Category Archives ⇒ My Blog

Wine+MacBook=no fun

· Brandon Hann

My drunk roommate decided that she hadn’t had enough wine so she leaned forward and attempted to grab her glass that was still half full from the table we were sitting around and just as I had imagined it happening, it happened. I watched red wine fly through the air and land right on my MacBook! There’s not much more devastating than seeing wine start to seep through the gaps in the keys on your $1500 (in October 2008) investment.

Fortunately, by nature, I’m not a person that panics and I’ve been through a similar situation with electronics when I was pushed into a swimming pool holding two cell phones. Anyway, because of this, the first thing I did was turn off the computer by holding the power button. I was smart enough to NOT push any of the wet keys for fear of shorting something out.

Right afterward, I removed the battery and began my decent into the computer’s internals in hopes of cleaning out every drop of wine. I was up until 3am removing many, many, many tiny screws to open this bad boy up. For those who have ever taken apart one of those new aluminum MacBooks, you know what I’m talking about. Here’s the gallery of pictures during the cleaning process.

I knew there was no way to get all the wine out by simply blowing air into the keyboard, so I had to completely submerge it in water by washing it in the sink. After I washed all the layers of the keyboard in water, I blew them dry to get the majority of the water off and then let them dry for 1 more day.

Meanwhile, I washed off everything else that got wine on it and when I was at work the next day, I bought some Monster screen cleaner and I must stop and tell you that that stuff is amazing!! If it wasn’t so expensive, I’d wash my car with it!

In the end, I was able to salvage my MacBook and give it a massive cleaning from the inside out. Everything is still working great and it’s not sticky nor does it smell like alcohol.

My favorite décor

· Brandon Hann

I was just admiring this drawing and remembered what a wonderful feeling I get every time I see it. It’s easy to think how nice someone is just because they created something for you, but in this case, it’s more than that. It shows a depth of attention paid to the smallest details.

Also, if you’ve ever been an artist, or even known one, you understand the sentimental connection they get with their creations and, short of being offered a truckload of money, they dare not part.

Put simply, when I look at it, I remember just how important I must be to someone. And for me to acknowledge that fact is just shy of remarkable.

Late night ramblings

· Brandon Hann

After I wrote my status a few minutes ago, I decided to write a bit about it. Earlier in the week I had mentioned that I was pretty sure that I had the best girlfriend ever and then the week ended on a low note. When bad things transpire and ultimately get resolved, I always say I learned a lot about myself, but how can that be if I already knew what I “learned”? Well, sometimes you know it, but you forget it until it’s too late.

With that said, I did learn one thing this week: trying to always be right and/or attempting to force someone into thinking along your lines does nothing for the situation except make people wonder what your true intentions are: either to force change on people or to make them feel bad enough about themselves to want to change.

Most people in these situations would run for cover out of a natural human response of needing to protect one’s self. As it turned out, she did run…but to the park; and took me with her.

It was thought that an everyday lunch appearance would not suffice and so there we were; lying on the grass, playing a game I hadn’t seen in over ten years, just enjoying the afternoon air. The only thought I could rustle up was “Why?” Why, after mistakes I made, is she the one making things better? This, my friends, brings me to my point.

My previous statement was: “I’m pretty sure I have the best girlfriend ever! Anyone who wants to argue, I’m game.”

I am retracting it and replacing it with: “I absolutely KNOW that I have the best girlfriend ever and you will lose any argument saying otherwise!”

My two cents: it’s the small things that are worth so much more than anything money can buy.

I'm here for the dishwasher?

· Brandon Hann

I was headed to one of my jobs today and I started driving about 25 minutes to get there in the rain and traffic. Anyway, I arrive at the location only to find out it’s a gated community.

I called the client to have them open the gate and said ok. The gate remained closed. I called back. She said she was openin it. Gate still closed. I called back and as she was attempting to open it, someone behind me opened the gate instead. Finally I drive in.

While that is lame within itself, here’s the rest. I drive around this maze looking for her address no thanks to my gps, which placed her house in a different spot than it was. Once I found it, I rang the doorbell.

I go in and the client says “You’re here for the dishwasher, right?”

I fix computers.

I explained to her that I was there for the computer and she tells me somone already came and fixed it a few days back. Lame.

P.S. As I was walking out the door, she said “I didn’t think you were here for the dishwasher; you’re dressed too nicely!” Sorry Mr. Dishwasher Repair Man, but you need some new clothes!

Things that happened on my birthday

· Brandon Hann

I found this idea to be quite entertaining. I found a few things of note that happened on the day I was born and decided to create a list. The only thing needed to qualify for this list is that the event happened on the day I was born. The year is irrelavent.

February 19th, 2008 – Toshiba announced that it would no longer develop, manufacture, or market HD DVD players and recorders, which lead to all other manufacturers to follow suit thus ending the HD format war and leaving SONY the victor with it’s Blu-Ray technology. More info…

February 19th, 1980 – AC/DC frontman, Bon Scott was found dead in his friend’s car after a night of heavy drinking in London. More info…

February 19th, 1807 – The famed Donner party is finally rescued. The Donner party was an 87-member group of pioneers that set out for California. After many problems on the way, many of the members starved to death and their companions ate their bodies for survival. More info…

February 19th, 1906 – William Kellogg founded the Kellogg cereal company. More info…

February 19th, 1945 – World War II: Over 30,000 United States Marines landed on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan to begin the battle of Iwo Jima. More info…

February 19th, 1948 – Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi is born. More info…

February 19th, 1878 – The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison. More info…

February 19th, 197 – Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. More info…

February 19th, 2008 – Don Rickles releases an inside look DVD of himself, his act and offers some other comedian’s opinions and views on the man. The DVD is called Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project and is worth a look if you’re at all interested in the really funny man. More info…

February 19th, 1973 – Elvis Presley had to be sedated after an incident involving four men rushing his Hilton Showroom stage. He convinced himself that Priscilla’s boyfriend had sent them, and Elvis was demanding lethal retribution. (Source: desktop calendar – unknown origins)

February 19th, 1777 – Congress overlooks Benidict Arnold for promotion to major general. Feeling slighted that five junior officers got promoted before him, he decided to resign, thus kicking off the story of the most famous traitor in U.S. history. More info…