Redneck Einstein

My husband, he of the Northern Order of Redneckians, is a genius.

After a power surge annihilated our TV set and his computer, he had to spend an entire evening without two of his three primary sources of entertainment. (I'm the third one.) It must have annoyed him greatly; no TV, no computer, and a whopper of an insurance deductible to replace them. So Redneck Einstein went to work.

I heard the sound of large heavy things being moved, plugs being unplugged and hitting the floor, something metal being pried apart... I did not go anywhere near the living room during this time. I was almost afraid to know what he was doing. He appeared a few times, once to say we no longer had a long enough TV cable to reach across the room and to ask if there was a way to hook his monitor directly to the satellite input, once to show me the power supply from his computer, which he had not only removed but completely disassembled, and once to ask which way the computer fan was supposed to blow and if the fan connector was really necessary. I crossed my fingers and wished I'd bought that fire extinguisher I wanted.

Lo and behold, my determined genius *somehow* got both units working again. (Didn't ask, don't wanna know.) Granted, upon initial power-up, the TV made some horribly pathetic noises and the picture was wonky. But once it warmed up it worked. Ditto for the PC once he got the fan going the right direction. Saved us a deductible, a claim, and at least a week of shopping for new stuff.

Moral of the story: nothing is impossible for a properly-motivated redneck with tools at his disposal and a boatload of determination. And a good fire insurance policy. ;-)