After unplugging it from my computer I placed it upside down so the Bull could flow out of it. After I wiped it down I plugged it in and it still worked. I used it the rest of the day without a hitch.

When I came in this morning I did not think about yesterdays baptism in the Bull until I tried to come to this website and was typing my name. The R was slow to some back up after being pressed and so I need to perform some surgery on my keyboard.

I ended up popping off the a Shift key, plus the T, R, and E keys. I rinsed each key and its little plastic spring with water and wiped the inside of the key socket. While those keys are now nice and responsive I have noticed that the G key is also acting sluggish so it looks like I will need to pop it off as well.

I wish I could just throw this thing in the dish washer and take care of it in one swoop.

P.S. This post has caused me to add a new category named "Doh!".

I scored a 24″ previous generation iMac on CraigsList about a month ago that came with an Apple Mouse and Keyboard. From day 1 the mouse would once in a while scroll up but never scroll in any other direction. This was my first Apple mouse and figured that I was not doing something right so I didn’t mess with it.

I finally got fed up with it and tried blowing it out with my air compressor. I tried the old “Press down on it hard and try to scroll” with no luck. Then I remembered the old school method of cleaning the wheels on the old ball mice and it was with a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol.

I did a quick search and saw in the comments of a thread that someone else used alcohol as well. I Tired it myself and it worked!

This is what I did:

• Unplugged the mouse from the computer
• Got some tissue paper and folded it over a few times to make it thick
• I then dowsed the tissue paper with rubbing alcohol until it was saturated
• I turned the mouse upside down and rubbed the scroll ball in a circular motion and back and forth for about a minute

After doing these steps I looked at the tissue paper and sure enough some gunk came out. I plugged it back into my computer and it was nice and peppy!

Note: Some people mentioned using water as opposed to the rubbing alcohol but I think the rubbing alcohol is better because it will evaporate quicker.

Technorati: Apple, iMac, Apple Mouse, Scroll Bar, Tips and Tricks