Drinking soda, that is.
I am left-handed and as such I always have a coaster to the left of my keyboard with a beverage in it, to slake my thirst as I toil away looking on the internet for the very best cat pictures to post.
There was always the inherent risk that one day I would knock over the beverage, causing at the very least a big mess and possibly damaging computer-related stuff at worst.
That day was today. It was the classic nerd scenario–I had eaten a few Goldfish crackers (I know, I know) and because my left hand was covered in fish residue, I reached over crossways to get my drink with my right hand and managed instead to knock it over, as if I’d spent the afternoon imbibing Jim Beam and not SodaStream Diet Cola.
The cola spilled over the left third of the desk and onto the Alex set of drawers next to it. It ran down the sides of both sets of drawers. It pooled onto the carpet. It dribbled onto the handles of the drawers, which are cutouts and not actual handles. Worst of all, it sprayed all over my MacBook Air, less than a month old.
The first thing I did was unplug the Thunderbolt cable to the Air and tilt it to let the liquid pour off. I rushed it like a trauma victim to the kitchen and toweled off the case. I then set it on the counter and opened the lid, not knowing what to expect.
Inside it was dry–not a single drop had gotten into the interior, not even a tiny bead of cola along the edge anywhere. The Air survived. Yay.
The only other real casualties were the two boxes of Sharpies, which got soaked with cola. Fortunately, the soaking stopped short of penetrating all the way through, so the Sharpies emerged dry.
The clean-up took about half an hour and on the plus side, I got a spot out of the carpet while I scrubbed away at it. I have checked and re-checked every affected surface, and I’m reasonably confident I got everything.
As for keeping a beverage on the computer desk? No more. But what if I get thirsty? Will I need to start using sippy cups? Have to actually get up to get a drink? Install a water fountain?
No, instead I put a fresh coaster on the window sill to my right, which will now hold my beverage. If I knock it over there the worst casualty will be the carpet, which will not (to my knowledge) short-circuit and require costly repairs if cola lands on it.
Let this be a lesson to everyone: You can’t have nice things. Unless you make sure they won’t fry your electronics.
