Many moons ago, when clocks ticked and tocked and kept you awake when you desperately wanted to get to sleep, I remember deciding to try and fix one that was no longer working. Well, as it wasn't working I couldn't really make it any worse now, could I!!
Anyway, I gets my large philips screwdriver which is way too big for the little screws, but after a bit of head mangling I finally manage to get the screws out. The thinking was, whenever you take something apart and then put it back together, you always seem to be left with some 'spare' screws that simply didn't go anywhere. I was sure manufacturers put them in on purpose for the exact reason I have described.
The inside of that clock was, well, nothing short of amazing. Have you ever wondered how long someone sat down for to come up with such a complicated web of cogs, levers, cogs, piston-like things, cogs, and cogs. What a mess it all was, but so finely made it was exquisite to watch... when it was working, which in this case it wasn't. But by spinning one of the stationary cogs you could get some idea of it, an action that would keep me amused and intrigued for hours; I know it was hours because I moved the hands myself to prove it was so.
So, on to the operation to get it working. If I take off this small cog at the front... oh dang, the whole thing has just fallen apart! How the hell could something so small and innocent-looking hold all of that together like some sort of glue??? Maybe that's a question for Lizzie; being small and innocent looking (according to what I've heard, not that I listen to gossip) she might be able to shed some light on this matter, and, of course, being a top notch sperimentalist herself.
Why is it that whenever you took apart one of these clocks, the spring always shot out and hit you in the face. It didn't matter what angle you held it at, it was always the face!
Well, as the whole clock mechanism was apart now, it should be easy to find where the problem is. If only I could figure out which piece fixed to which other piece; after all, someone else managed to put it together, so why couldn't I. After what again was a few hours of trying (yes, I moved the hands myself again) and not being able to fit one single piece of this goddamn complicated jigsaw together, I put all the bits, including the extra screws, into the clock case, took it to my dad and said "I think it's broken". His laugh didn't seem altogether sincere!
Oh what fun that was. Can't do that any more these days as they're all now circuit boards, and they're no fun. All you can do there is scratch away one of the lines to see what will happen. Well, that's pretty obvious... it won't work any more. Or you could try de-soldering some part or soldering on some new part, but again it will only accomplish the same result... it won't work any more.
So, I guess we should be thankful for kitchens and newly acquired attics-come-laboratories, without which we wouldn't have Lizzie and her awesome speriments that pave our way to a better future. Certainly one that is more fun. But, as we have to tell all children, don't try these things at home.
I wonder if they've ever let Lizzie anywhere near Area 51? Now that would be some interesting speriments and sperimentations.