Latte and a Laptop: A Horror Story

We’ve all heard the typical computer horror stories of people spilling on their laptops and frying them, or essays randomly deleting the night before they're due. These stories are everyone’s worst nightmare and we all hope it never happens to us. I have always been extra careful with my laptop and was one of those people that thought it would never happen to me...until it did and my life became one of those horror stories.

It was the last week of the fall semester and I was finishing my final paper for the Gothic Literature. I had about 1-2 pages left when I decided to go get coffee for a study break. I bought a LARGE, HOT, vanilla chai latte (these details will become relevant shortly) from Starbucks and headed back to my room ready to finish. I set my latte down on my desk but realized I needed a book out of my backpack. I turned around to grab my bag and knocked over the entire latte all over my keyboard, which immediately soaked in the hot and sticky vanilla chai I had been so excited to drink.

Despite my attempts to drain the latte out of the keyboard and dry out my laptop, I was terribly unsuccessful. My laptop was totally fried and I had to accept it was not going to turn back on. To make matters worse, I don't use Google docs and I write all of my papers on Word. So not only did I break my laptop, but I lost the final paper I had due the following morning along with everything else on my laptop. I took all of my notes (again in Word) on my laptop that semester that I was going to need for my final the following week... gone. My final paper for my other class that I was over half way done with... gone. All of my pictures for the past 6 years... GONE.

So PSA!!!! Back-up all of your papers, notes, projects, pictures, etc! You may be like me and think this will never happen to you because you are "extra" careful with your laptop, but you're better off being safe than sorry. I did not back up anything which is now one of my biggest regrets.

Also, I strongly encourage people to write their papers and keep their notes in Google docs. I never used to use Google docs and I wrote everything in Word, but after this incident that is going to change. I have learned my lesson, and this semester I will be writing my senior thesis which you can bet money I will be writing on Google docs!

Lastly, back-up pictures on a thumb drive. That was one of the most heartbreaking parts about my computer breaking was loosing those memories because once I upload them to my computer I delete them off my phone. Therefore, I recommend backing your pictures up onto a separate device or thumb drive in addition to your laptop.

And most importantly, DO NOT PUT LARGE HOT STICKY DRINKS IN ANY CLOSE PROXIMITY OF YOUR COMPUTER!

Editor's Note: Anyone with an @wagner.edu email address also have unlimited Google Drive space. Back up everything.