My wife, electronics engineer.
One of our kids' toys was playing up. When the little button was pressed, instead of playing "Old MacDonald had a farm", it would go "Pzt".

"Is it the batteries?" suggests the Amish Wife.

"No," I say, confidently, and proceed to dismantle the toy and check the wiring. This involves about 28 tiny screws and lots of fiddly bits going "sproing".

"Are you sure it's not the batteries?" suggests the Amish Wife again.

"Nooo," I say. "Look, it worked just now. Must have been a loose connection." I proceed to re-introduce all fiddly bits to their little recessed homes, and replace all 28 screws.

Triumphantly, I let out a sigh and press the button. "Pzt," it says.

"Why not try changing the batteries?" suggests the Amish Wife, timidly. I am rarely happy while doing DIY, what with tiny screws and bits that go "sproing".

"Bloody hell, woman, it's not the batteries. I've got a degree in electronics and ..." blah blah blah. The Amish Wife disappears again to go and weave some yoghurt or something.

After another fruitless disassembly and assembly, including checking that the switches work using a multimeter, I sheepishly try some new batteries... e i e i o.

So, I learned a valuable lesson: If you're not doing what your wife tells you, you're doing it wrong.
( Amish Information Systems hates misplaced, commas, Thu 15 Jul 2010, 14:42, 6 replies)

I think the lesson in this
is actually check the obvious first.
(Petite chien is going to do science to it, Thu 15 Jul 2010, 15:24, closed)

and that sproing is a fantastic word

( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Thu 15 Jul 2010, 15:28, closed)

first rule of engineering.
If it doesn't work plug it in.
(waxdart hello., Fri 16 Jul 2010, 11:28, closed)

^This^

( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 15:24, closed)

I do similar but more expensively...
As I am not an electronics engineer and usually break stuff... like the time I tried to fix a loose connection on an tape/radio walkman. Got the solder nice and hot, applied tip to metal and introduced solder. Perfect. Only the heat spread across the board and melted all teh other circuit and the whole bloody lot fell apart...

I also most days spent 5 mins wondering why my craptop isn't charging, check and clean the connections, reboot, fiddle with the wire in different positions only to the think of turning the plug on...
(Something funny, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 19:20, closed)

*click* for "I sheepishly try some new batteries... e i e i o"

(WillI'mNot logs in twice a year, every year, Wed 21 Jul 2010, 0:47, closed)