March 11, 2008
Let it be known:
7 days ago I said “Steve, something’s wrong with my keyboard. It won’t type some letters and numbers.”
On the sixth day Steve finally answers and says “It’s probably a defective keyboard.”
Let us pray. Let us see how long before he actually goes and gets me another one from the Microsoft store.
It’s all down in black and white now, Steve. Game on. 
March 11, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Kids in the house…half working keyboard…probably juice or soda!
My sister in law had the same issue (this isn’t a joke) and she took the keyboard in the backyard and HOSED IT DOWN!
Needless to say, it didn’t work when it was reconnected. I told her she should have put it int he oven to dry it out before she plugged it back into the CPU!
March 11, 2008 at 8:08 pm
morethananelectrician- No one is allowed to bring anything liquid near my computer and keyboard so it can’t be that. LOL @ the hosing it down.
And it’s weird because sometimes the keys work and sometimes they don’t and sometimes it’s different keys. When I reboot it works again for a few hours or a day then starts acting up again. It’s driving me nuts!
March 11, 2008 at 8:11 pm
You should hose it down! But the microwave or a convection oven is better option than the oven itself for drying. If you have time to wait, the clothes dryer is an option too.
March 11, 2008 at 8:32 pm
If your husband is like mine, you would probably do better to wait until Black Friday christmas sales (waiting in line after a night of camping out in front of the store)…You might actually have a new keyboard by then. For some reason that is the one day of the year when my husband is willing to wait in a line. This year it was for Guitar Hero III. Last year it was for a 1 GB SD card. What gives?
March 11, 2008 at 8:42 pm
morethananelectrician- Hmmmm. WHOSE idea was it for you SIL to hose down her keyboard? ;D
Jenner- It really only takes public shame with Steve. A handful of the regulars harass him, he becomes embarassed and then I get something done. lol.
March 11, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Nah, hosing and ovens don’t work well. The best way to clean a keyboard is in the dishwasher. Honestly, i have seen it work as long as you give it plenty of time to dry out. They key is to not put in the dishwasher while it is still connected to the computer
March 11, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Hi! De-lurking to say that I feel your pain. My husband spilled his drink on the keyboard then rinsed it under running water in the sink. After drying, he plugged it back in and it worked…..almost. The s,d,and e keys didn’t survive the dunking. It was a month before he replaced the darn thing! Do you have any idea how annoying it is to find an “e” to copy and paste when trying to type?
March 11, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Mason- So you’re advocating ruining the dishwasher AND the keyboard? ;D
Michel-OMG! How annoying! Usually if I reboot the keyboard works for a bit…
March 12, 2008 at 4:02 am
i have done the dishwasher trick … it works as long as you are very careful about drying (Also don’t put in any salt or detergent :))
But really … Steve we are going to have to take your geek badge away. I don’t think I know any one that works with computers that doesn’t have maybe 2 spare keyboards stashed away somewhere. (hmm maybe that says more about me than I should be sharing:))
March 12, 2008 at 6:45 am
Helen - there is some principle in physics, I believe from Heisenberg that, if I recall correctly says you can’t measure something without disturbing it.
The public shame (like with the light bulbs) will motivate Steve to replace it and we’ll never know how long he would have gone…
And I agree with Mr. Geek. A real geek would have a few spare keyboards.
March 12, 2008 at 6:45 am
March 12, 2008 at 6:47 am
Oh yea, we have at LEAST 2 spare keyboards lying around the house along with a spare monitor or 2. So Mr Geek, I completely understand!
Good luck Helen on getting that new keyboard!!
March 12, 2008 at 7:30 am
I too am with Mr. Geek……Come on Steve! You have to have a few spare ones somewhere!!! LOL Good luck, Helen!
March 12, 2008 at 8:35 am
Mr. Geek, Beau and Tendrils- Come on, this is turbo geek we’re talking about. My keyboard is a wireless ergonomic (split) keyboard. There are probably 40 keyboards lying around the house. But no extra wireless ergo ones because they’re expensive. I can walk into Steve’s office and spot at least 6 regular ones just lying around.
Beau- It usually takes a minimum of 5-6 weeks for Steve to fix anything computer related. I spend the first 2-4 weeks trying to convine him there’s a problem. And to be totally accurate, I’ve been telling him about the keyboard for almost 2 weeks. However he’s still in the phase where he refuses to even believe something is wrong. Next he’ll spend a week or two trying to fix the problem after he needs to get something done, tries to use my computer and then discovers, oh yeah, there is something wrong that’s making it very difficult to use. After that, it usually takes another couple of weeks of whatever part had to be ordered to fix the problem. The nightmare with my laptop went on for 6 months or so. I have a new computer now. You can’t sanely argue with Heather that the lightbulb is NOT burned out.
Thanks Zee! I found a spare one in his office, but it’s old and the keys are yucky and now there’s a big long wire that I know I’m going to trip on then face plant from before the day is out.
Thanks Tendrils!
March 12, 2008 at 8:50 am
Well, as soon as you get your new keyboard I’ll replace mine as well. I’ve been putting it off for at least 10 months… :-0
March 12, 2008 at 8:54 am
Elle- I’ve got a temp one I’m using here as I nearly snapped when I couldn’t type in my password for my email this morning. Your turn. ;D
March 12, 2008 at 11:31 am
I AM on my temporary one!
March 12, 2008 at 11:49 am
Oh, gullible readers of wifely blog! You guys really need to seek both sides of these stories. And now, the other side:
I’ve already tried to debug the keyboard problem. It’s not that the keyboard is dirty and it’s not that the wireless transceiver is too far from the keyboard. Mostly likely, keyboard hardware is defective. Even Microsoft employees have to call tech support in these situations. This responsibility falls on owner of said keyboard, your lovely host of the blog, not on husband of said lovely host. If support cannot help her, I promise I will buy a new one.
And, yes, of course I have like 4 spare keyboards, but none of them are wireless.
Now, go back about your business. Nothing to see here. Move along.
March 12, 2008 at 11:57 am
Too funny!
March 12, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Elle- LOL! Ok time to get a new one!
Dear- I’m skeptical on the whole de-bugging thing because as of this morning you were still saying “*I’ve* never had a problem with it.” This is like the leaking shower. Let us refresh our memories: http://imhelendt.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!80A987C7370420AB!493.entry And yes, I’m implying no debugging ever occured because we’re still in the denial phase. You moved the wireless hub thing. THAT’S ALL.
Morethananelectrician- Funny for who?! ;D
March 12, 2008 at 1:36 pm
This is funny for me. I could only imagine my wife and I both blogging and reading each others blogs. We would have to have a no commenting rule.
March 12, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Oh, it’s been debugged, baby. I debugged the sh*t out of it.
March 13, 2008 at 8:36 am
Morethananeletrician- Sometimes he puts a comment and then gets an immediate IM or phone call. lol.
Steve- If by debugging you mean glancing at the screen and saying *I* haven’t had any problems with it, then yeah, you debugged it. ;D