I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards, and broken things.
Him: Why wouldn’t you just buy a phone? That seems like a waste of time and money.
When I was in college, my buddy Buckley used to fix my computer for me, which was often because I had no idea what I was doing. After the umpteenth time, he finally slammed the door in my face and said, “Fix it yourself!”
Which ended up being a really good thing because I taught myself how to do just that – before the age of YouTube – and ended up paying for part of law school with money I made building computers and networks.
Similarly, after I realized I didn’t know a thing about cars, bought a really beat up old BMW 325i and essentially fixed most things I could. To this day, a lotta of my old friends remember me driving around without a passenger seat while I was looking for the perfect one.
In any case, couldn’t sleep well last week so I started a project I’d been wanting to do for a while; built a phone from scratch.
After doing some research, I ended up choosing the Nexus 5 because (a) I’ve owned a few and (b) it got an iFixit rating of 8 out of 10 to repair and the parts were pretty available.
My cousin Lynn was nice enough to give me her busted phone to practice on, which was also a good thing because I absolutely destroyed that.
With those lessons learned, the whole thing went surprisingly fast; only about three total hours and I was done. The most expensive part was the screen, which I managed to snag for $90, new.
Figure I’ll just sell it for what I bought it, which prompted a buddy to ask me why I did it in the first place.
And my answer has always been the same as for why I built my own computer, car, DVR, network, etc.
Me: I didn’t do it for the phone. I did it for the understanding. I don’t like not understanding things.
We should all die knowing something, cause we’re not here for very long.
But there’s another reason, of course. Like the good Mr. Lannister, I have a soft spot for discarded and broken things.
Should mention that I remained friends with Buckley for over 20 years; he and I ended up buying the Manhattan apartment I live in now.
Good friends challenge you to be the best version of yourself.
Location: my UWS apartment
Mood: accomplished
Music: Rolling stone gathers no moss but leave a trail of busted stuff
Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
