A few months ago, I didn't know de-soldering irons existed, solder wick existed, and I never took any parts off a PCB before, and I didn't know the difference between a few common solder tips and didn't know how to solder PCBs, let alone designing one. Now I know. I also have collected a few 40x2 LCDs and other parts from PCBs I bought. I feel like if I put my mind to learning mode, I can still do it. I thank the forum and the members for all the help they gave me. I think pwillard and I may have similar bins of parts that are possibly not dead. I just have to keep them and until tested dead I'll not just toss them. I've since reused some LEDs and resistors of my abandoned project in a persistence of vision project. 