Himself ever got me was a Swiss army knife. It was an anniversary gift from him, and he told me that once i had one, i'd find a reason to use it nearly every day. My mother-in-law politely asked what Himself had gotten me for our annivesary, and when i gushed on about the knife, she visibly stiffened and said, "What about jewellery?"
I had plenty of bling to wear, and as i looked directly at her to respond, i saw her face had a horrified look. My father-in-law, standing in the background looked jealous. One year for Christmas, we got the idea of putting everyone's name in a hat and pulling one out, rather than buying everyone gifts. I had been wanting to do this for quite some time and was relieved. Anyhow, that year, my FIL pulled my name. I was trying to refinish an old wooden desk, and wanted a sander. He was thrilled and got me a wonderful sander. He said he never got to shop for a woman in a hardware store before, and he hoped he pulled my name every year.
But, that Christmas hadn't occurred yet, and i mentioned to my MIL that Himself gave me a pair of earrings on my birthday. She thought the Swiss army knife a horrid idea as an anniversary present and couldn't believe i was so happy about it.
Himself has since lost two Swiss army knives, although i still have the one he gave me, including the little plastic pick and pair of tweezers. As he foretold, i've found i've needed to use it at least a few or several times a week, if not daily, since he gifted me with it.
Today, i found that my spacebar key on my keyboard wouldn't work. I prefer a full keyboard to the laptop keyboards, and as i often input numbers for my job, i'm in love with the number pad. I also like the feel of this particular keyboard. The keys have just the right amount of sponginess.
I had cleaned the keyboard last night when i realised that the spacebar wasn't working properly and i mean gave it a good, proper cleaning, by taking the point of the Swiss army blade amongst the rows. Gadzooks, the crud i found! I also used one of those cans of compressed gas to clean things out a bit more.
Came to the keyboard this morning expecting great things, only it didn't happen. The spacebar would depress, but the line did not advance a space.
A half hour with my Swiss army knife prying off the spacebar, washing it, digging around the keyboard a bit more, a few firm shakes to unloose more detritus, another spritz of the compressed gas, a few attempts at snapping the spacebar back in its place on the keyboard, and voilà! As good as new!
Huzzah for one of the nicest gifts Himself ever gave me. It's something i use often, and i think of him with fondness and gratitude nearly every time i use it.
So, are you recommending digging into the keyboard with a knife, whenever things go wrong? I'll bear it in mind!
ReplyDeleteI did make sure it was not attached to the laptop, Cro, as i am afraid of electricity. But yes, running the blade along to scoop out dust bunnies, cat hair, and a few pieces of tortilla chips worked well.
ReplyDeleteTo pop off the spacebar, i used the blade as a lever.
I suppose if i didn't ever eat at the keyboard or have Jo lie between me and and the screen, with her tail sometimes skimming the keyboard, i might have never discovered this.
...and on the third day, God created the Swiss Army Knife so that mankind could dig itself out of all sorts of shit...
ReplyDeleteI'm ancient enough to remember the old Apple keyboards that you could chuck into a sink full of warm water to clean them. Those were the days...
LOL, Chris, i've always used PCs. The first office where i used a PC had been a Mac office until about 3 weeks before i started working there. Every office thereafter used PCs, too, so there you are.
ReplyDeleteMy current keyboard is very, very basic, and the plug-in version was ordered by a now-redundant WONDERFUL IT guy who knew several of us liked huge keys for our fat fingers. That one is going on 8 years old, which as you know, is positively ancient in computer terms. I couldn't use it with the new laptop my company assigned last year for my use, since the new laptop accepts only usb ports. So, i ordered the usb port cousin to my ancient Key Tronic.
youhavetobecarefulwhenyourspacebarsticksxxxxx
ReplyDelete