Seb turned 9, and he's the best nine-year-old anyone could want! I love his bright little mind and all his varied and absorbing interests. For the last while, he's been poring over electronics books and telling me all sorts of things about them. It definitely is a challenge trying to keep up with him; I'm being forced into reading schematic diagrams and looking up articles online, and learning more about electronics than (frankly) I ever really wanted to. And I still find myself just shrugging and saying, "Hmm, we'll have to look for a book about that," more often than not.
For Seb's birthday, we got him a set of screwdrivers and this old TV (or "CRT" as he insists on calling it, for "cathode ray tube," which is its more accurate name, apparently) at D.I. for $5. I think the big "WARNING: DO NOT OPEN: HIGH VOLTAGE! RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK!" sign on the back added to the appeal, honestly. Seb figured out how to ground the high-voltage plate using a screwdriver before opening it up, and later he assured me that he also "broke the vacuum tube inside so it wouldn't implode. Don't worry, I was really careful." Um, okay. Good thing he reads up on stuff like that. He's been happily working away at it ever since, like a mad scientist.
We sure love this guy!
great presents!
ReplyDeleteGlad t see he has some common sense. I used to teach adults how to work with CRTs and stay out of hospital. They can be DANGEROUS. Not just high voltagee and a chance of an implosion giving you a faceful of flying glass, the phosphor in the screen is very toxic and the screen itself is lead glass. So be more than just careful. Be very careful.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, that sounds very alarming! I will make sure he is careful. I wish he had a professional like yourself around to show him the ropes! Thank heavens for YouTube tutorials and other online help. :)
Delete