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I have one of the original Microsoft Natural Keyboard’s. I got it when I bought my first ‘major’ computer back in 1998 from Gateway. I like it, and it worked good. But man, since I’ve had it for almost 10 years, it was looking really nasty.

So I decided that I would try and clean it. In the dishwasher. And amazingly, it worked.

After searching Google for “keyboard in dishwasher“, I went to work.

First, of course, I took a picture with the camera of the keyboard, so I would remember where the keys went. It came in handy later.

I popped all the keys off the keyboard, and set them aside. After taking off the keys, I realized how much dirt was underneath the keys. My old roommate had a cat, and a lot of the hair was under it. Didn’t even think about that. I had to take it outside with canned air and blow a lot of that dirt off first.

I put it in the dishwasher with a little bit of dish washing soap, and let it do it’s thing. Coming out of the dishwasher, it looked much better. I then set the keyboard aside for a few days to dry in the garage.

For the keys, I simply used some soap and a bowl of water to soak the keys for awhile, and then cleaned them off with a toothbrush. Let them dry, too.

A few days later, I snapped all the keys back on, and gave it a try…. and it didn’t work. I was a little mad, because, hey, I really like this keyboard. So I let it set aside for another day, and sure enough, it dried out more, and it works! So I was one happy coffee guy.

For the cost of a few pennies of dishwashing liquid, I have a like new keyboard.

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This is an actual board game from 1975. The game? “Ball Buster”. Yes, it’s fun for the whole family.

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Yes, it’s that time of year again.  When the kids are out, and everywhere there is fun, it’s crowded.

Now, of course, we do not have kids.  But since the wife is a school teacher, she gets the week off.  I decided to also take the week off, for some good times.

We had our friends in town, which was good times.  We were able to go to a very nice cabin in Munds Park, just south of Flagstaff.   Of course, the weather was fantastic. Highs in the 70’s, while Phoenix was just beginning a very nice hot streak.

Drove some 4-wheel quad’s, had some good food, roasted some marshmellow’s, and just in general hung out.  It was hard to come back to Phoenix.

Once we got back, we spent the week attempting to go to some Spring Training baseball games.  Of course, it was a little toasty in Phoenix, and we were also with a 3 year old child, so we decided for the games not to stay till the end.  Nice try, I guess.

Now, of course, that means it’s back to work on Monday.  And attempting to catch up with everything that has piled up there while I was gone.

And it’s still hot here.

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