Geek Code/Cred

I have finally decided to start messing with my electronics kit. I haven't fooled with electronics for probably 15 years, give or take. I remember when I "dating" Ross that I was very much into electronics, tech stuff, and other geekish activities. This is probably about the time that I had this little cheap breadboard and played with resistors, capacitors, LEDs, etc. I loved using this thing, and I even learned a bit about electronics, but, as with all my other interests, it was short-lived and I soon moved on to something else.

I'm just as flaky with my interests today.

Well, not today as in this very day, but rather today as in, me at age 27. Anyway, today I finally took the notion to get out the electronics kit that I've been lusting after ever since I bought it at Radio Shack some several weeks ago. Yes, I lust after things I already have. It's the purest lust available. Got down the kit and almost gave up. Side note: When I first got it, I started reading the info they give you for before you start, but then I got tired of it. But this time I decided to just review the safety stuff and jump right into the first project, which was to create a blinking LED.

So I followed the rules, installed batteries, turned the sucker on, and, though I was proud to see the LED light up, I wa dismayed that it was not blinking. Took me a few trials and errors to find out that I had the IC upside down. Fixed that and it worked perfectly. Even did the additional modified projects for it. Then I moved on to the second project, titled, "Build a 555 'Black Box' Test Circuit" which worked properly the first time. I'm already picking up on the various capacitors and resistors. Wish I was actually learning how this stuff all worked again, rather than just plugging wires into a breadboard. Sure I learned about it in junior high and high school science classes, but it didn't stay with me as well as some other lessons did.

Anyway, I was wondering if circuitry would count toward my geek cred. I have a long way to go, but I really want to establish myself in the geek world. Jerome said I could probably figure out a way to incorporate it into my geek code, so I looked up the official website. I'm still not sure if I can add electronics into it, but I can probably fit it in there somewhere. In the meantime, I'm going to continue listening to Tech Stuff podcasts, practicing coding, and experimenting with my electronics kit.

On a side note, I also helped Jerome with MLA today. Feels kinda good to be a geek and a nerd in the same day.