OH. MY. GOD. I don't think I have been this hot and bothered about a piece of metal and plastic since I got my new sled!

OK, so for the past couple months I have been been fighting with my labtop keyboard. Specifically with the B key, the C key, the D key, the X key and the K key. Oh and the SHIFT key. And sometimes the N key. And the number 1 key. Oh and the question mark. And the period.

Let's just say that instant messaging was about pleasent as trying to vacuum a cat. It went something like this.

hi
how was your ay
ay
ay
argh
sorry
my eyoar ist worig
stupi piee of rap

Also, let's pretend this is why I have been a slacker when it comes to updating my blog in recent months ...

OK, so I have been trying to find an external keyboard for the past weeks, but nothing has really tickled my fancy. I didn't really want another plain USB keyboard - I already have one at home. I was thinking of getting one of those silicone flexible keyboards, that I could take on the road with me, which I finally found at Staples, but when I got it home I totally hated it. So I took it back.

THen I was thinking of getting a mini keyboard, again something I could travel with. I have looked everywhere - Staples, Best Buy, Future Shop, Tiger Direct, NCIX, Amazon. But I just couldn't find anything that I wanted. Online shipping cost more than the keyboard itself; I didn't want to deal with the hassle of wireless; the super cheap keyboards didn't have USB connections.

Argh. All I wanted was for my laptop keyboard to work.

But then.

THEN.

(Cue the sunlight breaking through the clouds and choruses of angels singing).

I stopped at Future Shop on the way home from Calgary, a last ditch effort to see if they had anything that would just get me through until I can take my laptop in to get fixed.

And there it was.

Peeking out from a stand in the middle of the aisle were the beautiful, new aluminum Mac keyboards.

My position in the Apple-vs-PC debate is a discussion better left for another day, but to summarize, I consider myself bi. I am equally comfortable with the hardware and software of both, and find that both machines have their place in society. And for the record, I wouldn't have any more of a problem plugging an Apple keyboard into a Windows machine then I would have vacccuming a cat.

Up until this point I had been under the impression that Apple keyboards weren't PC-compatible. BUT, much to the chagrin of Mac Brats worldwide, it turns out that I WAS WRONG.

I ran out of the store waving my new keyboard in the air and giggling, jumped in my car, pulled out my laptop and plugged it in, just to make sure the sales guy wasn't lying. Yes. Yes, my laptop just happened to be sitting next to the drivers' seat. No. No, I don't think that's weird to plug a USB keyboard into my laptop while sitting in my car. Do you?

Apple snobs around the world are collapsing in horror knowing that I have plugged one of their precious products into the port of a pernicious PC. And worse ...

IT WORKED.