3 July 2005
4 July 2005
5 July 2005
6 July 2005
7 July 2005
8 July 2005
9 July 2005
10 July 2005
11 July 2005
12 July 2005
13 July 2005
14 July 2005
Credits
The Team
Preparing Computers
22 June 2005
23 June 2005
24 June 2005
25 June 2005
26 June 2005
27 June 2005
28 June 2005
29 June 2005
30 June 2005
1 July 2005
2 July 2005
This is the computer lab at Mount Si High School where we ghosted (imaged) all 140 computers. It was quite a process, and lugging those PCs from the office into the classroom did get a bit tiring after a while.
Some of the Forest Ridge girls hadn't played with the BIOS before or looked inside a computer, so this was an excellent learning experience for them. By the end of the nine months of preparation, they had become "ze future techies." :-)
Of course, Mr. Thompson, who came in every Saturday to help us out, set up some troubleshooting scenarious for us, such as loose processors, and the like. Poor Jamie...looks like she became a participant in one of those scenarios.
By the beginning of May we were done hardware and software preparations. This picture shows all 140 PCs in Mr. Thompson's office. Now all we need to do is get the monitors here and start packing.
Of course, all this work is not without a little fun and games. During a break session, Mr. Thompson teaches our group how to play a new card game, perfect for our long layover in Heathrow. I'm not exactly sure if we ever played it at Heathrow, because I eventually fell asleep during the layover.
It's now packing day! The computers and monitors are lined up along the sides of the Mount Si hallway, along with their corresponding boxes. Each serial number is recorded for customs, and the packing commences. Packing takes a little less than a weekend, and usually involves gently placing each computer, monitor, and corresponding accessories into boxes then padding them with clothes, which are to be donated to villages in Uganda, or other various forms of stuffing material when we run out.
Once the boxes were sealed, they were neatly placed into stacks on top of palettes. We let the dads take care of that part. :-)
Next, the stacks were tightly shrink-wrapped so that the boxes would not shift and fall off during transport.
The finished palettes were then dragged toward the entrance where they would be picked up later that week. Fredrik (seen dragging the palette in the picture) totally has the system down.
All that's left is the clan up. In no time, Mr. Thompson has retrieved one of the custodian's vacuums and is taking care of the stray bits of tape, paper, and lint on the floor.
Ta da! We're done! Now all that's left is for the palettes to be picked up and transported to their final destination: Uganda. All we have to do is wait...
Next: Day 1