Always use a sippy cup

I learned my lesson this morning, and nearly the hard way.

I’ve been smart about drinking coffee near my laptop. It’s one thing to spill on a stand alone keyboard, but it’s another thing to spill on a laptop keyboard, since getting a new keyboard would be getting a new computer. A couple months ago, when I was at my parents’, I brought a mug of coffee into the computer room. I set it down on the desk, thinking, Maybe I shouldn’t set that down there. I could spill. (If you know me, you know the odds of me spilling are very high.) And then I thought, No, I won’t spill. Yep, you can guess what happened next. Coffee everywhere. Nothing was damaged, fortunately. And my dad was surprisingly good-natured about the whole thing. Mom suggested that I get a mug with a lid to use from now on, to which my dad, with his dry wit, replied, "Oh you mean she needs a sippy cup." Yes, Dad, I drink my coffee in an adult sippy cup. And it’s already saved my laptop from many a disaster.

Then this morning, while my coffee was brewing, I brought in a glass of water—sans lid. I went about checking email and then somehow I tipped the glass—right onto my computer. There was a lot of pleading to God and Oh, $%#@! that followed. I turned off my computer, cleaned up the mess, shook the computer a few times (I wonder how good that is for the machine?) and then turned it back on. The power button came on. I sighed relief. And then nothing happened. Blank screen. More button pushing. More blank screen. More pleading to God. I was outlining a plan for what to do until I could get a new computer, how to retrieve my files, only slightly hysterical. And, then (praise God!), 10 minutes later the computer turned on. It appears to be working fine now except for the random water droplets that appear every so often. I’m going to Staples soon to get some DVDs to back up my computer. And no more liquids without a sippy cup.