Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Mouse Rage!

I had big plans this week to revise my website, especially the front page, for the new year. But alas, as so often happens when I have big plans, unseen forces conspired to thwart them. In this case, the mouse (as in computer, not real) went wonky. It's like the thing's been on a bender or something -- eratic doesn't begin to describe its actions. I try to move it one way, it sticks or goes careening off the side of the screen. Another way, it balks. Or jerks an inch or two and considers its job done.

Frustrating? Oh. My. Word.

I went to the mall yesterday to get a new mouse. The dh (who has been working with computers since the 70's, so he knows all the techie stuff) had written down the specifications for me. I zipped into the store, took out the note and found "like the old one." Oh. Gosh, that's helpful. There was a little more -- "not USB." This totally baffled the young clerk. He also couldn't seem to fathom that all I wanted was a very basic mouse -- nothing fancy. No glow-in-the-dark. Not wireless. Just, you know...well, I should have said "antique." He pointed to one and said, "That one's cool."

Ay yi yi. I felt like I had encountered somebody who knew nothing of computers and parts manufactured prior to oh, say, last week.

Worst of all, I couldn't see the part that plugs into the computer, because of the way the mice were packaged. I deemed myself in the wrong store and fled.

That means I am still suffering with Demento Mouse, so I don't think I'll be revising the ol' website today, unless I really want a challenge. Somehow, I think not....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Margaret. Am a new reader of your blog and have been mostly lurking, but thought I'd pop in and offer some advice---whether useful or not. If you've tried this, just ignore this comment, but I know my mouse acts up when dust gets inside with the ball sensor (belly of the mouse). After removing the cover and ball, I use tweezers to remove the dust clinging to the springs. That usually fixes the problem.

Margaret Moore said...

Thanks for the suggestion. We thought of that -- there were a few, ahem, crumbs on the desk, so the dh did a cleaning. Didn't do much good. The mouse was an old one and had seen much service, so I think it just plain wore out! I'll have to post Tales of the New Mouse, because getting a new mouse turned out to be only the beginning. Sigh....