As you're reading this, you may think, "Oh, no, she dumped another cup of coffee into her keyboard again." I do this about twice a year. But I did no such thing. Unless my cat sneaked up on my desk and puked on it when I wasn't looking. Nope, this time I was just typing along when all of a sudden a bunch of 8's started to appear within my words. Like something out of the Twilight Zone.
I changed out the batteries for my keyboard and mouse. Still 8's. Shoved the keyboard aside and plugged in my Apple keyboard. The behavior continued. Why was my keyboard possessed? What did I do to deserve this?
Well, time was at a premium so I called customer support at Apple. See, this is the nice thing about working on a Mac. No long wait for customer support. It cost me $50 to find out the problem was my wireless keyboard. The tech guy said you can spill something in your keyboard and it won't necessarily quit working at that point. It can take months to fry it.
Fortunately, I have an OfficeMax in Midtown Sacramento, not too far from my home. OfficeMax assured me on the phone that it had a wireless ergonomic keyboard. I asked the clerk to check 3 times but when I got there, turned out he was mistaken. No surprise. Instead, I found a Logitech with tons of bells and whistles for $130. Grabbed it, took 4 phone calls on my way to the cash register. This time I decided to buy a 2-year warranty for $35 that replaced the keyboard for free in the event of "accidental handling."
Unpacked the box at home, removed the plastic film, inserted batteries, put the disk in my drive and opened the instruction booklet. Crap. Windows XP or Vista. That's what I get for yakking on my cell and not paying attention to what I'm buying. Just because it's a USB device doesn't mean it's cross platform.
Shoved everything into the box and drove back to the Midtown Office Max store. After much discussion, I discovered that OfficeMax has an ergonomic Microsoft 4000 keyboard on sale for $39 (retail: $60). Just like my former keyboard except it wasn't wireless. Did I really need wireless? Where do I ever take my keyboard? No where, that's where.
What I need is a wireless mouse, and I didn't like my old mouse. So, I bought a new wireless mouse that folds up. I can use it with my PC laptop, too.
OfficeMax offered me a 2-year warranty on this keyboard for $15. But at a $39 price point, a warranty is unnecessary. I figured it's better to buy two keyboards. This way I'll always have a spare. Beats forking out $150 every 6 months for a new keyboard and mouse, don't you agree?
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com
Photo: Big Stock Photo
If you're looking for a Midtown agent who knows the Grid, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. My office is at the corner of 28th & J Streets.
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Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout Sacramento. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available through bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
