I seem to have inheirited one of my wife's coworker friends. You know, the old coot retired kind. He is like family though and somehow I'm supposed to keep an eye on him. Of course, you know you are on speed dial for tech support when they figure out you know something about computers. Like a bad habit, you just can't say No. Which brings us to this. Let's say "Grandpa", used in a most reverent way, had his computer crash last week. You get some urgent calls and voicemails. You return the calls and try to troubleshoot over the phone. No picture on screen and no sounds from the computer. Luckily he has a spare computer given to him by a relative when they cleaned out their office. He manages to get that one plugged in and fired up. All kinds of messages start popping up and he starts deleting things. Computer is getting slower and hangs. (This is a true story, by the way) Well, I am forced to make a housecall since Caitlin said he sounded so sad without his computer. Caitlin suggested, why doesn't he just get an ipad? Well, grandpa did just learn to skype and videochat with his grandkids. Anyway, we meet for lunch and go grab the two computers to fix. He's gonna need to go cold turkey on the penny stocks for a few days. I just finished fixing the original machine by replacing the power supply and wiped the other one to rebuild a Windows machine. The original machine was all caked with dust and a brown nicotine coating which I surmised had siezed the cooling fans and overheated the machine into submission.(didn't take pictures, but the horror, someone should put up a forum topic with the dirtiest computer) Sorry but I had to do a total decon on the machine before I could work on it. So yeah, a smoke-filled environment is not good for the user nor the machine nor for the guy that has to open the machine up. And so after lunch he made a bee-line to the corner store for a $12 pack of cigarettes and a lotto ticket. He's has all the stuff to quit smoking but admits to not breaking open any of the aid packages. Addiction is tough to beat.
But on a happier note, that was the inspiration of this ible. If you can't beat 'em, make something to help. I knocked this together today so I can give it to him when I bring the machines back. My "Tuesdays with Morrie".
So this is how my "Tuesdays with Morrie" will go. I will ask to see the pack of cigarettes that he bought after our lunch. I will then seal it in my Quit Smoking Emergency Box because I will bring along my portable drill/driver and use my square drive screws(he'll have to find the right bit if he wants to attempt to open the box) It's not mean, it's an intervention. We do "love grandpa". And it will sit next to the repaired computer as a reminder to get out and do better things.
DISCLAIMER: I am a non-smoker. It's your choice if you smoke but don't do it near me. I have seen the effects of chain smoking catch up with some people, it ain't pretty. The illustration prop inside the Emergency Box is not intended as an advertisement nor endorsement of smoking. It is hazardous to everyone's health around the smoker and it's nasty.
I put this together with stuff I found laying around leftover from other projects. OK, the only thing I had to "borrow" was a bottle of Caitlin's "glow in the dark" fabric paint. It is the 3-D kind which is gelled and applied with the bottle needle tip applicator.
The Emergency Box is just a simple wooden box with a plexiglas front panel.
I had a piece of leftover plexiglas (acrylic plastic - the cheap one, the LEXAN bulletproof grade polycarbonate is $$$)
Some lumber strips of 1 x 2 and trim 1 x 1 strips.
I also had a block of 1 x 3 to use as the base.
You need some red paint so it will look like a real emergency box.
CAUTION: This is a simple woodworking project so be able to safely cut and fasten your pieces together.
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