About three months ago I was hurrying down the stairs from the second floor of our house. I had my laptop in my hand, it was open (so it wouldn’t hibernate because I hadn’t set it not to) The power cord hung loose at my side, the mouse connected to the side port. I was asking for it, really, but I’d moved through the house like this before, many times.
This laptop (that laptop) was 8 months young when it left my grip and flew off to see how it might fair making its own way to the front entrance. I’m sure I stepped on one of the cords. It was dark (I hadn’t turned the light on) but I heard it bounce twice off the steps before landing on the hardwood floor. I followed it down and turned on the light. I lifted it up. The CD slot was out and thin steel arms were hanging in demented directions. The lid, now closed, opened with a snapping sound.
I sat it on the dining room table and hit the button to see if it would start. It fired up and all seemed well electronically. It was like a car in a comedy movie that drives away covered in dents with the bumpers dragging. I immediately put all my documents and any photos onto USB sticks.
I used it for two more weeks with the fan buzzing against the plastic body. Anyone can imagine the sound but it’s the feeling of defeat that was the worst. Sure, time had been borrowed, my instincts had told me from the moment it took flight that I would have to buy another, yet I wanted to extend the expenditure as long as possible.
I tried taping the cracked plastic lid with electrical tape which stopped the fan from moving at all, plus I couldn’t shut the lid anymore. Its amazing how hot it got without the fan.
Eventually, I bought an Acer for $359. I only use a laptop for writing and working on my blogs so the cheaper the better. I sat the broken laptop in a plastic bin in the basement where it still sits with all the other defunct electronic devices that are for some unknown reason difficult to throw away.
I thought of this story last night when I was carrying my laptop down the stairs with the lid open and all the cords dragging by my feet.
Photo Credits
Stairs – Image from The Microsoft Office Clipart Collection
Laptop After The Fall – Jeffrey Griffiths – All Rights Reserved …
Guest Author Bio
Jeffrey Griffiths
Jeffrey Griffiths lives in Hamilton Ontario. His short fiction has appeared in The Nashwaak Review, Qwerty, Front and Centre, The Puritan, Pithead Chapel, and The Danforth Review. He received the Arts Hamilton short fiction award in 2007 and 2008. He instructs Creative Writing 1 & 2 and Dynamics of Prose for Mohawk College’s Writing for Publication program.
Blog / Website: http://jeffgwrites.blogspot.ca/
Recent Guest Author Articles:
- Between Judgment and Hope: Navigating the Gray Areas of the Justice System
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- How to Build a Celebration-Ready Wine Cellar
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I know the feeling. It’s dreadful knowing that, the moment the laptop leaves your grip and goes flying, you are about to do so much damage to something relatively fragile. The last time it happened to me, I was also contemplating how much damage I could take in an attempt to save the laptop.
Yes, the idea of diving down the stairs crossed my mind…luckily I didn’t. Thank you for reading and commenting!