I mentioned before the potential hazards of constantly moving computer equipment around, especially for someone with my genetic makeup (klutz gene). After 6 weeks and only one issue, it was only a matter of time…
The mouse smashed into 4 pieces when it hit the tile floor of my apartment. (I have decided I am going to stay away from tile flooring in any future home). Never having seen a mouse motherboard before, I spent 10 seconds in admiration of the technological prowess of the thing before spending 45 minutes not-so-silently cursing trying to put the pieces back together. Technology is fun right up until you have to pay special attention to it. Like a rollercoaster – fun to watch, rather terrifying to be a part of it.
The first 30 minutes proved the definition of insanity – I kept trying to fit the pieces together the same way and it kept not working. When I finally turned the thing upside down (figuratively-kind of), it slid into place. Leaving the next 15 minutes trying to put the two outside pieces together. I finally resorted to brut strength and presto! Of course, there was that annoying clear plastic piece left over, but since everything fit together, I figured it was an unnecessary bit put in to confuse and annoy people like me.
I was on a tight time schedule to leave Accra and head to the Volta Region by tro-tro – a small van full of people smashed together for a 3 hour road trip. Lots of smashing in this blog…hmmm…
I got to the Advans office in Ho, regional capital of Volta Region, without mishap. Until I tried to use my computer and mouse, and the mouse didn’t work. There was a hole on the bottom I didn’t remember from the past years of using a mouse. Ah-ha! It was what focused the red light to allow the mouse to move the arrow! Perhaps if I stuffed a piece of tissue in it…
It quickly became obvious I needed the annoying leftover piece. Had I saved it or pitched it before I left? The genetic thing of course came to mind, so likely I had pitched it. But I had paid $5 for this mouse here (because the bluetooth one I brought from home smashed when I dropped my computer 6 weeks ago), and I wasn’t going to just toss this new broken one away.
5 days later I got home. The plastic leftover piece sat calmly on my table. (😜😜😜to genetics!) 10 minutes silently pleading and cursing the thing to come apart and go back together. (The back together part took 9.5 of those minutes.) VOILA!!!!! A WORKING MOUSE!!
I feel inordinately proud of myself. If I could high-five myself I would. Instead, I put it all on blog for posterity, to remind myself that “What if a mouse gets smashed…I can fix it!” really happened.
What if...I can! 