When I bought my computer, I decided to splurge and buy a new monitor as well.\u00a0 This could prove to\u00a0be an unnecessary and foolish luxury. I did have five fully functional CRT monitors on the floor of my office.\u00a0 I am also on the fast track to unemployment.\u00a0 My current contract is over in a month.\u00a0 I may secure another job between now and then.\u00a0 Then again, I may not.<\/p>\n
In my defense, there\u00a0are reasons\u00a0to get rid of your old CRT’s.\u00a0 They don’t have anywhere near the resolution of the new flat screens.\u00a0 I remember their time being up as far back as 2004. I had a short gig doing desktop upgrades at the offices of the California State Bar in downtown San Francisco.\u00a0 Part of this was replacing CRT monitors with new flat screens.\u00a0 The old equipment was taken to a floor that was still under construction.\u00a0 When I saw row after row of CRT’s with their screens all facing me, my brain should have thought, “Gee, I have a bunch of these at home.\u00a0 Maybe I should get rid of some of them.”<\/p>\n
Instead, I thought that they kind of looked like space helmets and addressed them thusly: “Greetings troopers.\u00a0 I am Commander Zork.\u00a0 Today you will lay waste to the agrarian society on the planet below so that I may rebuild their world with gladiator arenas, fast-food restaurants, and whorehouses.”<\/p>\n
As a result, my own collections of old monitors spent the next six and a half years gathering dust\u00a0on my floor.<\/p>\n
These monitors were not only dinosaurs.\u00a0 They were\u00a0also bulky, weighed a ton, and\u00a0were full of toxins.\u00a0 You can’t just throw the things away.\u00a0 The innards of these monitors can find their way into the ground water, resulting in a skyrocketing cancer rate and birth defects that would make a sideshow barker blush.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, there are other ways disposing of these things.\u00a0 You can pay an electronics-recycling service to take them off your hands.\u00a0 Goodwill still accepts them as donations as well.\u00a0 At least I think they do.\u00a0 I dumped four of my five CRT’s (all that would fit in my friend’s car) in the donation bin just inside the front door.\u00a0 No one seemed to mind, though I’m not sure anyone noticed me.\u00a0 I didn’t stick around to find out.\u00a0 It’s amazing what kinds of things are allowable for those who are willing to make strategic assumptions and haul ass.’<\/p>\n
So four down, one to go, and that will go the next time my friend volunteers to make a Goodwill run (note to self: remember to peel the “ASS PHLEGM” sticker off the front of it first).\u00a0 If there’s room, I’ll also get rid of a couple of old computers, minus their hard drives.\u00a0 I am too lazy to format the things and I doubt they want my porn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I bought my computer, I decided to splurge and buy a new monitor as well.\u00a0 This could prove to\u00a0be an unnecessary and foolish luxury. I did have five fully functional CRT monitors on the floor of my office.\u00a0 I am also on the fast track to unemployment.\u00a0 My current contract is over in a … Continue reading Things New and Old<\/span>