Long Live the Mouse!

Dead, Dumb and Blind Mouse Lives Again!

When we got our first laptop a few years back, Phil was frustrated with the flat keyboard, so we ran a USB cord from it to our old keyboard to help with the learning curve.  He also found the old monitor easier to read with his trifocals, so we ran yet another USB cord from the laptop to the old monitor as well.  Gradually, we got used to the new tech. 

Neither of us, however, has been able to make the switch from a remote mouse to the touch-pad – which of course identifies us as well over 50.  Then again, we don’t have a smart phone or smart tablet either and our computer does not talk to our TV.  Guess we’re just not very smart.

Consequently, when our mouse recently developed a case of blindness and wouldn’t respond to the touch, we were perplexed.  We changed the battery – but that didn’t help.  Since we live in tropical Hawaii we know that batteries don’t last very long so we broke open a brand new package and tried a second battery to no avail.  Next we removed the tracking ball – and no surprise, found a legion of mold growing inside which we cleaned thoroughly, using a Q-tip to gently swipe around the mouse’s tiny laser “eye.”  Phil even gently buffed the connectors for the battery since they do tend to corrode easily due to the dampness.  Alas, none of our efforts managed to resuscitate the mouse.

Using the touch pad was totally frustrating for both of us – the cursor kept jumping (like a mouse!) all over the place – two lines up – or into the email address line, or disappearing entirely.  We finally decried, “The mouse is dead!  Long live the mouse” and added a stop at Office Max to the Hilo-Day shopping list.

Neither one of us recalls exactly why we decided to give a THIRD battery one more try, but we did, and VOILA!!  THE MOUSE LIVES!  LONG LIVE THE MOUSE!