[DavGoodlin]

I cannot bear to see anything from the old days that works get trashed in favor of something plastic and VERY temporary. If it looks like its going to get trashed, I cannot resist.

I started messing with anything electrical out of boredom at 4 when my family lived in Texas in the mid-late 60s. The hot-dusty-electronic smell from our metal 19" motorola was hypnotic. When the picture collapsed into a very bright line, I could not turn it off because I needed my 3 Stooges fix, yet I marvelled at why it did that.

Dad and I took it somewhere an ENTIRE garage-shop smelled like that and included pipe smoke.

The repairman was just putting the cover back on when we came to get it back and as I got real close, I got dire warnings about high voltages that will "jump out and git cha".
Seeing lit tubes and hearing the sound was akin to an orchestra of parts, arranged as a cityscape. I knew I wanted to fix them.

As I grew bored with toys, house wiring and other stuff with plugs - without getting electrocuted, I was finally permitted to have a TV - a 12"bw Bradford.
The rest is personal history but with a long break in collecting ('88-'10) once I became a homeowner and had to learn a new skillset.

As a group, we are fearless tinkerers and also susceptible to the same insanity with appliances and stuff having engines and wheels.