Breakin'

By Serdar Yegulalp on 2018-02-05 17:00:00-05:00 No comments

These past couple of days have been a cavalcade of non-stop technical and mechanical failure. To wit:

• The shelving I installed next to my desk decided to unceremoniously collapse. Ironically, this happened after I tried to strengthen it by replacing the brackets with more durable ones. All that did was cause one of them to pull clean out of the wall. (There are no studs on this wall. It's a long story.)
• The keyboard I was using, a generous gift from a friend, decided to die when its left side Ctrl key broke off completely. Not just the keycap; the switch under it was also ruined. I'm back to Das Keyboard 3 for now — not a giant step backwards, but the Logitech I was using was far easier to clean under and had illuminated keys. That said, the Das does seem to be more durably built overall.

There's not much that really drives me nuts, but somehow things like this drill under my dermis and itch like scabies. The shelf issue bothers me because it's a sort-of indictment of my skill in executing such things. I know I can always just patch up the holes and make do without a shelf over the desk, but it bugs me that it might just not be possible with this arrangement.

I'm less annoyed about the keyboard, not just because it's replaceable but because I'm more or less resigned to being someone who punches keyboard to death. I type like Walter Winchell hammering his Remington '29, so any keyboard that isn't designed to take a whuppin' has at best a replicant's lifespan in my study.

But of the two, the busted keyboard was the bigger productivity killer, and that explains why I've been out of it for a few days. More shortly.