I’ve always had a thing for taking stuff apart. It’s more than a hobby—it’s part of my DNA.
It all started in the late ’60s, when my neighbor Richard Vanwagner—Chief Officer for the Radar Development Team at Fort Monmouth (now Netflix’s East Coast HQ)—taught me how to fix our family’s old 13” black-and-white Zenith TV. The tube would burn out constantly, so I’d haul it down the hill and Richard would walk me through testing and tweaking the circuitry. That lit the fuse.
Soon I was dismantling my dad’s amplifiers, rigging them to my Harman Kardon stereo, and blasting the B-52’s “Rock Lobster” so loud the cops showed up—not because of complaints, but because they could hear it from nearly a mile away.
By the late ’80s, I was in art school building my first computer from scratch. When the desktop revolution hit, I was perfectly positioned to launch my career as a Graphic Designer and Art Director, working with major ad firms and big-name brands in NYC. Tech wasn’t just a tool—it was how I created. And in advertising, standing out means living on the bleeding edge. I’ve always done that, both in my work and my hobbies.
What started as a personal passion evolved into something bigger. I beta tested for Adobe and FileMaker Pro, worked with Apple on a side hustle (story for another day), and reviewed gear for the MyMac Podcast. It was a wild ride through the frontlines of innovation.
These days, I’m not building electronics—I’m dismantling them. I post in local Facebook groups asking for old gear destined for the trash. I pick it up for free, strip out the valuable parts, sell what I can, and sort the metals. There’s a local dump here in Jersey that pays for recyclable components like motherboards. I usually walk away with $30 to $75 per haul—just enough for gas or an appetizer at Brick House Tavern + Tap. Some months, I make up to $700 selling parts.
What do I love most? The thrill of taking things apart, the satisfaction of keeping e-waste out of landfills, or the pocket change that makes it all worthwhile? Hard to say. But it’s fun, it’s purposeful, and I’ll keep at it until the junk runs dry.
Please give me a call before you toss out any old electronics.
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