The Peanut Mover...or Number 5 is Alive!

Originally Posted:
Thursday, April 17, 20082:31:00 PM CDT
Feeling Happy

Exciting news around the apartment...Johnny-5 is Alive! Do you remember the 1980s movie "Short Circuit" with Ally Sheedy and Steve Gutenberg where the robot (Johnny "Number 5") is kaput then it comes to life and gets itself into silly situations and eats cheesy poofs? Well....Number 5 is alive in my apartment and it's moving peanuts!!!

Elan and his friend Adam went to a garage sale the first week of school. Elan came home with the "Armatron," a Radio Shak toy from the 1980s that he had hopes and dreams of working so he can do really manly, gadgety things with. He put new batteries in it, nothing happened and so he set it aside to use for parts in for his industrial design projects. After three weeks of sitting dormant, the Armatron came to life clear out of the blue. Elan heard a loud (I can't stress how loud this thing is...It's awful!!) sound coming from his room, went to investigate and found the Armatron activated and ready to go. In a fit of elation, Elan came to my door (I'm thinking, "what the heck is that annoying noise on the other side of my door?") and all I could say was, "Number 5 is alive! Number 5 is alive!" (If you haven't seen the movie, you need to rent it so you can hear the voice I was making).

So, what's the Armatron good for? With a strong name like "The Armatron," you'd think this thing was going be part of building the international space station. No, no. The only thing that this thing is good for is moving peanuts. It can pick a peanut up, rotate it's position, then lay the peanut down. It can't crack the peanut, it can't unshell it, it can just move it. Ouuu. Impressive. Of course, Elan, being a guy, thinks this thing is the coolest thing ever.