Off-Topic Questions Thread - closed. Open new threads for specific questions please.

[Slapnut]

Sounds absolutely ridiculous, but do you have an airing cupboard? I pissed on my laptop when I was drunk one night, popped it in the airing cupboard the next morning and it worked fine that night. Still stank of piss, though.

[Guest]

Try taking each key off if you can or remove the entire keyboard by opening up the laptop and cleaning with a wet wipe to get rid of the stickiness.

Sounds like you've done this before, Si.

[Juan Manforce]

SiMania - no way in, unfortunately. The keyboard is attached to the panel I need to remove to get in, I can get the panel maybe halfway off before it stops lifting at one side. Seems to be a few screws smaller than a gnat's cock stopping me from removing it and they're far too small to remove with even the tiny screwdriver I have.

UPDATE: It's not the screws but something else stopping me from getting in. The panel can be lifted at all edges but something in the middle of the keyboard area feels like it's attached to something else. Maybe it's the sticky juice but it feels more like something that's likely to break if I keep forcing it.

 

Monkee - nah, nothing like that, I think it's out of warranty by this point too.

 

Slapnut - I have a cupboard that's supposed to be an airing one, given that it constantly stinks I dunno if it actually works how it's supposed to but it's worth a shot.

[SiMania]

 

Try taking each key off if you can or remove the entire keyboard by opening up the laptop and cleaning with a wet wipe to get rid of the stickiness.

Sounds like you've done this before, Si.

 

Yes, thankfully only to my own or my wife's. It's always a risk when you play cock hero.

[Juan Manforce]

Second update, I'm an idiot. Removing the keyboard was remarkably easy and didn't require removal of any screws, I just had to pop it out by digging a screwdriver under the panelling. Will give it a good clean, leave it in the (maybe) airing cupboard til tonight then see what's what. Looks like I can give the cooling fan a clean while I'm at it.

[hallicks]

We've rescued laptops at work by putting them in a big tub of rice for 24-48 hours.

[Bradyisgod22]

Does anyone here use NowTV for thier internet? Need a new provider as I moved into a brand new flat bt apparently its not fibre optic ready apparently! Or does anyone use any other providers they would recommend?

 

Dont mind if its Sky as that would sort the tele out too!

[Refused]

We've rescued laptops at work by putting them in a big tub of rice for 24-48 hours.

Did you still eat the rice afterwards?

[John Matrix]

Guys and gals.  Looking for a little re-assurance / moral support...

 

I've always been what you might call 'laid back' and lacking in urgency but over the past few months, things seem to have gone to a whole other level, to the point I feel incapable of doing anything... 

 

It's not so much that I can't, I just don't and I don't understand why - it's like some sort of mental block and  just can't pull the trigger. 

 

It happens for relatively minor things, like booking a hair cut.  I need one, my boy needs one, we both look ridiculous at the minute  and all I need to do is make a 30 second call (or I walk past the barbers every morning) and I just don't do it.

 

I haven't had any annual leave this summer for the simple fact I've never asked for it.  I want and desperately need a break, my wife is fuming that the summer has passed and we've done nothing together as a family, and still I don't send the e-mail to my boss to ask for it.

 

It's ridiculous, and it's getting more and more serious...  I lost my pre-paid travel card a few months back, £45 a month taken by DD to cover my commute.  Three months it took me to make the phone call to order a new one (that arrives within 3 days).  During which time I continued to pay the DD as well as another £15 a week,  costing me £180 we simply don't have with my wife fast approaching the end of her maternity leave.

 

It's at work though where it's really beginning to cause a problem.  Got an event coming up in a fortnight which I've been project lead on and I just haven't done the tasks assigned.  As a result, we've lost a sponsor, a dignitary who was scheduled to attend has pulled out because of short notice, half our entertainment has fallen through, all because I couldn't pull the trigger and make the calls or send the emails I needed to.

 

I volunteered to staff an event this weekend, which subsequently clashes with a personal commitment.  I've had weeks to notify someone, but instead, I'm going to have to come up with some 11th hour fairy-tale to try and smooth things over.

 

I'm scared it's going to catch up with me very soon and that there's trouble right around the corner, but the problem is I don't understand why it's happening, making it impossible to stop.   I worry I've taken too much on, and so simply my brain just can't process, prioritise or decide between the millions of tasks I have to do, so by default I choose the ones i'll enjoy which rarely are the most important ones.

 

Has anyone else suffered from something like this?  I'm curious to know, because even as I write and try to explain it, i'm thinking to myself "you're just a lazy twat" but it really isn't that, this isn't about motivation or lack there of, it's like a mental block of some kind.

[Gus Mears]

Sounds like it could be something to do with anxiety, Matrix. Can quite often manifest in an inability to do the tasks you need to do, just doing the easy tasks instead etc. Might be worth seeing a quack to see what they think?

 

I mean, it doesn't sound that  serious, but it's clearly becoming a bit of an inconvenience.

[John Matrix]

Sounds like it could be something to do with anxiety, Matrix. Can quite often manifest in an inability to do the tasks you need to do, just doing the easy tasks instead etc. Might be worth seeing a quack to see what they think?

 

I mean, it doesn't sound that  serious, but it's clearly becoming a bit of an inconvenience.

 

Thanks for that matey.  I was worried someone might say something like that, my body has a horrible way of not telling me what it's problem is, and then dealing with it in a shitty way - I don't think it's a secret, but I take a low level anti depressant which on reflection, I'd needed for years before I actually got diagnosed, because in my mind, everything was tickety boo and it was 'everyone else'.

 

Just yesterday I had to go to the docs cos I found a lump in my neck a few days ago which had gotten progressively sorer.  Despite feeling absolutely fine, turns out I have some infection my body is fighting and it's a swollen gland doing it's job properly - I'd rather have the fucking symptoms and know what was up, turns out I woke this morning feeling like i'ev been hit by a bus (whether that's just being aware of it or not, who knows)... but what you've said adds up, and makes perfect sense.  Another trip to the GP in order methinks, bollocks!

[Gus Mears]

Yeah, if you've got underlying depression at some level, it wouldn't be at all surprising if you get a bit of anxiety too, particularly when you have a shit load going on as it seems you do at the minute. They are quite often a big shitty couple, unfortunately.

 

In all likelihood if that is the case, docs will just alter your medication somewhat. Hope you get to the bottom of it either way!

[Keith Houchen]

As trite as it sounds, the best thing is you've acknowledged something is up. Maybe it's time for a new playbook, or adding a few more plays to the current one, to continue our metaphor! Good luck, mate.

[John Matrix]

Cheers fellas.  If anything, it's a need to tear a few pages out of it.  Freelancing is having a mini boom the last few weeks, with some high profile responsibilities at the day job, plus this new football team we've started which in theory should calm down after this weekend when our first session is out of the way - add to the mix two young kids, and it's a recipe for exhaustion which isn't exactly conducive to good decision making.

 

It's that age old problem, I know I need a break, but don't see an opportunity to take one because of work load

[Onyx2]

It sounds like you're paralysed by choice and swimming under responsibilities. From what I recall, you have a couple of (very young) kids, a wife still not back at work, a new business and it's just an AAAAAAARGH of stuff to do. You can't decide what's most important, so it's 'easiest' to do nothing. In the short-term, anyway.

 

First, have you talked to Mrs Matrix about this?

 

If you think you can handle it yourself, get making lists. Prioritise everything. If you like, use an app or gadget to do this - I like Trello but there are millions of these. Give yourself the satisfaction of crossing something off or marking as done. Small victories.

 

If you can't do this, talk to someone external to the situation. As mentioned above a mental health professional might be a good idea just to talk it through. If you don't fancy that, perhaps a life coach? I know how wanky that sounds, but it can be a great sounding board and someone who can check in on you to say "have you done this? And why not?" much like a personal trainer.

 

Good luck John. I know everybody on the board will be in your corner.