[ltp] thinkpads and water

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 19:49:37 -0500

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Well, the inevitable happened this morning. I tipped a rather large cup of
water into my T40p during a scuffle with my dog and a joke with my wife.
This is something I never though could have happened to me. I was always so
careful. But I became one of those people this morning and I never saw it
coming.

In what seemed like one cat-like motion, I hit the power button as I was
unplugging the AC and turning it over to release the battery. But had I
gotten to it in time? In spite of my ninja-like reaction speed, my heart wa=
s
in the process of ripping open as I mentally prepared myself for what I new
was possible. I pulled the drive out, but luckily no water had made it that
far...good...my 3 year old Debian SID installation was still intact (and
backed up for that matter). Though as I took off the palm rest and keyboard=
,
I felt like my life was changing gears. I slowly took pieces out and laid
them in front of fans to dry as I blotted them in the areas where the water
was pooled.

This is my laptop, my pal, my number cruncher...what had I done?!

My wife was worried that I was in shock, but I assured her I was well beyon=
d
shock at that point and asked her to leave the room. I mumbled to myself an=
d
paced as I tried to collect myself. We had some obligations this afternoon,
so I was forced to leave him in pieces drying slowly...perhaps his last
moments.

I returned in a hurry and continued the drying process with canned air and
old t-shirts. I had been gone a mere 3 hours, but the fans had dried it
entirely with the exception of the keyboard. I managed to get the keyboard
into a dry state and decided to start putting him back together. As I slid
the keyboard back under the palm rest and began to replace the screws, I
couldn't help but debate as to whether I had waited long enough for him to
dry. I took him apart again and started the drying process for one last
time. I knew that it wouldn't be time I would regret waiting.

I finally pushed myself to reassemble. My movements were slow and precise. =
I
couldn't believe that I had my machine apart and wasn't simply replacing a
worn out keyboard. As I put in the last screw and pushed the battery back
into place, I sat back for one last deep and preparatory breath. I then sat
straight back up and reached forward to push the power button. I think I
must have been squinting in pain because I was startled when I saw my Tux
bios appear. My eyes shot wide open and then...grub!!!!

I am now typing this to you all here at linux-thinkpad.org in a slightly
fragile mental state. However, my thinkpad is in fine condition and I have
never been more relieved.

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Well, the inevitable happened this morning. I tipped a rather large cup
of water into my T40p during a scuffle with my dog and a joke with my
wife. This is something I never though could have happened to me. I was
always so careful. But I became one of those people this morning and I
never saw it coming. 
 
In what seemed like one cat-like motion, I hit the power button as I
was unplugging the AC and turning it over to release the battery. But
had I gotten to it in time? In spite of my ninja-like reaction speed,
my heart was in the process of ripping open as I mentally prepared
myself for what I new was possible. I pulled the drive out, but luckily
no water had made it that far...good...my 3 year old Debian SID
installation was still intact (and backed up for that matter). Though
as I took off the palm rest and keyboard, I felt like my life was
changing gears. I slowly took pieces out and laid them in front of fans
to dry as I blotted them in the areas where the water was pooled. 
 
This is my laptop, my pal, my number cruncher...what had I done?! 
 
My wife was worried that I was in shock, but I assured her I was well
beyond shock at that point and asked her to leave the room. I mumbled
to myself and paced as I tried to collect myself. We had some
obligations this afternoon, so I was forced to leave him in pieces
drying slowly...perhaps his last moments. 
 
I returned in a hurry and continued the drying process with canned air
and old t-shirts. I had been gone a mere 3 hours, but the fans had
dried it entirely with the exception of the keyboard. I managed to get
the keyboard into a dry state and decided to start putting him back
together. As I slid the keyboard back under the palm rest and began to
replace the screws, I couldn't help but debate as to whether I had
waited long enough for him to dry. I took him apart again and started
the drying process for one last time. I knew that it wouldn't be time I
would regret waiting. 
 
I finally pushed myself to reassemble. My movements were slow and
precise. I couldn't believe that I had my machine apart and wasn't
simply replacing a worn out keyboard. As I put in the last screw and
pushed the battery back into place, I sat back for one last deep and
preparatory breath. I then sat straight back up and reached forward to
push the power button. I think I must have been squinting in pain
because I was startled when I saw my Tux bios appear. My eyes shot wide
open and then...grub!!!! 
 
I am now typing this to you all here at <a href=3D"http://linux-thinkpad.or=
g">linux-thinkpad.org</a> in a
slightly fragile mental state. However, my thinkpad is in fine
condition and I have never been more relieved.

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