Strong obsession to take things apart (as a child)

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I loved taking apart electronics growing up and investigating them! I always wondered how they worked . I also liked putting them back together, my main victim for this however was flashlights they were easy and they cam with springs inside I could relatively easliy remove. My mom eventually stopped butting flashinghts because of this. We never had them when we needed them because I had dissected them all and taken thier springs

I loved taking apart electronics growing up and investigating them! I always wondered how they worked . I also liked putting them back together, my main victim for this however was flashlights they were easy and they cam with springs inside I could relatively easliy remove. My mom eventually stopped butting flashinghts because of this. We never had them when we needed them because I had dissected them all and taken thier springs

I used to throw things into the river knowing that I could never retrieve them again, I don't know why, I used to smash a few of my cars to make them look like it was a car crash. It made me feel sad that I could never get it back the way it was. Like when you crack and then scramble an egg theory.

I used to take things apart so I could collect the motors or anything electrical so I could connect it up too my mechano and other things I was making, mostly cranes with pulley systems, cars made from cardboard with on board lighting systems and I used to colour in pieces of round cardboard, connect them to a motor and watch them spin. It all started when I saw a dolls house and each room of the house would light up which made it realistic for me. And I used to take the AA battery packs from school to connect everything up.

The day I stopped doing this was the day I decided to open a microwave to collect pieces, and my farther came running out the door yelling at me to stop. I think this put me off as I was never aware that there was harmfull microwaves in the machine. Luckily I didn't touch the box or I would have been microwaved. That was the end of that career. Lol

If you open microwave which is not operating, there are no microwaves, however there is one evil thing, that is dangerous even if you unplug it - huge capacitor, if you touch it without discharging it first, it will give you huge shock, which can stop your heath.

I see, I wouldn't have known about how to discharge a capacitor then, luckily it was unplugged, and lucky my father stopped me. There are instructions online just to make sure no unexpected surprises happen. As the warning label never stopped me. It's probably a good idea to read them first or have a clue about what it is your about to open.
Thanks for the advice Gyrxiur

You're welcome, btw discharging is simple, just connect both contacts together with some long screwdriver, be sure to hold it by insulated handle, not metal, it will make big spark and you are safe. You can also find charged capacitors in cameras, where is pretty big capacitor for flash, it is not that dangerous, but I was shocked by it and it doesn't feel good

I like taking microwaves apart! Not sure why, but I like keeping the magnetrons.
There are some pretty cool things you can do with the transformers too. the output is like 5000 volts. I want to find another microwave and experiment with the transformer and capaciters

Just be careful. I also like doing experiments, I've once made device for electrolysis of water, to make it work better, I had to improve conductivity of water, so I've put a lot of salt in it. It was bubbling, making oxygen and hydrogen in best possible mix, very explosive stuff for fun! But what I didn't know was, that that salt in it was bad idea and I was making also chlorine gas, which is bad poison, it was used as chemical weapon in WW1. I was wondering, why I felt so bad for three days after experiments Also, on top of water, another nice chemical was forming - hydrochloric acid. So that was my best evil device ;c)

obsession/addiction turned into professions!

I was a real gremlin when I was little, anything and everything with screws was in need of "fixin" when I was little. my paternal grandfather taught me "righty-tighty, lefty losey" when I was no older than five. The first "hands on self taught learning experience" he gave me was an old cuckoo clock before he died when I was 8. While I never fixed the clock it was the beginning of my understanding of the engineering and mechanics of how a mechanical clock worked (more on this later...).
I had an innate talent for fixing vacuum cleaners as a teenager, picked up small engine repair (lawn mowers, edgers, chain saws), then went to college for electronics.
now on to my 20's...... i came across a deplorably neglected anniversary clock in 2004(ish) which i tore down, cleaned up, and got running again after a couple of months of tinkering. (remember the cuckoo clock??). this led me to collecting and repairing mechanical clocks as a hobby.... now i have a small shop where I live where my main trade is clock repair. I'm a standing business member of the NAWCC (National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors). My primary focus is clocks.... but i also fix pretty much anything needing "fixin"... clocks, computers, bicycles, vacuums, home appliances and electronics, record players, automobiles, generators..... The only thing I can't seem to fix is my own personal life!
On the topic of capacitors.... It's not wise to short out the terminals on large caps without a strong resistor! you can cause them to overheat and explode, or if the conductor used to short the terminals is too small to handle the high current, the wire its self can melt and "pop", throwing molten metal in all directions. You could easily lose an eye in this manner. My advice is use a resistor with a high ohm and current rating.