Don't eat luch at the keyboard.

Elijah Phoenix · Nov 23, 2005

Don't eat lunch at the keyboard.

This ever happen to anybody?
I tend to eat while I'm scrolling and editing what I wrote.
Sometimes I spill coffee or milk on my keyboard. I hate when that happens.
I always swear that I'll never do it again, but I always end up rationalizing and do it anyway. I say " I"ll just be reeeeeal careful." Soon I'm absorbed in editing and I spill my drink on my keyboard.
I always go buy another keyboard.
Is there anyway to undo the damage without trashing the keyboard?
Am I the only stupid person around here?
They say stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different outcome.
I can go six months between ruined keyboards. But sooner or later..............

I just can't walk away long enough to eat. I sit at the table looking at the computer while I eat and it MAKES ME go over and re-read what I wrote all morning.

Can anybody relate to this? Please don't let me be alone in this. My self-esteem couldn't handle it. Well, coffee's done! Gotta go make a sandwich!

zornhau · Nov 23, 2005

I would try unplugging the keyboard and rinsing it off under the tap. Then letting it dry for 24 hrs in the boiler room.

However, if you press the right button on the front of your PC, a neat little coffee cup holder pops out

sandoz · Nov 23, 2005

They say stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different outcome.

I thought this was a definition of insanity, which sometimes goes hand in hand with genius. In fact I'm counting on it.

Jaycinth · Nov 23, 2005

zornhau said:
. . . However, if you press the right button on the front of your PC, a neat little coffee cup holder pops out

That is a coffee cup holder? Wow. For years ( and 2 pc's) my daughter thought it was the door to the Easy Bake Oven. Huh. you learn something every day! (That's why the dolly plates didn't come back out!)

Yo! Phoenix dude! Just don't eat. Best way to combat writer's butt. :hi:

MadScientistMatt · Nov 23, 2005

One of the machines at work has a PC-based controller, with a standard keyboard. However, the machine is supposed to sit on a dusty, dirty factory floor and be operated by people with greasy fingers. So it comes with a rubber thing that looks like a giant rectangular shower cap that you can stretch over the keyboard. Might be helpful here.

If I spilled something on a keyboard, I would carefully take it apart and clean it with rubbing alchohol.

scribbler1382 · Nov 23, 2005

Depends what you're spilling. Rinse it under the tap before anything congeals/hardens and then use a hair dryer on cool to dry it. Have to be honest, though. If this has happened more than once, keep the food/drink off to the side farther. Or print out your text and read it at the kitchen table.

arrowqueen · Nov 23, 2005

I once spilt vodka and coke all over mine and it started typing complete and utter gibberish.

On the other hand, that might just have been me.

blacbird · Nov 23, 2005

arrowqueen said:
I once spilt vodka and coke all over mine and it started typing complete and utter gibberish.

I once spilt a lot of single-malt whisky down my throat, and it had the same effect on the keyboard.

caw.

Sarita · Nov 23, 2005

Get yourself one of those indestructible keyboards. They're not as nice to type on, but they don't ruin when you apply liquid...

WVWriterGirl · Nov 23, 2005

Yeah, the keyboard condom thingies are a godsend, especially when you eat and drink at the computer. They're relatively cheap and can be found at most office supply stores.

Jamesaritchie · Nov 23, 2005

Keyboard

I have found taking the keyboard into the shower with you works wonders. So does the dishwasher. As long as you let them dry completely, neither the shower nor the dishwasrer will harm a keyboard. Er, at least neitehr has harmed one of mine.

This is also why I keep a couple of spare keyboards in my supply closet. While one is drying, I plug in a spare.

WerenCole · Nov 23, 2005

Ah, but the question arises. . . what if you are working on a laptop? The keyboard is stuck to the darned thing, and I am pretty sure you can't take the laptop into the shower with you and protect it from ill effects.

W

Elijah Phoenix · Nov 23, 2005

I'm going with the keyboard condom.

NOW I NEED A JOKE FOR THAT!

My keyboard wears it when I'm typing safe sex scenes.
I'm avioding computer viruses.

Anyway, my sister said that it happened to her twice. Each time she took the keys off one at a time and swabbed them with rubbing alcohol and dried them with q-tips.

I thought of printing and reading at the table, but you have to read it twice to edit it then. I can't read my stuff twice, I get self-conscious.

Writers butt get taken care of on the treadmill while I"m in my brainstorming trance.

I can't believe I'm the only one who spills coffee on keyboards. Somebody somewhere must of done it as well or they wouldn't make keyboard condoms.
"Unless they made em just for me."

Sandoz,
Genius does go hand in hand with insanity. Look at me!

DamaNegra · Nov 24, 2005

you could just eat instead of drink

Jamesaritchie · Nov 25, 2005

werencole said:
Ah, but the question arises. . . what if you are working on a laptop? The keyboard is stuck to the darned thing, and I am pretty sure you can't take the laptop into the shower with you and protect it from ill effects.

W

With a laptop, I don't think anything helps, including a keyboard condom. Best to refrain from eating and drinking while using one if you're teh messy type.

blisswriter · Nov 25, 2005

Be careful

I have a friend who's a computer tech and he once told me any liquid spilled in your keyboard has the potential to damage your hard drive. He said something about a shock traveling to the drive.

I've never researched this information so I'm not 100% sure it's true. Though I can't imagine he'd lie (and he is a coffee-at-the-keyboard guy) I do like to do my own research.

emeraldcite · Nov 25, 2005

I spilled a very large glass of coke on my laptop. It was so bad that when I tilted it, coke poured out of the opening for the fan.

Yeah. Fried. I opened it up, cleaned the best I could, and finally got it running again. I had to replace the keyboard because some of the keys no longer worked, but the computer's been fine since...

Lesson learned: No drinks near the computer ever again.

Don't eat luch at the keyboard.

Elijah Phoenix

zornhau

Swordsman

sandoz

Jaycinth

Your Cuddly Sociopathic

MadScientistMatt

Empirical Storm Trooper

scribbler1382

Write For You, Edit For The Reader

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

blacbird

Sarita

carpe noctem

WVWriterGirl

Inked Mom

Jamesaritchie

WerenCole

Funny what? Do I amuse you?

Elijah Phoenix

DamaNegra

Mexican on the loose!

Jamesaritchie

blisswriter

blissed beyond belief...

emeraldcite

Art is Resistance