The Tech Bucket of Stuff

Every good Geek should have the "Tech Bucket of Stuff". Most often, this bucket is found in a closet crammed between stacked copy boxes of comic books and anime VHS tapes. Mine is located in the space between my drafting table and my bookshelf here in my home office.

Technically, this is Mr. Probert's tech bucket- he's been collecting spare peripherals and network cable longer than I have, but the past few years the knotted spaghetti stored in this tall kitchen trashcan has been a group effort.


Traits of the perfect Tech Bucket:

1) When you pull out one wire, the entire contents of the bucket come out too. Ideally, still holding the shape of the bucket- like an ice cube being popped from the tray. Organizing the bucket removes the element of adventure and problem solving from the hunt.

2) Nothing is ever discarded from the bucket. EVER. The power supply for a Commodore 64 could come in handy someday.

3) Don't limit the contents to just computer gear- old phones, toaster cords and fishtank heaters are also full of possibilities

4) Consider having a Tech Bucket Annex. If you have a spare bedroom, fill it up with your old cases, motherboards and things that don't fit neatly inside a tall kitchen trashcan.

5) Though it may be useful to pick up spare parts at garage sales and flea markets, the Tech Bucket is an organic collection of bits and pieces that must ONLY originate from equipment owned by your immediate family. It is however acceptable to add pieces that "accidentally" break off any computer that you might be "repairing" for a friend, or "unnecessary spare parts" that come with your sister's Dell laptop that you ordered for her to take to college, such as that extra gig of ram she wouldn't know what to do with.

and finally

6) Never use the contents of the Tech Bucket for an arts and crafts project unless you are prepared to file for divorce.

Yesterday, I dipped into the bucket a few times looking for goodies and I came out with the following items that I didn't even know we had:

-Microphone headset (found it about 2 hours too late for what I needed it for)
-Several USB to PS2 adapters which I always need for my never ending mouse problems
-a working HP Pavillion ze4500 and wireless card which I promptly setup for Panorama to use to play Keyboard Elmo