Favorite Things: Timothy David and his Ghostbusters proton pack

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Timothy David works in the online world as an SEO analyst and performs in a nerdy punk rock band called Bathroom of the Future. He has a lot of hobbies focused on geek culture, but it’s his grandfather who was the ultimate nerdy craftsman. David’s favorite thing is the custom-built Ghostbusters proton pack his late grandfather made for him.

I chose the Ghostbusters proton pack that my grandfather built me a very long time ago. When I was a little kid, my parents exposed me to the Ghostbusters cartoon and movie, which was still kind of a relevant thing at the time. I was a baby of the late-’80s. They wanted to encourage me to not be afraid of ghosts, or be afraid of anything under my bed. It worked, I never had nighttime fears, but it gave me the side effect of being a huge nerd about Ghostbusters.

At some point in the late-’90s, there were a lot of people on the Internet that were coming up with plans and diagrams on how to build your own proton pack, so you could go around looking like a Ghostbuster on Halloween. I was absolutely down, but I was only 12 or 13 at the time when these were coming out. Somehow, my grandfather, who would build me toys out of wood and metal, caught wind of this. He told me he would build one for me, so I could wear one for Halloween. He finished it sometime in 2002; I was already in high school at that point.

I’ve pretty much worn it every year for Halloween ever since. I was really close to my grandfather and it’s one of the few things I still have that relates to him in some way. It’s not in great shape anymore, it’s 18 years old and it's mostly just wood and computer parts from a garage. I’m constantly gluing stuff back onto it. It lit up at one point — a lot of it was found parts that were in the shape of the stuff on the Ghostbusters’ backpacks. He was an expert woodworker; if he couldn’t find a part he would just cut a piece of wood in the shape he needed it to be.

It’s been through a lot with me. Even though these days most of my Halloween adventures are spent helping my dad pass out candy at his house, it’s still nice for people to see it and say, “Hey I just started showing my kids these movies!”

I like to think that wherever he might be, my grandfather is still really excited that I’m still wearing this thing and people still know what it is and are happy to see it.

Interview edited and condensed by Skyler Ashley. If you have a suggestion for Favorite Things, please email Skyler@LansingCityPulse.com

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