Truth be told, it all started about four days ago when my spacebar went on the fritz. Errr!
This week, due to my utterly lame, non-functioning keyboard, everything I do on my laptop came to a complete standstill: no email was being sent, no posts were being written and no pictures were being worked on — that is until this morning when I hit my limit. I was trying to type out an email to a friend while the sentence I was typing suddenly became the longest word in the world:
howareyouthismorningcarolIamsorrywekeepplayingtelephonetagwitheachother.
To make this email coherent, I literally had to go back and pound the spaces back in between the words. ERRR! AHOY! OY! I thought about thrusting my laptop across the room and then I took a deep breath.
You see, Dave told me a few days ago that he would help me clean my keyboard and somehow instead of doing it myself, I have been waiting for busy old him. When he returned from taking Kyle to school, completing frustrated, I pleaded with him,
“HELP ME NOW! Don’t even think of pouring the milk into your cereal before you take my keyboard apart. I can’t handle this anymore.”
Dave unlocked my fragile little keyboard from its position and started shaking my laptop and blowing all the stuff that had collected underneath the keys.
“Beth, this is loaded with cereal crumbs. You need to get something to blow all of this stuff out.”
Go figure that my laptop is filled with crumbs because it sits directly under the cereal cupboard! But this is my convenient little place. Sure, I know that I risk spilling Frosted Mini Wheats or Kix all over my computer every single time I reach for a box and I know you can often find me eating my dinner over my laptop while reading CNN or having a cup of tea while enjoying my favorite websites, but even I can see that the risk of eating while perusing the internet is getting a little crazy.
Moments ago, dressed in my puffy purple coat, (because it colder than it should be in March), I returned from taking Eli to pre-school. I walked in the house, didn’t even take the time to take my coat off and grabbed my laptop. I took it into the hallway, plugged the vacuum in, opened the keyboard, uncoiled the hose, turned the vacuum on and suctioned every last crumb that our heavy duty vacuum would pick up. I am not sure if using such a high-powered sucking device on my delicate keyboard was a good idea, but something had to be done. The spacebar was still sticking and before I blew another gasket, I remembered that Dave had some special laptop cleaning wipes in his office. I found them, pulled a couple out and started to clean the innards of my laptop. I blew underneath the keyboard a few more times and then I put my computer back together. In what would have taken me three hours to write just moments ago, only took me a few short minutes (if you exclude time for editing). Woohoo!
I feel so much better now and I have so much more to tell. But for now, because I need to go and pick up Kyle from school, I will rejoice in the fact that I am really back. And just think, this time I wasn’t away due to some interpersonal existential crisis. YIPPEEE! How great is that? Hey, and thank you everyone for all of your wonderful and amazing support. You make the world a better place.
Ooooh, I so know the feeling. Periodically, the “h” and “g” keys stop working on my laptop. I don’t want to send it in, so I went to Radio Shack and bought a keyboard for $10. Now, whenever the keys stop working, I plug in the other one. Nerdy and lame, I know.
Lucinda, you are so not nerdy. I love it! What a great forward thinking idea.
Every time I play on my computer, my fingers smell like armpit.
This can only make me think of Zen and the Art of Motorcylce Maintenance.
Good to hear your only problem not posting was a Tech issue.
Hi Beth! I just wanted to let you know that there’s the handiest product available (at Staples) for just this job called Memorex Air Duster…it looks like a can of WD40, with the skinny spout and everything, but it shoots out refined, intense bursts of air — perfect for cleaning keyboards. I LOVE mine and often wish they made an oversized one for my house so I wouldn’t have to dust anymore. Happy typing!
Ooh! I know the air duster that Karin speaks of. We have them at work and sometimes my OCD kicks in and I spray everything in site. You go too crazy and it gets so cold it burns your fingers off. But it’s the good kind of burn, the freakishly clean kind of burn. Oh yeah, baby.
i’ve been having the same problem – but it jumps around. sometimes it’s the k that sticks, and then after a few days of that it’s another letter. (just when i get used to POUNDING whatever letter that needs it, it self corrects)charming.
we use the air duster too. it’s so scary what you can find stuck in your keyboard…
I love the air duster! The feeling I get after using it is similar to the feeling I get after I clean out my closets or fold clean laundry. But the air duster is much less work!
I am surprised your laptop survived the H.D. vacuum!
Yeah!! Glad to see things are now back up and running. Aren’t computer troubles SOO frustrating?? My excel on my work computer is on the fritz… do you know how hard it is to be an accountant when you are not sure if your excel will work properly??
Come to think of it, my computer keyboard is none too clean. And I don’t even eat cereal while I’m typing. Can you send Dave over to shake out the crumbs?
About once a month I get completely OCD and I clean my keyboard with the vacuum. I’m constantly wiping my keys with clorox wipes because as we’ve all heard, the keyboard is one of the dirtiest places and I’m a total germ phobe.
OMG SJ made my tea come out of my nose! OUCH! The way I read it, it sounded like it should be on a Post Secret entry.
My keyboard needs an enema. Troll Baby has broken the space bar key and the wrist rest on it. So my wrists hurt and I pound my space bar.
Whoa, that sounded rude!
LOL!
Just want to say that I’ve been reading your blog for a while and I think it rocks, I love your honesty. The house looks awesome!
WEeee! Clean keyboards are the best. I had almost the exact same incident occur last week–except instead of cereal preventing me from using my SHIFT key (which is important because I seem to be obsessed with CAPITALS) it was CAT HAIR. Lots of it. I didn’t use the vacuum cleaner however–and LOVE that idea. Whoo hoo!
Hrm. I am now eyeing my work keyboard with something very close to total disgust. Germ-ridden, crumb-holding armpit-smelling techno-nightmare!