Curse wildly.
Scream for your spouse.
Turn the MacBook over and pour all the excess coffee out.
Blot up what you can with paper towels.
Let it dry.
Feel relieved that it still boots.
Realize that a good portion of the keyboard is nonfunctional.
Curse some more.
Make a reservation at the local Apple store’s Genius Bar, and hope they can fix it quickly.
What a crappy way to start the day.
9 Comments
Oh that sucks. That sucks big time.
a few years ago i was working in a somewhat tired and pressurised state, 3am in a hotel room in some remote city, finishing off a powerpoint i had to deliver a few hrs later that day … so, i thought i’d console myself with a glass of red wine whilst i laboured.
inevitable happened - large glass of merlot, all over keyboard.
into the office at 7am next morning, grabbed an early-starting techie and 30mins later all fixed, just required new keyboard.
however, for quite a few months subsequently, the laptop did give off a nice merlot fragrance when warmed up.
good luck!
yep, been there… not that long ago actually. But my prop was an emormous glass of water. We never got the laptop completely working again, but it stayed just enough alive for us to rescue what we needed from the hard drive. Thank goodness. Hope you MacBook gets well soon!
Similar thing happened to my iBook recently - needed a new keyboard and touchpad (which came as a whole new facia). Didn’t tell the repair guy it was dog pee.
I’m crossing my fingers that my MacBook might be okay. Took it to the Apple Store, and they were willing to replace the keyboard (at my expense of course) but they wouldn’t do any comprehensive diagnostics or cleaning. They logged my machine as having suffered a liquid spill, so the warranty is compromised.
I took the machine instead to a local Mac service place where they’re going to check it all over and see what’s going on, if it’s just the keyboard or if it has additional problems. The Apple guy told me that there are holes where liquid can get from the keyboard into the innards of the machine itself, which I assumed. The Mac service guy told me that it’s fairly tightly sealed though so I might be okay.
Should have it back within a week or so, and I don’t think I should have any problem getting the data off if I need to as it’s running quite well right now. What I would have problems with is having to replace an expensive computer that I bought just six months ago.
Thank god for the web, because that’s where the vast majority of my work is. All I need to do is get my secondary computer’s Firefox set up the way I want it and I’m good to go.
oh, Danny, that’s awful! How did the dog get to the machine, anyway?
Sorry to hear about your MacBook, but glad it still boots. I’ll cross my fingers for you.
Thanks, Deirdre, no word yet from the intensive care unit, but I am crossing my fingers too.
I feel your pain. Good luck.
I wonder if there is an after-market opportunity for some sort of shielding between the keyboard and laptop innards. It seems to be a common enough occurrence.