August 31, 2018
Dear Everyone:
The next time you buy some computer-based electronic gadget, take a look
at the receipt. Don’t be
surprised if you are charged a “nominal” fee for “recycling” the item
when you are no longer inclined to use it.
This is not unlike the “redemption
value” that is added on when you purchase a soft drink in a plastic
(used to be glass) bottle or aluminum can.
In theory, you can take the bottle or can to a recycling station
and get back the five cents that you paid for it.
If you want to take the time to do that.
I used to have a co-worker who actually did collect bottles and cans and
take them in for the cash.
When I found out about it, I always gave her my recyclables instead of
dropping them in the big blue bin positioned in the break area.
Old televisions,
computer
monitors, laptops,
printers,
smartphones,
MP3 players, all
have components that need to be
recycled.
The problem has been finding a place that actually takes the
recyclables. For a few
years, there was a small hole-in-the-wall place here in
San Ramon
that accepted e-waste and proclaimed that the proceeds went to support
research to end
breast cancer, a laudable idea in itself.
I took a couple of really old laptops there one day.
I had to fill out forms, in triplicate, for each item, stating my
name, address, phone number, email address, the make and model of the
PC, complete with Serial Number and my affirmation that the equipment
really, really belonged to me and I was recycling it of my own free
will. It took a while.
Nevertheless, I was doing my civic duty and could count it as
taking a few months off my term in
Purgatory.
But then one day the laudable e-waste vendor vanished.
I realized this one day a while back, when I drove past it and it
wasn’t there anymore. And
the laptops, smartphones, etc. have been piling up in the second
bedroom, also known as The Catchall Room, or The Really Big Closet, ever
since.
A few months ago, I visited one of the Big Blue Electronics Warehouse
Stores to get some help with a laptop that was misbehaving.
They quickly diagnosed the problem and showed me how to fix it.
While I was there, I noticed that the Big Blue Electronics
Warehouse Store now had a large sign announcing that they would accept
any “old” electronics that needed recycling, whether you had bought it
from them or not.
In the meantime, I needed to replace my smartphone before it died on me
at the absolute most inconvenient time possible.
I accomplished this with relative ease.
And I decided that, since I now had an “old” phone (minus the
SIM
Card, of course) that could do virtually nothing, I should turn it
in for recycling. Ditto all
those old laptops that were taking up valuable space in The Really Big
Closet.
But first, I had to scrub them.
I wanted to make sure that all of my Contacts were removed from the
“old” phone. However,
because it was linked to my online
email account,
deleting them from the phone would cause them to disappear from the
online account as well.
To get around that, I exported the Contacts list from the email account
first. Then I deleted them
from the phone, and turned it off.
While the phone wasn’t looking, I imported the Contacts back into
the email account.
Now comes the important part:
I waited until the first of the month and changed my password on
the email account. When I
turned the phone on again, it couldn’t bring back all the Contacts
because I wouldn’t give it the new password.
This is known as “How to Outsmart User-Friendly”.
Meanwhile, there’s all those documents on the laptop computers…
As everyone knows, when you delete a document on a computer, it doesn’t
really get deleted at all.
The computer simply “moves” the document to the “Recycle Bin”, or
“Trash” directory. The
document no longer appears in the File Manager, or Documents folder, or
any sub-folders; but it hasn’t really disappeared for good.
You just have to know to look for it in the “deleted documents”
location.
You can even “restore” or “undelete” it, if necessary.
That’s one reason the “Recycle Bin” is there.
In case you made a mistake and deleted the wrong file.
I wanted to make sure all my “deleted” documents were really and truly
deleted before handing the laptops over to a bunch of strangers.
The representative at the Big Blue Electronics Warehouse Store
had assured me that the first thing they do is run an
electric drill
through the hard
drive, to destroy any and all contents.
And it’s not like I store a lot of
child
pornography or anything.
Nevertheless, I wanted those documents gone before turning in the
computers.
So I pulled all the laptops out of their hiding places and into the
living room. All five of
them. Opened each one of
them. Hopefully remembered
what password or PIN I had used on each one.
I did get stuck on one, but the “Hint” said “Barbra
Streisand” and that was enough to remember the appropriate password.
I went through each directory and deleted all documents, pictures,
music, everything. THEN, I
went into the Recycle Bin and deleted them all again.
This took a lot of time.
However, I realized that I didn’t have to do it all in one day.
In fact, I didn’t know how much time it would take to consign
each piece to the Customer Service counter at the Big Blue Electronics
Warehouse Store. So I
settled for the two oldest laptops, one MP3 player, the “old” cell
phone, and an iPod that
I found in a kitchen drawer and where-the-heck-did-that-come-from?
Stuffed everything into a box.
Ever notice how heavy even a “lightweight” laptop is?
Try carrying five of them at one time.
Even with only two, I brought along my trusty little old folding
hand-truck to wheel the box out to the car and into the Big Blue
Electronics Warehouse Store.
I only had to wait in line for a couple of minutes.
The representative cheerfully asked, “Recycling?”
When I agreed, she happily pulled everything out of the box and dumped
it all into a big bin behind a curtain.
That was it. No
questions. No forms.
No proof that they were really, really mine.
Just hand them over and the rest of the afternoon was mine to do
with as I pleased. Ain’t
life grand?
And no, I didn’t get any of the “deposit” money back.
Just the peace of mind of getting all that old equipment out of
my way. Only three more
laptops to go…
Love, as always,
Pete
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