MacGyver does it again!

So, remember a few posts back about how I lamented that our camera had kicked the bucket? Or rather - flew out of hands, smashed to the ground, and bent up - so to speak?

Well, leave it to my husband to take on a project and get results! I think a couple things put a bug in his head about it. 1) Walking into Home Depot yesterday I took the picture attached to yesterday's post. He probably felt bad watching me try to lug my SLR camera (flash attached) out of my purse while trying not to spill my large coffee. 2)We were in Sam's and I showed him the latest version of the camera that had been destroyed - and the hefty price tag that came with it. I could see the wheels turning, but basically dismissed it.

When we got home, he disappeared. About a half-hour later he comes downstairs with these teeny-tiny pieces cupped in his hands and announces that he's got the camera working again, he just has to get the shutter attached and working.

Well, I was thrilled with the first part, honestly. Here's a schematic of how the camera looked after being dropped on the floor (I can draw schematics currently because my kids are in school FULL TIME now...and I'm not teaching.) When broken it basically turned on, but there was nothing happening after that - no lens moving, no pictures being able to be taken:

So, the fact that he was able to get it to a point where the lens actually popped in and out again - good stuff! So I followed him to the kitchen table where the next part of the surgery was performed. This involved tweezers, a straight pin and a nail file. All legitimate tools, I'm sure, for the professional camera technician.

Mike had to reattach the shutter flippers and these teeny-tiny-itsy-bitsy springs. I mean small. See them? Boogers are bigger than these things:

Then he would get one attached and work on the next one and we'd hear this little "boing" and we'd both be on the floor crawling around looking for it. This happened a few times over the next 30 minutes as we worked to get things attached. I also told him it was probably a good thing he wasn't a real surgeon because his hands were very shaky. Good grief - I just realized this was us "playing doctor". Only in the Murphy house.

But, somehow he did it! He popped the cover back on the lens, took a breath and took a picture. Everything seems to be working like new. I now have a portable camera again and will still be able to annoy my family members anywhere.