Susan

Thank you to everyone who wrote me off list with suggestions on what
to do about the laptop! To answer a few of the questions - yes it was
powered up and running when the spill happened (dd was playing a game
on it). When it first happened the sound distorted sharply then went
mute, the screen stopped working and went black and it would not turn
off by pressing the power button. Juice was just running out of it
from every crack so I was not holding my hopes very high.

I quickly unplugged it, took the battery out and disassembled it as
much as possible and let it sit in a breezy spot overnight. This
evening all the parts seemed dry, so I screwed everything together and
I'm *very* happy to report that it's working!! It powered up, the OS
loaded, all our files seem to be intact, etc. So far no glitches or
lost data that I can see. Some of the keys stuck a bit at first but
are loosening up now.

We are all relieved and thrilled! We thought for *sure* it was death
by juice. I 've been thinking about it and although I don't believe in
supernatural events or deities, I somehow feel that if I'd shamed,
screamed, or spanked dd over this incident - if I'd put that kind of
negative, violent energy out into the world - that the laptop would
not be humming along smoothly now. Just a strange sort of hunch, but
it feels true.

Thanks again!
~ Susan

Susan

Oops! I posted this on the wrong list - sorry everyone! It was
intended for AlwaysUnschooled. My email program automatically fills in
addresses based on the first few letters and I wasn't pay enough
attention to the TO: field. I return you to normal (or thankfully
un-normal, as the case may be) programming now...

~ Susan


> Thank you to everyone who wrote me off list with suggestions on what
> to do about the laptop!

jenstarc4

We thought for *sure* it was death
> by juice. I 've been thinking about it and although I don't believe in
> supernatural events or deities, I somehow feel that if I'd shamed,
> screamed, or spanked dd over this incident - if I'd put that kind of
> negative, violent energy out into the world - that the laptop would
> not be humming along smoothly now. Just a strange sort of hunch, but
> it feels true.
>
> Thanks again!
> ~ Susan
>

Not to mention that your daughter probably already felt really bad
about it. My daughter was mucking about in the creek by our house the
other day and dropped the MP3 player in it. Not only did she feel bad
about it possibly not working again, she had to search in the foot deep
muddy water for it, while wading through it with her shoes, while the
dog sat anxiously waiting for her on the bank.

It probably would work still, but while I was taking it apart to dry it
out and get the mud out, I accidentally ripped the power wire that was
attatched to a flimsy piece of plastic paper stuff.

We both killed it! Now we can't listen to cd's in the car, and she
can't take cd's and headphones with her when we go places. I guess
it's time for an ipod!

We were sad about it for sure! Some other kids we know would be
punished for such a thing, but Chamille is way more important than an
MP3 player! The MP3 player was free, my dh won it from a business card
drawing at a local Subway shop. We've had it for over a year, so now
we've opened the door for something better to come our way!

It's weird and still totally understandable to be attatched to things
that we own, especially if we've paid a lot of money for something and
feel we can't replace it.

Yesterday, I thought I'd lost my pocket knife that I've had since I was
a kid. I use it all the time, it's a really good knife and the company
that made it doesn't make them decent anymore. It's almost a
collector's item, but I use it all the time anyway. I started crying,
then shook myself out of it and ran to the park before it was too dark
to see, to look around for it. I spent a long time looking for it, but
it wasn't until I said, "I hope whoever finds it needs it more than I
do." that I found it.

I was thrilled that I needed it more than me... I was literally jumping
up and down for pure joy of finding my pocket knife!

I'm glad you still have your laptop!

Susan

> Not to mention that your daughter probably already felt really bad
> about it.

Yes, she did. From my original post on AU: My daughter is very, very
sorry about the situation and she cried, too, which made me even
sadder. <snip> once I'd collected myself I went and gave her a big hug
and we talked about it. I'm not angry with her - and I made a point of
telling her this (and that she means more to me than the laptop of
course)

> I spent a long time looking for it, but
> it wasn't until I said, "I hope whoever finds it needs it more than I
> do." that I found it.

I had this experience recently! I was at a women's retreat and I was
getting ready for the Friday night activities when I lost one of my
contacts. I have *really* poor vision without them and I my glasses
were being repaired at the time, so I didn't have them. I knew I
wouldn't be able to see much the rest of the weekend and would
probably end up with a raging headache from squinting out of one eye.
Several women jumped in to help me search for it but nothing turned
up.

I'd been holding the panic I felt at bay but eventually it seemed
obvious that we weren't going to find it and I felt like crying. I was
thinking about what a crappy time I'd have and how much I had looked
forward to the event -- pretty much feeling really sorry for myself.
After a few more minutes I called off the search so my friends could
go enjoy their evening. I decided to come to terms with the missing
contact and I found myself thinking of ways that I could still have
fun and find joy in the weekend despite this obstacle. As soon as I
accepted the situation I felt a feeling of calmness wash over me and
then just a moment later my friend called out, "Hey is this it?" and
sure enough it was, stuck to the side of the tissue boxes as plain as
day even though we'd all checked it several times. :)

~ Susan