground, it broke. I took off the top of the mic and saw that one of the wires had broke free. So... I thought what have I got to lose, it is just a cheap toy, so if I break it, what is the big deal.

The guitar fix was a success so I started to muster up the courage to hit the other project I had which required a soldering iron.

My laptop. I have had this computer for about 4 years now and all in all it has been a good one. Before we moved out here my cord got tripped over and the contact inside the power receptical broke loose so that the wire had to be just right in order for it to power the computer. My dad has all sorts of connections in Utah and one of them, a patient was a tech at a computer repair store so he took it and fixed it. He said that he did not know how well it would hold though because he was having a hard time getting the solder in the right spot. As fate would have it, the solder job failed about 6 months ago and we have been really carefull not to move the computer so that it would not be a problem. Every once in a while it would get bumped and the computer would just shut off. Needless to say was annoying. I have been meaning to talk to B.J. about it cause he is really good at fixing things but as luck would have it, he was out of town the weekend I got the soldering iron... so ... I got on line found the manufacturer's schematics for the laptop, broke out the screw driver and went to town.

I started around 8:00pm and didn't have the mother board out until about 10:30. Once I got it out, I found the receptical and was able to see where the crack was in the last soldering job and then came the moment of truth...

I considered just taking the mother board in to a service center to get it fixed but I was impatient and full of a "here goes nothing" attitude so I fired up the soldering iron while amber held the board up on my sholder and I cautiously tried to heat up the contact from the opposite side of the board. I tried everything for about a half an hour to get it to work. My eyes were starting to dry out cause it was late and my hands were shaking and I was sweating so bad I could hardly hold onto the iron. Finally I was able to heat up the old solder to the point it melted and then the new solder went liquid in a puff of smoke and so I pulled it up. Then I started getting scared because though I had repaired the crack, I also closed the circuit on the receptical. So then I scraped away at the bead with a pocket knife till I could tell that the separate beads weren't touching and then I put it back together.

It took about an hour to put it all back together. I was scared to death that once I had it all together it was going to short out as soon as I plugged it in. I inserted the cord and plugged it into the wall and the light came on! I hit the power button and I have never been happier to hear that window's jingle... Nothing ever works out like this for me. (just ask Amber) anyways, I am thrilled cause my computer is working and my soldering iron purchase was justified. Last but not least, Amber has agreed to call me MacGyver for the next little while:)

Like all of you girls give a crap anyways...