Fun with computers

Matthew lobotomized Mr. Computer last night. There was swearing, terror, drama, and many reboots. I hid behind my laptop, comforting it and trying to shield its little CPU from trauma by covering its speaker ports. This morning, when I woke up, everything seemed peaceful. The router is sulking and refuses to listen to impassioned pleading, some programs need reloading, and my email settings have to be restored, but all in all the surgery appears to have been a success. Huzzah.

In other technology related mishaps, I succeed in frying my ergo keyboard at work. Oopsie. Tea and electricity are not friends. So, defying the eleventh commandment (“Eugie shalt not tinker with hardware”) I took the thing apart. I figure, it’s already broken, right? I popped out all the keys (is there some sort of law that states if little pieces of plastic can fall in unreachable places, they will? I ended up on my hands and knees beneath my desk about a dozen time), and was astonished at how blicky things were. Crumbs, dust, unspeakable filth. I did a half-hearted job of cleaning that, and then tried to pry the plastic thingy under that off. But it defied my efforts. I’m not sure if it’s glued in or just simply very well set. The thing is, I’m sure the part I need to get at is underneath it. There’s a thin, plastic protective sheet-thing underneath it–which I suspect is there to keep moisture out, hah!–beneath which is the circuitry stuff. I need to be able to get at the circuitry in order to clean it . . . err, maybe with isopropyl alcohol? Or would that fry it more? Hmm. This is probably why there is an eleventh commandment.

My well intentioned efforts have left a pile of keys and a rather grungy looking base on my desk. Left it there for the cleaning lady to puzzle over. Think it might be time to requisition a new ergo keyboard . . . probably what I ought to have done immediately instead of trying to fix the thing. Or, err, called tech support.

And my wingstubs hurt more from having to type on a flat keyboard. Ugh.



Writing Stuff:

Novel novel novel. Decided that I shall need to scrap the opening chapter as I’ve come up with a better way to introduce the characters and the interpersonal conflict immediately. Novel!

Words: 500 words

Club 100 for Writers
45

500/day
13

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18 Responses to Fun with computers

  1. Probably doesn’t help now, but the best way to “clean” a keyboard after you’ve dumped something into it is to turn the keyboard upside down and let it dry. I’ve spilled water into my ergo keyboard and fixed it that way twice–not sure what would happen with tea, though.

  2. Probably doesn’t help now, but the best way to “clean” a keyboard after you’ve dumped something into it is to turn the keyboard upside down and let it dry. I’ve spilled water into my ergo keyboard and fixed it that way twice–not sure what would happen with tea, though.

  3. sonnydenbow says:

    I tried to fix a broken keyboard once and quickly discovered cats see loose keys and springs as toys to be knocked off the desk and shot across the floor. I ended up having to replace the keyboard when I came up with more keys than springs. Oh, well. Live and learn.

  4. sonnydenbow says:

    I tried to fix a broken keyboard once and quickly discovered cats see loose keys and springs as toys to be knocked off the desk and shot across the floor. I ended up having to replace the keyboard when I came up with more keys than springs. Oh, well. Live and learn.

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Fortunately, this was at my place of work, so Hobkin wasn’t around to “help.” As it was, there were a couple times when I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to retrieve a key that had flung itself behind my desk.

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Fortunately, this was at my place of work, so Hobkin wasn’t around to “help.” As it was, there were a couple times when I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to retrieve a key that had flung itself behind my desk.

  5. dreamtech says:

    Speaking as a technician…

    I bet your Tech Support would just love to see that on your desktop.

    *shakes head… and winks* ;o)

    Keyboards are pretty cheap, you should probably just ask for a new one.

    Reminds me of a humorous story: I once lifted up a laptop from a user’s desk, only to have water spill out of it. This user was watering her plants right over the laptop – and then wondered why the laptop no longer worked.

  6. dreamtech says:

    Speaking as a technician…

    I bet your Tech Support would just love to see that on your desktop.

    *shakes head… and winks* ;o)

    Keyboards are pretty cheap, you should probably just ask for a new one.

    Reminds me of a humorous story: I once lifted up a laptop from a user’s desk, only to have water spill out of it. This user was watering her plants right over the laptop – and then wondered why the laptop no longer worked.

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Re: Speaking as a technician…

      Luckily, our Tech Support folks are really nice. The one who came to my summons was amused more than miffed at the pile o’keyboardness on my desk. He did, however, recommend that I order a new one instead of tinkering anymore with the old one.

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Re: Speaking as a technician…

      Luckily, our Tech Support folks are really nice. The one who came to my summons was amused more than miffed at the pile o’keyboardness on my desk. He did, however, recommend that I order a new one instead of tinkering anymore with the old one.

  7. lilithraevyn says:

    I just saw the news about Tangent on ! Congrats!

  8. lilithraevyn says:

    I just saw the news about Tangent on ! Congrats!

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