If you weren�t aware already, I am the wife of an electronics technician. This means that I have learned two VERY important rules when dealing with electronics.

First rule: A L W A Y S secure power before attempting to repair/alter/change anything with a current going t it.

Second rule: electronics and liquid, especially water, do N O T mix.

Shall I repeat that? Electronics and liquids, especially WATER, do not mix!!!

Having said that I am guilty of breaking rule number 2. Yes. Me. Of all people. It wasn�t my fault. Honest. Ok, it was my fault but it was an accident.

You see, yesterday morning, we woke up at the left cheek of the ass crack o�dawn. We had packed our RV and made it road-ready the night before so that we could evacuate Ft. Lauderdale and head north. I got up at 4am and came out into the kitchen area. First, I must say that my house {RV} isn�t very large to begin with and when the slide-out is pushed in, my RV narrows considerably, making the kitchen go from 11 feet to only 2 feet. (The kitchen table is on the slide-out.) So, I had Ben�s laptop on the kitchen counter next to the sink instead of the desk where it normally sits and� are you sitting down�.the coffee pot. I thought I�d multi-task and check my email while I made coffee and it was brewing. Keep in mind that while I was technically awake, at that hour of the morning, my cognition isn�t as clear as it is an hour or so after getting out of bed.

I *thought* I had it planned out. I gently pushed the computer---which was ON by the way---off to the side, pulling the coffee pot closer to me. I begin to fill the back of the coffee pot. Well, our particular model (which has been the bane of my existence since the 3rd day we bought the dang thing) has this hole in the back of it. I suppose that�s to keep from overfilling it. I know about the hole. However, it didn�t occur to me to put one finger on the hole while I filled the coffee pot despite its close proximity to the laptop.

Yeah. You can see where this is going. No good can come from this.

Well, much to my surprise and subsequent horror, I noticed a small puddle of water on the counter. Immediately I panicked and checked the laptop. Oh, no!! A little had splashed on to the screen as well as the keyboard. Not, good! Not, good! I yelled inside my head.

�What to do? What to do?� were the words racing through my head. I immediate grabbed a wad of paper towels and as I was about to dry off the keyboard after mopping up the screen, everything went blank.

The screen looked like the back of my eyelids at 11pm on most weekday nights.

Meanwhile, Ben is in the bedroom checking for light leaks in his eyelids. (FYI: there weren�t any until I had to wake him up.)
And you can imagine how much I did not want to wake my husband out of a dead sleep and tell him, Mr. Electronics Technician, that his wife S T U P I D L Y decided to fill the coffee pot right next to his work laptop. Yeah, the one that Uncle Sam gave to him. The very one that has all of his important work info on it. The same one that contains all his notes for his college classes.

Feeling like the world�s worse wife ever, I reluctantly woke him up.

Gently shaking his leg from the end of the bed, I said softly, �Honey. Honey, wake up. The laptop suddenly shut down.� I�ve never seen that man bolt upright that fast in the nearly 11 years we�ve been married.

In his birthday suit, he goes out to the kitchen and tries the power. A flicker of light on the screen and then nothing. He tries to turn it on again. This time, not even a flicker. Then he tries one last time. Nothing. I�m apologizing left and right and he�s assuring me that he�s not mad. He whips out a series of small screwdrivers and proceeds to take it apart. He removes the motherboard and a few other assorted pieces and ever so gently he dries them off. After a few minutes he had the computer put back together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

I�ve got my fingers crossed nervously. He presses the power button. Nothing.

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. So many scenarios ran through my mind precisely at that moment. He walked into the bedroom to get dressed. I followed him where I found him sitting on the edge of the bed. I apologized again.

While he indicated that he wasn�t upset with me, his facial expressions betrayed his words. All it took was seeing that look of sheer disappointment for me to ball like a little girl and sob nearly uncontrollably. In between gasps of air, I managed to explain how I *thought* that I was doing the right thing and how I actually had believed that I had thought through the entire series of events prior to execution.

He immediately drew me close for a sincere hug and tried to soothe my wounded heart. He reassured me that he wasn�t upset, mad, or disappointed and that he truly was trying to logically figure out why on earth I would do what I did in the manner in which I did it.

A few hours later we were on the road. And for the entire day, I apologized to him every chance I got. He said, �Don�t worry about it, Baby. It�s just a computer. I�ll figure something out.�

We get to Jacksonville, pull into the campground, and set up the RV most of the way. Then we went out for a bite to eat. (The Wildfire Shrimp at Longhorn is to die for!!!)

This morning, Ben and I woke up at the same time and sauntered into the living room. I pulled his laptop out from his computer bag and we both eagerly watched the screen as I pressed the power button.
A blip. A flash. And then�.. then� IT TURNED ON AND STAYED ON!!!! It works. It was as if it had never shut down yesterday or that I had spilled some water on it. Ben and I embraced in a congratulatory hug. I jumped up and down, clapping my hands in sheer joy and relief. I couldn�t have been happier had I won the lottery. (Ok, so maybe I�d be a teeeeeeny bit happier..heh heh.)

The moral of the story, boys & girls, is to NEVER FILL YOUR COFFEE POT NEXT TO A POWERED-UP LAPTOP!!!!!

Agua + computadora = disaster waiting to happen!

And thank heaven and God that I have a super-duper-awesome-understanding husband!

Doesn�t he deserve the �Husband of the Century� award?!?