Yet another use for twitter

When I joined twitter in April I was interested in finding out how educators make use of web 2.0 and wanted to share some of the education projects that I work on at Goddard Space Flight Center. I am now a fully fledged member of the Socnet and tweeting is part of my daily life. We celebrate birthdays, pick football games, watch the world series together online and support our twitter friends in a variety of ways. Today I got to do something a little different--online power tool repair!

I just had returned from Lowes and checked into Twitter when Ashpreggo tweeted that her husband had just cut through the power cord of their new Skil saw. Here's the twitter conversation:

H just bought a Skil saw we can't afford to trim the cabinets in the house, 3/8 of the way through he cut straight through the cord...

is there any hope for the saw now, or do we just have to eat the $$$ and throw it away?

@ashpreggo you should be able to patch the cord back together with electrically tape..according to @fireton who has cut many a power cord

@geosteph really? he cut clean through it, that's safe?

@fireton said trim them back about 1/2 inch-match the colors-twist on set of colors together (same color) tape it. Do the same w/2nd color..

@geosteph hug @fireton for me, he's patching the cord together, just glad it didn't hit him when he cut it

@ashpreggo the wrap those two wires together with tape, then twist the third together, tape it then wrap all 3 together with tape pulling

@geosteph there are only two wires

@ashpreggo the tape tight so it stretches... don't do any of this until you unplug the saw!!!!

@ashpreggo so there was no ground wire...shouldn't be a problem

Maybe I should have the car running and ready to take him to the ER just in case? why did I marry Tim the tool man?

@geosteph is it still okay if I want to run screaming when he tries to plug this thing and turn it on again?

@ashpreggo I guess you should be prepared for anything... after all I'm a geologist not an electrician ;-)

okay he turned it on, it works... now he's about to cut wood again... how can I get through this without biting nails?

Socnet birthday

"Yesterday it was my birthday. I hung one more year on the line. I should be depressed, my life is a mess...but I'm having a good time." Paul Simon

A few years ago I treated myself to a mac laptop and airport extreme for my birthday. I sat in my backyard downloading songs on iTunes for a birthday playlist and I thought "How cool is this!" Wireless access to just about anything...books, dvds, music, email-lots of stuff...but to a community-never entered my mind. In April 2007 I entered the world of social networking through twitter. I was a very cautious twit, checking out the public timeline and watching tweets via twittervision. I added educators who were involved in web 2.0 (at the time I had no idea what web 2.0 was) and gradually grew a friends list. I fell in with a rowdy group of twitter knitters and pirates who celebrated Stripper Friday. My first blog arrived in May......Second Life and Facebook soon followed and one day I woke up in the socnet!

Yesterday was my first birthday celebrated via web 2.0. Birthday wishes on twitter; constant pokes, stickynotes, hugs, drinks, messages, and gifts on Facebook; a cell phone birthday serenade from @preppydude; and sharing my birthday cake last night with my twitter friends. I had a day-long birthday party! and I still have the big wide grin and the warm fuzzies thanks to friends across the ether.

PS I also now expect my family and friends to sing "Happy Birthday dear geosteph....."