A Computer Crisis Avoided

I know this is going to sound a little ridiculous -- but I actually prayed for my computer on Thursday and Friday. Considering all that we pray for and all the things we could pray for - I chose my computer. God says he will help us with even the little stuff, so I guess I decided to test him and I shouldn't be surprised when he answers our prayers.

The Computer Crisis
Thursday, I was sitting at the computer playing Farm Town on Facebook (hopelessly addicted) and Landen woke up from his nap, and I was almost done. So, I went and grabbed him and sat him on my knee to finish. He went for the cup... the one with water in it. And it went all over the keyboard of our laptop.

I frantically tipped it upside down and stuck Landen on the floor. I mopped up the water, dried the keyboard and got out a can of air. Feeling hopeless and drowned, I unscrewed the hard drive and put it in a safe place and began unscrewing everything. I knew if I didn't try to turn it on, took it apart so it could dry out- then it might be salvageable. But I couldn't get it apart. I was torn between just ripping it apart (the damage was already done) and calming giving up. Reluctantly, I calmly gave up.

Extreme Computer v. ComputerWise
Friday, I decided to just take to a computer repair place. So, I decided to call a few places. Here are my top two choices:

Extreme Computers Phone Conversation-
Me: Do you guys do anything with water-logged computers?
EC: What's that?
Me: We got water-spilled on our laptop
EC: Well , that was dumb. (That has got to be the worst thing anyone could say to a customer!!)
Me: Pause... I was wondering if you could check to see if the hard drive is salvageable. I pulled it out right after it got water on it.
EC: Well, we can run software recovery on it. But if it's wet that won't help. There's a lab in town that takes them apart and stuff. But it costs thousands of dollars. (And that is not at all depressing? or helpful.)
Me: Uhh.. yeah, thanks for your help.

ComputerWise Phone Conversation:
Me: Do you do anything with water-logged computers?
CW: How wet did you get it?
Me: Less than a cup of water.
CW: Have you tried to turn it on?
Me: Well, I turned it off immediately after it got wet and tried to pull it apart, but it wouldn't come apart. I was wondering if you could check on it and maybe see if the hard drive is at least salvageable.
CW: Oh yeah, bring it in and we can look at it. Hard drives are surprisingly durable and if your computer won't work then we can either replace that parts that got ruined or we can buy your parts, so you can at least get some money out of it.

Guess Where I went?

The Phone Call
About 2 hours after I dropped my laptop off (in about 30 pieces plus screws). I got a call from ComputerWise. He said he did some cleaning on a few pieces-- and they have a oven-air thing they can put it in to clean minor water, dust, etc. He put it back together and it turned on! HALLELUJAH! I was so happy I wanted to cry. They also did a tune-up on it and ran a few processes without any problems! He told I could come pick it up then or tomorrow. It only cost $80.

Yeah, maybe if I had just put it back together it would have the same result, but then Murphy's Law would probably prove me wrong. Being faced with losing all our pictures of Landen and Michael's homework and everything else of my life that is contained in that machine, it hardly seems like it cost all that much. A New Computer would have been hundreds more. I was just so happy that it works-- I would have paid him double!

P.S. We have been meaning to buy an external hard drive.. and we did. We have backed up all our pictures and important stuff!