The Universe is not cutting Val a break. This week brought a twisted knee (the better one), making a trip to town impossible for two days. In the midst of that was the power outage. And Friday morning,
VAL DROWNED HIPPIE AND KILLED HER MOUSE!
HIPPIE, my HP laptop, is quite long in the tooth. I can't remember a time without HIPPIE. I think he might have been running Windows 8, before kicking and screaming could not prevent an upgrade to Windows 10.
Anyhoo... HIPPIE has grown cantankerous over the years. Sometimes going crazy and opening apps at random. Or locking up, refusing to move or even shut down. Shortly before noon on Friday, I took a pill and set down my red Solo cup of water. Only it didn't set down! It hit the edge of HIPPIE. In my haste to right the cup, I over-righted it, and water flowed across HIPPIE'S keyboard!!!
I immediately grabbed HIPPIE and flipped him upside down. Gave him a shake. Balanced him upside down across the table edge and a box of files on the kitchen chair beside me. I left HIPPIE suspended upside down as I mopped up the table water, changed clothes, and put the wet items in the dryer.
When I returned to HIPPIE, I gave him several shakes. Wiped across the keys with some paper towels while he was still upside down. When I righted him, HIPPIE was still running! Still had a window open. Still had internet. But the mouse would not respond!
That mouse didn't even get wet! Not a drop. It was not in the direction of the water flow. I set it on HIPPIE'S power cord during cleanup, lest some water creep that way. The mouse remained bone dry.
I thought that maybe I had hit a key while wiping HIPPIE upside down. There were a couple odd apps open. I used that keypad thingy to close them, and do a proper shutdown, so HIPPIE could restart and maybe get everything sorted.
NOOOOOO!!!
I got the black screen of OH CRAP! Saying the fan didn't work, and continuing might cause erratic behavior or damage. I had 15 seconds to continue or abort this mission. Well. I read too slowly, looking at the gibberish under that statement. HIPPIE shut down again. I powered him up again. Same message. I continued.
I propped HIPPIE so he was not flat on the table. Still no mouse. I took off the cover and twisted the battery around. It said it's good until 2030. I turned the mouse off and on. Each time, I'd get a green light, but then it would turn to flashing red.
I called The Pony, who has drowned a couple of laptops. The Pony said I should have turned off power the minute HIPPIE was drowned, and set him on a vent for several days, before trying to turn him on again. But that since other parts seemed to be working, that would be futile now.
The Pony said maybe it was the port used for that plug-in thingy that runs the mouse. So try it in a different port. IT WORKED! I got a chime-y sound, and a box saying Logitech was loading. I turned the mouse back on, and IT WORKED! The Pony is a genius sometimes.
The Pony says that a bad fan is a big problem. That I might be able to keep using HIPPIE, but to email myself any important files I didn't want to lose. Like my tax returns!
I actually have another laptop, new two Christmases ago, bought for me by The Pony. I put off switching over for two tax seasons, because I wanted to be comfortable using my regular method of filing taxes. I hate learning the spacing of a new keyboard, and switching over to Windows 11 or whatever laptops come with now. The Pony kept it at his house, loading some entertainment for me in the form of shows and games.
It might be time to fire up that new laptop. The Pony is bringing it out tomorrow.
It was time. My laptop has been giving me the black screen of death periodically and most times recovers quickly but sometimes taking longer, making me think this time is the end. My husband lined up a new laptop for me and misunderstood, why wait? as my response to ordering it, meaning order it. As a result, it went up $300.00 - so, for now, I will wait to see how much longer my laptop will continue to work. I am extremely hard on my laptops, just by using them like normal people. But for some reason, they just do not hold up for me. I've broken hinges, I've had keys decide to randomly pop off and disappear, only to be found by a cat much later. I've had them shut off on their own. I've had them not want to come back up, after shutting down on their own. Me and technology just do not get along. I don't do any nefarious things and yet it still has days where I think it has feelings and decides it hates me. Good luck with the transition to your new laptop. Ranee
ReplyDeleteWow! You must have some kind of electrical charge coursing through your body, taunting those laptops!
DeleteThe Pony has had two catch on fire (sparks from the power brick thingy), one slip into the bathtub, one sponged up spilled water, and one succumb to acetone spilled on it from an errant pillow thrown by a friend while The Pony was cleaning off old nail polish.
Broken hinges?? How?? Keys popping off? Perhaps you need to buy something sturdier.
DeleteMy husband knows how hard I am on equipment. He does his research, and he buys the best and the most affordable. No Best Buy garbage is allowed in our house. Opening and closing the laptop will break hinges. I finally had to leave it open and then the keys get walked on by 3 cats which their tiny little needle nails will easily pick off the keys. I use it every day, almost all day long, so it is well used and when I get a replacement, my previous one is used in other ways by my husband that doesn't involve constant handling.
DeleteAnd Val, when we traveled more extensively, I was the one that always set off the alarm when going through security at the airports. Lots of pat downs made by big burley women. And no jewelry, no implants, no belts or watches or anything that would set it off. France was my worst experience. I had my hair in a loose bun, and she mangled it making sure I wasn't hiding something in it. And this was after going through the full view x-ray. I never was all that fond of France, but that sealed its fate for me and BTW, it was just a layover. Ranee
Oh my gosh! It's like I'm a profiler trained at Quantico (I've been watching a lot of those "how to murder your wife shows") or a psychic. It really must be something about your body's electrical charge. I don't suppose that explanation would satisfy the big burley women, or the French!
DeleteIf you have to switch computers, this would be a great time. Tax season is months away, and you would have the new one mastered by then.
ReplyDeleteYes, this would be a good time. But it's hard to teach me new tricks. I am resistant to change! The Pony picked out the new one especially for me, with a faster processor and more storage. It was a really good deal, but it's a bit smaller than my HIPPIE. I don't need a big screen for gaming, like The Pony. It's the smaller keyboard that I think will give me trouble. Plus the updated Windows.
Deleteyou could buy an external keyboard and plug that in, then you'd have a regular sized keyboard still.
DeleteIf I had room to do that, I would just get a desktop computer. I still find every keyboard to be a little bit different, so not sure that would help me.
DeleteLike you, I hate new tech things. My new laptop keyboard is one key over from my last keyboard. Spellcheck has been going nuts! But this new one has been freezing up and dropping stuff. My son reprogrammed it last night and said a lot that I didn't listen to and thought it was fixed. I did manage to post this morning, but it shut down 4 times while I did. The big difference is that it retained my progress in between shut downs. His big party is tonight, but tomorrow he will tinker with it again.
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't lose everything when it shut down! I hope he gets it fixed.
DeleteAs a longtime confirmed PC user, I can tell you that I HATE laptops. They're different and I don't WANT difference. Be that as it may, I did get an outboard CD/DVD player for SWMBO's laptop a day or so ago and got it hooked up and actually working. I also adjusted the volume on her laptop so maybe now she'll play some of the marvelous music videos I post on my blog. (as if)
ReplyDeleteI really miss my desktop computer, but I don't feel safe going up and down those 13 rail-less stairs to my lair these days. I don't have a place upstairs to set it up, except for the master bedroom, and I don't think Hick would want me in there when he goes to bed at 8:00.
DeleteI have a CD/DVD player that I plug in for using TurboTax until they discontinued that option last year!!! I can use it for games and DVDs.
I recommend also getting an external hard drive and transferring all important files to that as an extra backup. so far I have never got my laptop wet, but I know about leaving it to dry a few days before using again. Reading that from The Pony makes me feel more secure about my knowledge.
ReplyDeleteChange and learning only become hadrer the longer you resist. Get the new one up and running with all your stuff and let The Pony help you through any problems.
That's an idea. I think Genius has recommended an external hard drive before. I hope you never have to dry out your laptop! The Pony had a migraine today, and I got a headache around 10:30 that is still with me. Neither of us feels ready to tackle the transition just yet.
Delete