yESTERDAY THIS IS HOW MY COMPUTER WAS TYPING>
nO MATTER WHAT i DID< I COULDN”T FIX IT>
tOTALLY DROVE ME CRAZY< SO I DID WHAT EVERY COMPUTER DUMMY DOES: I REBOOTED>
Okay, I’ve gotta stop that if I want you to keep reading.
Anyway, I rebooted, but it didn’t fix the problem. So I did the other thing I always do: I whined about it to Charlie.
And HE did what HE always does: He effortlessly came up with the obvious solution (which you probably figured out too):
My SHIFT key was stuck.
{grumbling and shooting dirty looks at him – and you too, if you solved it}
***
So how does the SHIFT key get stuck on a laptop? I wonder if it has anything to do with the sticky brownish gunk ON the keys. Perhaps… it’s UNDER them too?
Okay, so I get the compressed air and blast it under both SHIFT keys.
Voila!
Problem solved! My computer stops acting possessed and all is right with the world.
Until today. It starts doing it again, but this time before venting to Charlie, I decide to pop off the shift keys and LOOK to see if something is under them. Instantly, I can see the problem.
***
Now,please forgive me for what comes next. I am aware that I write way too much about dog hair.
I’m not helping the “Rednecks are people too” cause at all, am I?
So if you already think we live in a shed… And wear overalls with nothing under them… And watch reruns of “Hee Haw” on the picture box… And sleep on straw mattresses… And hunt coons in the back pasture for supper…
This post is not going to change your opinion.
Under the SHIFT key was dog hair. Not a single hair. Not even a couple hairs.
There was a TUFT of at least 10 hairs crammed under there, putting constant pressure on the sensor for the shift key.
After I picked and blew and picked and blew…
(Wow, that sentence totally sounds like I’m talking about my nose. Whoopsie! Too much information!)
… the sensor emerged and the shift key returned to normal.
***
When I told Charlie, he said, “Now THAT’S a blog post.”
He’s always encouraged my literary aspirations. (which I totally typed as aspersions. Which made me laugh when I realized. Like Charlie encourages me to use my writing to mock other people or something. Oh wait. He DOES do that – if for no other reason than to keep me from mocking HIM.)
***
So there you are. The dog ate my computer. Or I guess, technically, the computer ate my dog.
This week I need to pop off all the keys and attack my keyboard with tweezers and compressed air. If I do, I promise to take pictures. OR Someone (Literary Encourager, are you listening?) could just buy me a MacBook. I’m flexible that way.
21 responses so far ↓
1 Beck // Mar 5, 2009 at 11:50 am
My husband frequently fixes computers and he says the main thing that causes computers to stop working IS PET HAIR. So you’re hardly alone!
Beck’s last blog post..Obviously, I Was Swamped
2 Helen // Mar 5, 2009 at 12:00 pm
What’s wrong with wearing nothing under ones overalls? Underneath my underwear underneath my velou, I am utterly and completely naked. What’s a layer or two?
I am glad you fixed your computer. I didn’t figure out the stuck shift key either. I might’ve told Bob we need a new keyboard.
Helen’s last blog post..Colbert and Fr. Martin Discuss the Economy’s Influence of Faith: Is There One?
3 rachel@justanotherdayinparadise // Mar 5, 2009 at 12:17 pm
“eeewwwww! That’s gross,” says the mother of a potty-training toddler (although I’m sure I could beat it. . .)
rachel@justanotherdayinparadise’s last blog post..wfmw: master list
4 Joyce // Mar 5, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I have a great big Gordon Setter so I hear you on the dog hair. I’ve never seen just one dog hair…there is always a tumbleweed.
I use a little bitty paintbrush on my keys-it works great. Dry obviously : )
Enjoy your day
Joyce’s last blog post..Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
5 Grace // Mar 5, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Who would ever guess pet hair could get there?!!! I would never have guess that! Are you saving it to knit something? I
Grace’s last blog post..Oh, By Hed
6 Jo@Mylestones // Mar 5, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I’m laughing WITH you on this one. Just vacuumed for the first time in, well, too long to admit on the worldwide web, and my see-through vacuum canister is teeming with tufts of dog hair. (Note to Hoover: bad idea on the see-through canister)
I’m thinking maybe if you let the dog sleep on top of the keyboard, which would wreak hair havoc well beyond the shift keys, maybe you could speed up the MacBook purchase, forcing the issue a bit with the Literary Encourager?
Jo@Mylestones’s last blog post..Lions and Tigers and Sea Gulls, Oh My!
7 katdish // Mar 5, 2009 at 3:34 pm
I just compressed-aired my laptop last week. Buddy Love’s hair doesn’t get stuck in there, but Rudy the Cat’s hair is everywhere!
What’s so great about a Mac? I love my little laptop that came in a box that looked like a cow.
katdish’s last blog post..Off the Blogs
8 Steph at the Red Clay Diaries // Mar 5, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Beck- You must have the gift of encouragement. Now I feel almost “normal.”
Helen – When we go grocery salsaing, I’ll wear my overalls if you wear your velour! (But I MIGHT put on one extra layer.)
Rachel – So you think that’s gross? Dog hair doesn’t just make it into computers here. How bout changing a baby’s diaper and finding dog hair in THERE? Now THAT is gross.
Joyce – I call the tufts that float across our kitchen tumbleweeds too! And I’m gonna try the paintbrush.
Grace – actually, crochet. Better for lace-making, you know.
Jo – I. Like. The. Way. You. Think. Computer’s going on the dog bed TONIGHT.
Katdish – Of course you just compressed-aired. Your alternate universe must be just a little faster than mine.
9 Beth // Mar 5, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Hmmmm….my poor outdated mac has a cord that’s on the fritz, so when I tried to read this earlier the battery died and I had to hold the cord “just so” for awhile so that I could be back in business….I don’t want to even know what’s lurking under the keys.
And the dog hair in the diaper thing made me laugh out loud. We used to have a dog that shed like crazy. Now our little doggie is pretty much shed free. It’s AWESOME.
Beth’s last blog post..Powdered Gold
10 sherri // Mar 5, 2009 at 9:44 pm
As long as YOU’RE not typing naked, I’m okay.
Naked under your overalls is pretty normal here in these parts Miss Steph. I think you’d fit in mighty fine!
sherri’s last blog post..Out of the Ashes
11 thefarmerfiles // Mar 6, 2009 at 2:26 am
LOL a doggy blogger!
thefarmerfiles’s last blog post..Questions Answered, Question Unanswered
12 ginabad // Mar 6, 2009 at 10:45 am
Oh hilarious! Love the blog, makes me feel like I’m out by the desert. (Even though I’ve never been…)
ginabad’s last blog post..Work/Play/Life Overload
13 Jenn Calling Home // Mar 6, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Wow, who would’ve guessed? Dog hair. I guess it’s kind of like finding stuff under couch cushions. You just never know what’s hiding there.
Jenn Calling Home’s last blog post..What I Learned This Week
14 Amy Warden // Mar 6, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I had some great blog post material last night & totally forgot to take pictures until it was too late. I think it’s wonderful that you are planning ahead.
Amy Warden’s last blog post..Signs of Spring
15 elizabeth channel // Mar 7, 2009 at 11:10 am
I can’t wait to see the photos! They will make me feel at home ; )
16 the domestic fringe // Mar 7, 2009 at 9:52 pm
lol. You need a computer swifter. Hey, maybe that’s not a bad invention…
If you make money off that idea, remember who thought of it first.
-FringeGirl
the domestic fringe’s last blog post..FringeMan & Women’s Jewelry
17 Michelle at Scribbit // Mar 8, 2009 at 2:09 am
I haven’t had the dog hair issue but I have worn off my keys with all the typing. Not quite the same thing.
18 Rachel@Grasping... // Mar 8, 2009 at 4:24 pm
You had me at “the computer ate my dog”. . . too hilarious!
19 Wendy // Mar 11, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Now that’s a smart dog, using the computer without you even knowing about it…
Wendy’s last blog post..Why I don’t need a weatherman to tell me that snow is coming
20 jesse // Mar 12, 2009 at 9:37 pm
great article yuck on the dog hair
21 Searchy McGooglepants, Part Deux | The Red Clay Diaries // Jul 16, 2009 at 10:53 am
[...] sleeping on keyboard/Dog hair in laptop/Laptop problems, acting possessed: Once again, no advice here. Just sympathy. Seriously. My solution at the time was to pry off the left shift key, blow out the [...]
Leave a Comment