Three weeks ago I dropped my laptop in the bath for the second time. That might sound rather unusual, however what I find even more unexpected is the fact that it still works perfectly!
The first question I expect you want to ask is what on earth was I doing with my laptop in the bath? The answer is fairly simple – I was watching the latest episode of ‘Lost.’
I used to read books in the bath, but with the steam and heat I found that holding a book was neither relaxing nor practical. I like to soak for long periods of time in baths that are just this side of uncomfortably hot, the idea being that they will cool down over the time I am in soaking amid the bubbles – and yes, there are bubbles too! So you see, the problem with books and the bath is that I often dozed off with a book in my hand; a book that is then quickly transformed into paper mache.
I then came up with the idea of watching movies on my laptop while I soaked in the bath. To me this seemed like the perfect union of relaxation, entertainment, and practical cleanliness. It was, I thought, a masterstroke of time management and life balance efficiency!
I located a glass shelf with plastic feet that fitted neatly across my bathtub. Upon this I would place a small hand towel on which my trusty MacBook would be located while I laid back and enjoyed a movie or TV show. It was all very luxurious and amid the subtle and ambient lighting it felt somewhat decadent too.
Of course, a laptop computer (especially a Mac) is considerably more expensive than a paperback book, so when I first saw the glowing screen plunge into the bath water with near slow motion grace, I had reason to rethink my newly found ‘CineSpa.’
At that moment, while the on-screen action continued, the serenity of the bathroom scene was shattered by the quickly unfolding digital drama. Splashing around like swimmer caught in the jaws of a shark I thrashed a watery exit from the tub and reached beneath the bubbles to rescue the MacBook. Initially, like the band on the deck of the Titanic, it continued to work as if nothing were wrong. However, a few moments later the screen flickered then went black as all noise from the laptop ceased and silence fell upon the bathroom.
That was more than two years ago, and surprisingly enough the plunge didn’t kill the MacBook. Like the ‘Six Million Dollar Man‘ the laptop was rebuilt, better and stronger than before. Maybe the wiser thing to have done would have been to revert back to reading soggy books, but I decided to continue with my ‘CineSpa’ times, discovering many a good movie in the tub; The Bucket List, Into the Wild, and Grizzly Man to name but a few.
As the final season of ‘Lost’ got underway there was no denying this was inescapably perfect ‘CineSpa’ material. So as temperatures outside dipped to near arctic lows, I slid into a dangerously hot bath to lose myself in a double bill of the hit TV series while sipping an ice cold deep red berry smoothie.
An hour or so into the show I decided to get out of the tub to go and fix myself another drink. I shut the laptop to save my place in the TV show and reserve battery power, then I stepped out of the bath. At that point, quite how I am not entirely sure, the shelf that the laptop was sat upon lost its footing and an empty drink glass, a half eaten orange, and my gleaming white MacBook fell into the steaming hot water beneath a shroud of cinnamon smelling bubbles.
I quickly snatched the MacBook from the water and held it over the bath as water poured from its various ports. The cold air turned blue as I cursed loudly while quickly removing the battery and calculating how many books I would have to drop in the bath to equal the cost of one drenched MacBook. How on earth did this happen again? I though to myself.
After four days drying out like a drunkard recovering from a hard weekend of liquor lubricated wildness, I tentatively coaxed the MacBook back to life. To my complete surprise it sprang back to life like and began playing ‘Lost’ from the very point where I had paused it before it took the plunge. There seemed to be no ill effects whatsoever.
It’s been more than three weeks now and still the MacBook is behaving as if nothing untoward has happened. Indeed, this post was written on the very MacBook in question. So will this spell an end of laptop use in the bath? Not at all! Besides, it would take something like 30 or so paperback books to equal the current cost of a new MacBook, and at the slow rate I read that equates to something like 11 years in the bath, in which time I would expect to upgrade my laptop about 3 or 4 times. So by that calculation I’m still winning! Sure, that might not be science, but it’s logic as far as I am concerned.
—
Bubble trouble
Teen dies while twittering in bathtub
Laptop-in-the-bath ad banned
Underwater love
→ GET BEFOREiFORGET BY EMAIL, iPHONE, OR PODCAST
Wrote the following comment on Mar 11, 2010 at 7:30 pm
simon!
i like the way you are putting your stories on paper and it made me laugh – although i heard the story before….
i don’t know much about the insides of electronic devices but as my mobile phone went swimming (with and without me) several times, outlived all his followers and still lasts for almost a week without charging i believe that there must be something like a soul in it so – your mac must like you ;-)
but tell me one thing – you spend AN HOUR in the bath???
Wrote the following comment on Mar 12, 2010 at 1:40 am
I have such a funny image of you in a bubble bath watching movies! I thought guys only took showers.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 12, 2010 at 7:01 am
Everyone knows Simon is a gay man trapped in a straight mans body :-)
Wrote the following comment on Mar 12, 2010 at 10:01 am
@ Mira – Yes I do take extremely long baths. An hour would be fairly ordinary, though at times I have been known to sit in the tub for much, much longer. :-)
Wrote the following comment on Mar 12, 2010 at 10:31 am
How are you not dead? I don’t mean to be rude Simon, but are you trying to win a Darwin Award or something? God must really like you mate!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 12, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Big Dave, not that I would suggest anyone actually try this, but you can’t die from a battery powered laptop falling into the bath. The voltage would simply be too low to cause any harm to a person as Simon would seem to have proved not once but twice already!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 13, 2010 at 1:03 am
Simon, your ‘gay baths’ make me laugh! But I don’t think that laptops are good bubble machines. x
Wrote the following comment on Mar 13, 2010 at 3:14 pm
i wonder if my iPad will be as durable?
We shall see…
Wrote the following comment on Mar 14, 2010 at 1:53 am
As long as you don’t go watching something like “The Notebook” or “Beaches” while taking a bath, then though you might be dancing on the borders of gay, you won’t actually be gay. Oh, and certainly stay away from wine coolers.
In the way of logistics, you might try placing the laptap on a stand at such a distance that should it fall it will not actually go into the water.
And, honestly, I used to take a long soak and read, but it has been years since I’ve had the tub or the time for it.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 14, 2010 at 9:21 pm
laptap, if that was intentional, genius :-)
Wrote the following comment on Mar 14, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Uh… Yes, intentional… right. It was intentional. Of course I meant that.
Alright fine… But I am going to take credit for the interjections of my subconscious mind. It often sees things I consciously miss.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 29, 2010 at 3:51 am
I like the picture. Where do you find your pics? This one just fits the post topic so perfectly. :D
Wrote the following comment on Mar 29, 2010 at 3:13 pm
@ Becky – I use Google image search to look for pictures to illustrate posts which I can’t illustrate using my own material. In some respects I suppose that could be seen as bad form, illegal use even. However, these days, as someone who publishes pictures online myself, I think its generally accepted that for personal blogs and the such it’s ok to use a picture found on Google image search, though I should perhaps try and link back to the source more often.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 1, 2010 at 9:04 pm
This made me laugh and laugh, you have a real charm in your writing Simon. It provided some light relief for me as I have just ruined my macbook in a not disimilar way – I dropped mine in the pool this morning and I found your blog while googling for advice on what I should do now.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 9, 2010 at 12:09 pm
here’s an idea: install a flatscreen on your wall in the bathroom, if it’s over the tub then it needs to have some kind of safety net or be waterproof. hook up your laptop via dongle and watch to your heart’s content, keeping the macbook away from the water. you’re a brave man.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 9, 2010 at 12:15 pm
@ Tianna – Why thank you very much for the compliment :-)
@ Marcie – That sounds like a great idea. But a flat screen TV would look so silly in my tiny lil bathroom and heck, I don’t even have a flat screen TV in my lounge!
I have no found a somewhat safer way of securing the glass ledge so for the time being I am relatively happy that the Mac will be okay on that, though I did buy another laptop just in case :-)
Wrote the following comment on Apr 21, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Long hot baths are AWESOMEEEEE….only in a four season country :P and now i know that if my Toshiba ever dies i will buy a Mac ^_^