Dr Bill Emergency Keyboard fund...

[The Chairman]

OK gang, we have to help out poor old Dr Bill here: Login | Facebook

Finally tackling something I've put off for too long... tearing apart my keyboard amd cleaning it! Soaked the keys and the cover, used a toothbrush on them. found hairs, dried kernels of corn and even a porterhouse steak (strange, I only eat lean flank steak).

 

[Wookie]

I have a spare wireless keyboard I'd donate to the cause. The Q doesn't work, but who needs a Q anyway. The F7 keys strikes by itself intermittently, and without warning, but as long as your software doesn't use that key, it's all good. I think you can control key placement of most keyboards, so maybe someone can shift the Q and the F7 keys, and he'll get a few extra Qs in his document, but as long as they are next to a U, no one will really notice.

 

[drbill]

Pete, my friend... you are indeed a funny man!

I am typing right now with my newly cleaned keyboard. It looks like new (except you can't see the e, r, t, i, o, l and n keys whose letters were worn off long ago). Oh, and the space bar now sticks.

But why buy a new keyboard and throw this one away? That would contribute additional plastic and electronic waste that might end up in our beloved ocean some day!

And, as much as I appreciate the sentiment, I think I have nearly a dozen unused keyboards in storage that I can use if the space bar doesn't stop sticking!

 

[The Chairman]

It's funny Bill, but I just can't stand anything that I use more than 30 minutes a day to be anything LESS than perfect. In fact, I want it to be extraordinary. My current keyboard on this laptop is missing the =/+ key cap. That's it. One of my my kitties decided that pulling on the keys with her claws would be great fun and she tore the part that holds the key cap down. Obviously, the button still works but I will be replacing it today with the new one I ordered off of the internet. But then, this laptop will be used at the Baltimore Dive Show today, and so it needs to look good as well.

 

[ScubaVideo]

Remove the space bar and take a closer look at the spring system within it. You have to get it just right when pushing it back on. I would pull mine off to remind myself of how they work, but that can really be a PITA. Your a smart guy so you'll figure it out.

 

[DandyDon]

I only use laptops, and with my poor typing skills have to have the keyboard replace every year or so on one so I can see the faded characters. Eh, the touchpad usually is worn by then too. Yay for Walmarts cheap extended warranties!

I am confident than none of my old keyboards ever make it to the ocean. I'd like to see more recycling than burying, but I can only do what I can do there, recycling what I can from my house, picking up the plastics school kids throw in my yard walking by, etc.

I'm 2 blocks from our village high school. I am thinking of saving all the trash from my yard in a special tub, then setting up a see thru display in my yard...

"This is how much trash you threw in my yard since February 1!"​

Nah, some delinquent would tear it down and scatter it anew.

 

[drbill]

But, Pete... you've seen the Dr. Bill Mobile as well as my dive gear. No one expects anything near perfection out of me!

ScubaVideo: the strange thing is that I've replaced the space bar many times in the past, sometimes needing a second try. This time nothing I've done has worked. It is sticking on one side.

Folks, due to the sticking space bar key I'm now using a brand new Dell keyboard that originally came with the computer but was never used.