Many items not pictured because I kept finding stuff

Some items are not pictured because I kept finding more stuff.

Finally, with the kids at home over Christmas I was able to get technical advice on what electronics we were storing were worth keeping and which were so obsolete they should be taken to that recycling center in the sky. A few decisions were easy but there is always the temptation to think that some of these cords and old floppy discs might be useful some day.

The things they OK’d for recycling were:

  • TV (This one is ready to die.)
  • 2 computer keyboards
  • 2 laptop computers (left over from kid’s college days)
  • 1 desktop computer without a monitor (also left over from college days)
  • 9 used printer cartridges
  • 2 cell phones without chargers
  • Solar powered/crank radio that is no longer fixable.
  • 1 electric wine opener with chiller. (I have no idea how we got this but it’s been sitting unopened and for over a year. We use an old fashioned cork screw to open wine and the refrigerator to chill it. Sounds like a pretty useless invention to me. (If you gave us this, it’s a duplicate so I’ll pass it on to that fellow who sits on the street corner with a bottle of wine. I’m sure he’d like to keep it chilled. 🙂 )
  • External DVD writer. This may be useful to someone but not me.
  • Logitech computer camera (I upgraded.)
  • Miscellaneous cords that befuddle me and the kids think we have enough similar cords to last longer than the gadgets they go to.
  • 1 unidentified remote.

What I kept:

  • Monitor
  • Hub to plug multiple computers into (I can’t imagine using this but one son said I couldn’t give it away.)
  • Power strip (You can never have too many of these.)
  • CD Walkman
  • 1 Mouse
  • A whole bunch of cords and connectors that the kids say are probably important

What I learned:

  1. Call in the kids for advice.
  2. Staples will give you $2 for each used printer cartridge
  3. If you don’t have the charger for older cell phones, they’re not worth saving. Yes, you might find a charger with the right connector on E-Bay or the like, but it’s a hassle.
  4. Although Gazelle  recycles many modern electronics  and pays you for it, most of my stuff was too old for them. So far Best Buy and Staples have been the best all-purpose place for electronics that I’ve found.
  5. Nobody wants an electric wine opener with chiller.
  6. This stuff mystifies me. Most electronic stuff that I saved is obsolete now.