Finding a computer in a skip changed my life!

When I tell people that a skip changed my life for the better, they look at me in total disbelief, but it is totally true and I am not ashamed to tell the whole world how this amazing thing happened. Like the vast majority of people, in the past, the content of a skip did not interest me, but this changed dramatically when I came across a skip full of rubbish while going for a walk.

While walking past the skip, I noticed that there were two bulky cardboard boxes in the far corner. To my shame, for which I am profoundly embarrassed, the temptation to rummage in that skip was more than I could bare and I jumped in with gusto to see what was in those boxes.

Inside the two boxes were two old laptop computers, one was a Dell Inspiron (1996 model), the other was a Toshiba Satellite (1996 model). These were very old computers that had been thrown out by the owner, but I was broke, did not have a computer, this was therefore a good opportunity to get a free computer.

When I arrived home with the computers in their boxes, I noticed that droplets of water was dripping from the ventilation slots on both computers. It was the middle of summer, the weather had changed from thunder storm to sunshine, therefore, I decided to hang the laptops from my washing line, to drip dry for a few days.

After being hung on the washing line for three days, I took the computers indoors to clean them and spray them with WD40, water and moisture repellent spray. At that time I was busy, therefore, I placed the computers in a cupboard, it remained in that place, forgotten, for about two months.

When I eventually removed the computers from the cupboard and plugged them into the mains to my amazement, they worked perfectly. It was hard to believe that they had spent a number of days in a waterlogged skip, they both had strong clear displays and soft sensitive keyboard.

It was great to have two working computers because I had become interested in the internet, which I had began to use on a regular basis via terminals at my local reference library, where this service was free to members. But with newly found computers, I saw this as not only an opportunity to surf the net from home, but also a chance to have a go at teaching myself web design.

Learning basic web design was not the huge problem I thought it would be, I was able to get a good selection of website design magazines, complete with free software, from WH Smiths and Mr Patel's corner shop. To my amazement, learning web design took over my life, they do say “you can't teach an old dog new tricks.” Well, I may have been barking mad, but I was having fun doing something that I truly enjoyed, which was cost me almost nothing.

After a few months, I was confident enough to design and build my first website, with each new project, my experience and confidence increases and I now find it hard to believe how bizarre my entry into this field was. The projects that I have done are varied, but all give me a certain amount of excitement, which is something that I have always craved in my life.

I do not know who said “you can't get something for nothing,” but someone's rubbish in a skip, helped me to learn a skill that has given me a new lease of life. What is also amazing, is that I am now working on an internet project which I believe will give me financial security. I truly believe that “one man's rubbish is another man's gold mine.”