This week our episode is about electronics repair with Virginia Tech assistant professor Dr. Jennifer Russell. We loved hearing Dr. Russell’s stories about taking all kinds of electronics apart with her students. Enjoy!
Fun Q+A
1. What’s your favorite example of a product to repair? For practical reasons, I tend towards repairs that can be accomplished via sewing or glue; this often tends to be anything in the ‘kids stuff’ realm. I’ve become quite effective at repairing kids clothing (tears, button-replacement, hemming), kids toys (wooden trucks, metal cars), and in our house, repairing/remanufacturing a beloved ‘blankey’. I can’t claim any kind of expertise on these – but I do enjoy the act of setting aside time to get these things back to ‘working’ order, and the feeling of being able to figure out a solution on my own.
2. Name something that you own and love and has been in use for more than 5 years. I have an amazing Columbia winter jacket that has been with me for almost 10 years; I love it, and I don’t want to replace it ever. Unfortunately, it is showing it’s love recently (see #3 comment) – if I can figure that problem out I plan to keep it going for another 10 years.
3. What is something you want to learn to repair yourself? More advanced clothing repair skills – a few of the teeth in the zipper of my favorite jacket finally wore out just this past week; the zipper is now unusable (not a great start to January!). I’ve ordered a replacement zipper, and am stacking some skill-building YouTube videos with a goal of advancing my clothing repair skills ASAP. Other clothing repair as well – e.g., replacing a liner in a classic old trench coat that used to belong to my grandmother. I find sewing kind of meditative, in addition to being practical and important.
4. What is a product in your daily life that cannot be repaired that frustrates you? Home appliances! I am always drawn to figure out/diagnose what is going on with the washing machine, kettle, and coffee maker – but once diagnosed, I am still out of luck due to lack of expertise, parts and tools, and the fear of making the problem worse. There is no reason why coffee makers have become “consumable” and need to be replaced every three years!
Thanks to Trove
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See you next week,
Cynthia + Laura