On Being a Tech

 

It has been very quiet here in big W lately.  It’s much too hot to do anything outside.  So, my days have been full of needlework (not very interesting).  That said, I’m going to share a story.  One containing all the things that make a story good – concern, excitement, fear, horror, work, happy ending.

Once upon a time . . . .

Here a while back, my laptop developed a small problem.  The fingertip mouse pad sort of popped up at one corner.

I couldn’t “snap” it back in place so, I called my son-in-law (my go-to-guy about all things computer).  It didn’t seem to be a big deal, the pad still worked (though I have a wireless mouse I use), and without being able to see the problem, he suggested I tape the area to keep out dust and dirt.  Okay, that worked for me.

Then, months later, the problem escalated to the point that the deck was pushing up and the computer wouldn’t close.

My first thought was – Obviously, the computer gods have determined I need a new laptop.  In a letter to my brother, I mentioned, in passing, the computer problem, ending with a new computer is in my future.  My brother responded with – back up your hard drive now, sounds like your battery is bad.  Oh that can’t be good.

I got right up and backed up the computer. 

Next, I sent a detailed email to my son-in-law telling him what was going on.  I did this in a calm mostly straight-forward manner having no real worries – the thought being that I’d be needing a new laptop and this would give him a heads-up so he could start looking at computers for me.  I’ll be going to NM for xmas so I figured I could get a new one then.

Dealing with computers – what type of processor, RAM, screen resolution, HDD, storage gig – is totally outside my comfort level.  I’m fine using one and am moderately program savvy but the rest of that stuff??  no.

He called me right back.  Go unplug your computer.  It looks like the battery is not only bad but it could catch on fire.

Okay – that would be really bad.

And, so I unplugged not only the power but everything else attached to the laptop, all the while maintaining a bit of a distance.

What next?

Well, he said, if I were there, I’d remove the battery.  Hmmm – how hard can that be? 

Actually, not too hard.  The most difficult part – removing a bunch of little tiny screws and not losing any of them.

Then I opened the back, unscrewed the battery, and removed it.

Yep, all puffed up.

What next?

Son-in-law – take it outside and put it in a bucket.  Leave it there just in case it catches fire.  And so, I did. 

What next?

Put the back on and plug it in, he said.  Should work like a table top computer. 

TaDaaa!  All is better!

Now, I had to figure out what to do with the bad battery.  I did what all people do – I went to the internet. 

Cover any terminals with tape.  check
Place the battery in a plastic bag.  check
Put the battery in a cool dry place – yeah, right, no cool dry places here other inside the house and it’s NOT going inside the house!
Find someplace that will take it.  working on that

This has been a good/bad thing.  Bad – now I have a damaged battery that might catch fire and so far no luck finding anyone that will dispose of it.  Good – I discovered that I can remove the battery from a laptop and still have a working computer and I'm going to get a new laptop!

The End

 Okay, may not have been a highly entertaining story but it did meet all the story criteria from above  (you may not have been horrified but I assure the idea my computer could burst into flames horrified me!). 

 Hmmm – I wonder if this would work on battery disposal??

16 Aug 2021