A big oops

This blog is a way for us to inform you about our life in Spain - but also to document the complete experience so we can remember later what went right and what did not. Filed under what did not go right, on Wednesday afternoon I spilled 12 ounces of iced coffee directly, DIRECTLY, into my laptop. I shut it down and looked up what to do next using my phone. (It didn’t sizzle or smoke, or even flicker, even with 12 ounces of coffee coursing through it). Following the internet’s advice, I opened it as wide as possible (180 degrees, screen to keyboard) and turned it upside down to let the coffee drip out. 12 ounces is a lot of coffee! The internet also recommended unscrewing the computer to allow more air in, and also to disconnect the battery. I was much less confident about this process, so Joe came over and took it apart for me. More coffee inside, but not as much as I feared, and it looked (miraculously) like none had gotten inside the battery compartment. Just FYI, two things the internet discourages is using a hair dryer (too hot, can fry internal components) or letting it sit in rice (works for smartphones but not laptops). Also, that the worst thing you can spill into a laptop is something very sticky or sugary. My coffee had plenty of milk but no additional sugar, so I was in the middle of the risk scale ranging from water on one end to double caramel Frappuccino on the other. I left it drip drying for 24 hours, and then Joe came back over and put it all together again. And … it worked! A couple of sticky keys that needed to be pushed several times before they worked, and a strong smell, but to date, 100% functionality. Major relief. Getting a new laptop here would be much more complicated than simply buying a new one – which would of course also be expensive and annoying – because of software issues and security requirements from OSU. It might almost have been easier to fly back to Columbus to get a new one, so it was a great relief not to have to figure out any of that.