Soldering...

Ughgh... I am such a beginner. Sure, I've owned a $2.99 soldering iron and sort of knew how to use it. I also MIG weld and can solder copper pipe. However, it took a few mistakes before I learned some techniques to solder a circuit board. First, I bought a new iron, adding a dimmer switch, and welded a little stand. Second, I bought a wire stripped and some cutters and solder. Then I soldered the circuits down and messed up several times. The screen is stuck down, and it has some lines. I think the ribbon is slipping out or maybe just damaged. I tried desoldering it. After I also messed up the compass chip, I changed my technique and handled the g-force sensor nicely. I used hotglue to hold it down and then left extra tabs on the bottom. I also learned to place a bunch of wires and solder them in one go from the other side. I could probably solder one of these boards in 10 minutes now. Oh well. The compass is out of true, and the screen has lines near the top...but I can certainly compensate in software and start planning the next one. I'm tempted to order parts to make another by Thursday.