Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Applying to the Geek Squad
My laptop will celebrate it's first birthday in about two weeks. When I saw that some of the letters were wearing thin on the keyboard, I didn't really care too much. I've been typing since I was 15, and never, ever look at the keys. However, wearing the letters off did make me stop to think about how much time I've spent pecking away in the last 360 or so days....THAT is food for thought! Stewardship of time, does not eat the bread of idleness, looks well to the ways of her household, etc.
As more and more of the letters wore completely off, I began to realize if any family member used the computer, they might not even be able to type. Not everyone took Typing 1 and 2 and 3..... I decided to see if I could order a new keyboard. For a desktop model that's no big deal. I wasn't sure about a laptop. Sure enough, when I phoned Dell, some nice man told me - no problem, for $12.95, plus shipping and handling and I'm not sure what else, with a grand total of $21.95 it would arrive at my home in a matter of days, with all the tools and instructions included.
It arrived yesterday. There was some black plastic thing that looked somewhat like a pick-up stick and something like a crochet hook. No instructions. At all. I took the black stick and began to shove it down in the keyboard of the laptop. As letter after letter began to flip off, I decided I better investigate before I destroyed the entire computer. Going online, while the computer was still functioning somewhat, I was able to download instructions like "How to remove cover", "How to remove keyboard", which was just a little bit scary. I seriously cannot screw in a lightbulb or the water hose; I don't know why, but I'm not the least bit mechanical. Being married to an engineer, it's not usually a problem. Don just fixes, repairs, and puts together everything around here.
Not being able to see the keys wasn't a big deal, but when I tried to fix it the first go 'round, I made it worse. The button that makes a space went flying. Emails from me looked something like this:
"Hello.Mom.how.are.you?
I.have.to.keep.this.short.since.my.keyboard.is.having.issues......"
I decided to give repairing the Cost Over $1,000 Laptop a whirl, even though I truly could not screw in the $10 water hose over the weekend, a sure sign that we human beings are a shaky lot at best.
Here's what it looked like after step One and Two-
As more and more of the letters wore completely off, I began to realize if any family member used the computer, they might not even be able to type. Not everyone took Typing 1 and 2 and 3..... I decided to see if I could order a new keyboard. For a desktop model that's no big deal. I wasn't sure about a laptop. Sure enough, when I phoned Dell, some nice man told me - no problem, for $12.95, plus shipping and handling and I'm not sure what else, with a grand total of $21.95 it would arrive at my home in a matter of days, with all the tools and instructions included.
It arrived yesterday. There was some black plastic thing that looked somewhat like a pick-up stick and something like a crochet hook. No instructions. At all. I took the black stick and began to shove it down in the keyboard of the laptop. As letter after letter began to flip off, I decided I better investigate before I destroyed the entire computer. Going online, while the computer was still functioning somewhat, I was able to download instructions like "How to remove cover", "How to remove keyboard", which was just a little bit scary. I seriously cannot screw in a lightbulb or the water hose; I don't know why, but I'm not the least bit mechanical. Being married to an engineer, it's not usually a problem. Don just fixes, repairs, and puts together everything around here.
Not being able to see the keys wasn't a big deal, but when I tried to fix it the first go 'round, I made it worse. The button that makes a space went flying. Emails from me looked something like this:
"Hello.Mom.how.are.you?
I.have.to.keep.this.short.since.my.keyboard.is.having.issues......"
I decided to give repairing the Cost Over $1,000 Laptop a whirl, even though I truly could not screw in the $10 water hose over the weekend, a sure sign that we human beings are a shaky lot at best.
Here's what it looked like after step One and Two-
Even after I put it all back together, I had little confidence it would do anything when I started it up, and actually hit keys. Guess what?! I feel like Gomer Pile, yelling, "Serprize, Serprize!" It worked.
I'm so giddy, I don't know whether to apply at Best Buy or the nearest hardware store.... Still, if I wear the letters off this keyboard before June 1, 2008 someone needs to take it away for good!
Labels: Girl Talk
<< Home