Dirty Keyboards?

On Wednesday, Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer had commented on some of the strange stuff she puts in her dishwasher to clean and sanitize and invited people to add comments on other non-dish stuff they put in theirs. So I added mine. My keyboard!

Well, on this post she actually linked to my blog about it, so I figured I'd try to write up something for those that may have questions. (though she called me a she when I'm really a he, but granted Terry and be either and she has mostly female readers, I'll let her slide hehe)

First of all, this isn't something I do all the time, but after a while, your keyboard can get all nasty. or worse, stuff spills on it.

So, I put it in the top rack of the dishwasher, keys down. I don't use soap, the hot water and water pressure is usually good enough to do a decent job. I also do not have the heated drying cycle on.

When it's done, I take the keyboard out, and take it apart. Just unscrew the few screws on the back and take the back off so it can dry REALLY WELL.

The 2 most important things to this is to NOT use the headed drying cycle, and to let it dry completely before plugging it back in.

(And DO NOT use a hair dryer on your keyboard to help dry it. My daughter did this once after spilling a large cup of sweetened tea on my keyboard. She didn't unplug it (so electricity was still running through it) and then used the hair dryer on high heat to dry it out. I tried the dishwasher, but it was too late. Needless to say, I had to buy a new keyboard.)

One of the ladies at my wife's work spilt Chinese food in the keyboard about a month ago and she called me up asking how to wash it. They washed it up, and it still works.

I've done this probably half a dozen times, if the keyboard was just dirty, it has worked every time for me. (see the story of the tea above)

So, still have questions? Ask away.

UPDATE: There are a few things I wanted to add. First, I've not heard of them, but if your keyboard has a battery in it, take it out. Second, I've not tried this on wireless keyboards, so I'd do more searching on the 'Net before trying it on that. Third, I've done this close to a dozen times and have never had a problem, but I guess there is always a chance there could be a problem. If it's completely dry before you put electricity to it then I would not expect you to have any problems.

It Happened

It happened last night. The Pokes finally lost a game ending their awesome winning streak.

Much to my dismay, I did miss the game, but again, my wife sent me text messages letting me know how it was going.

The game final was OSU 24, Texas 28. And from what my wife said it was a great game and that they played well! On Friday I checked, and Texas was a 12 point favorite.

So, they are now 7-1, but they can still end the season at an incredible 12-1 if they don't let this loss get to them.

Next up, Iowa State this coming weekend at home.

Go Pokes!

Freshwater Jellyfish

Thursday, while we were at War Eagle Caverns, my wife and son were feeding the fish, and she hollered out to me and our cave guide, "Are these Jellyfish?" To which the man replied "No, Jellyfish are only in salt water." I tended to agree with the man, but my wife knows what a jelly fish is, so I left him to go see.

Sure enough, there were these things in the water that looked like Jellyfish. So I did my best to take pictures of them. I didn't expect them to come out, so I tried doing a rough sketch of what they looked like to try to find them online later.

When we got back to camp, I pulled out my phone and sure enough, freshwater jellyfish to exist and she had found some there in Beaver Lake.

I looked up this picture earlier to show you what they looked like with a good picture. This picture came from USGS.

I managed this shot. It's a bit blurry, but a good straight on shot

Another shot I got of a Freshwater Jellyfish in Beaver lake

You'll need to click my links to see it better.

The Streak Continues

Saturday, Oklahoma State continued it's winning streak to 7-0 with a 34-6 win over Baylor!

We were on vacation at Beaver lake in Arkansas during the game. I did my best to find a radio station that would air the game, but I couldn't find one. So I do what I normally do in situations like this, I turn to technology!

I ended up using the Skyfire browser (which uses flash) on my AT&T Tilt phone and streamed the game.

I checked the polls today, and OSU moved up from 8 to 7 as Texas Tech moves from 7 to 8. Most everyone else on top stayed pretty much the same.

Texas Tech won their game of Texas A&M, but it wasn't a great game from what I heard, which is why we probably switched places.

This coming Saturdays game against Texas will be the hardest we've faced all year. We beat Missou, but Texas creamed them, and from what my wife told me about that game, we had our hands full with Mizzou to squeeze out that win.

Go Pokes!

UPDATE:
I found out that the BCS poll has come out. They have OSU ranked 6 with Texas Tech at 8. OU is still at 4 with Texas still at 1

Come and get it!

We've had some visitors while we've been here. Yesterday these two kittens stopped by. It's obvious they were smart kittens as they read Gizmo's food and water bowel and helped themselves.

My family liked them much more than myself, I kept trying to get them to go away but to no avail. After we went to bed, they decided they wanted to join us I guess as they kept getting under the rain flap. I tried to ignore them but it just didn't happen. After swatting at them several times I put on some shoes and proceeded to try to scare them off. I'm throwing sticks and rocks and eventually small bolders at them. I ran and kicked as well. I felt like Wile E Coyote chasen the Road runner and being made a fool of! I finaly gave up. There was two of them and only one of me after all.

Camping

Yesterday was the first day of our Fall break vacation. We came over to Beaver Lake for some camping.

It was a very chilly night last night, but it makes camping fun!

Today we went to War Eagle Caverns. It was my boys first time in a cave. He seemed to really enjoy it.

That's enough for now. I have to get this fire going, its starting to get chilly.

(Tonights forcast is 44 degrees)

Nooooooooo

The world is conspiring against me watching OSU play football this year, and especially since they are winning (though maybe my not watching is helping them win?).

Anyway, this weeks game against Baylor is not televised. No shocker there.

However, I just learned (as in about 5 minutes ago) that the OSU/Texas game will be televised!!! on ABC!!!! at 2:30 in the afternoon!!!

Why is this so tragic? I'm going with our church to take the kids and any adults that might like to go to a Corn Maze. We'll have a fire for hot dogs and marsh mellows. Now, truth is, that sounds like a lot of fun, but knowing we'll be leaving the church at 3 and not be back till 8 means I'll miss the game.

*sigh*

Maybe someone will take pitty on me and text message me updates.

Mobile Air1

Most people that know me, know I love Air 1. And for me, I hate being away from one of their radio stations.

Well, today, I found Mobile Air 1 and I am so excited!

You can their Verse of the Day, News links, a searchable station list, recent songs, and if your mobile device supposes Real Player of Windows Media player, you can listen too!

Too cool!

What's that stentch?

Last night, my wife made Chicken Teriyaki for dinner last night. It was good. I was about to tell her it was the best thing I had eaten all day, but then I remembered the breakfast I had, so I change it to best thing I'd had since breakfast. Well, my son quickly piped in that she needed a better complement than that, and it was the best he'd had all day! It was very amusing. After dinner, he went upstairs to watch some TV.

Well, we had some noodles left, so my wife decided to cook some more chicken to go with the noodles. When our boy came down to brush his teeth before bed, he asked "What's that stench?" with the most disgusted tone in his voice. Well, she'd burnt a bit of the teriyaki sauce. It wasn't bad. 1000% times better than the smell of burnt popcorn.

We laughed so hard!

What I found very amusing is I'm not sure I'd ever heard him use the word stentch.

Ahh children.

OSU Football

Sorry for all the football talk, but to same I'm pretty excited is an understatement.

Well, the new standings are out, and the Pokes are ranked 8. Not bad. OU dropped to 5th after their loss to Texas (which they moved to 1st).

So, looking at the rest of our schedule, we have:

• Baylor next week. They should be able to win assuming we don't go in all full of themselves and not play football. (It's unfortunately happened before).
• Texas the week after that in Austin. They are currently ranked 1 in the AP poll. To win that game will be a struggle, but not impossible. They'll have to take stay concentrated like they did over the weekend to pull that off.
• November 1st is Iowa State at home. Again, we should be able to win assuming they stay concentrated.
• November 8th it Texas Tech at Lubbock. Texas Tech is currently ranked 7th in the AP. Again, if they can stay focused a win is not impossible.
• Colorado on the 15th in Boulder, and as will Iowa State and Baylor, just stay focused and on the task at hand.
• And yep, 11/29 is Oklahoma. at HOME! The home will help, but since Norman and Stillwater are so close, expect a lot of Crimson in those stands. We've beat OU several times. It's not unheard of, but in the last 10 years, we've only beaten them 3 times (1998, 2001, 2002). Though, it's about time for another win.

I just realized that they have a week off between Colorado and Oklahoma. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It should let them have players healed up and rested up for one of their hardest games all season.

To say we have an easy end of year is a lie. To says it's hard is an understatement. Well, for half the games anyway.

The Pokes have always seemed to have a problem staying focused on the here and now and not underestimating their opponents. If they take it one game at a time, and play them all like it's the Big 12 championship, then they very well may be playing for said championship. But if they let their focus drop for even a moment, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma will eat them for lunch!

The next 7 weeks are going to be very exciting!

Pokes get another W

Wow! The Pokes pulled out a win over Missouri tonight! 28-23 I wish I could have seen that game, sounded great! Oh, and did I mention that was at Mizzou?

I am so excited right now. So, #17 beat #3 on the AP poll while #1 lost to #5 in the same day. I'm really going to be excited to see how all this stacks up.

I'd heard that the Pokes were after the Big 12 championship this year. This is how you go about it, one game at a time and keep bringing home those wins.

They're 6-0 for the first time since 1945 (ESPN)

Go Pokes!

Think before he speaks!

My mom and my sister are both preachers wives and over the weekend they went to a preacher's wives conference.

When I saw them this weekend at my parents house, they showed me and dad this video (over dial-up which took forever)

Anyway, this is too funny. Maybe it's because I'm a preachers kid and they are talked about as much as preachers wives. Maybe it's because I've gone to church my entire life, and I've heard many a sermon illustration with their wife and or kids.



Go ahead and watch it. It's not long (unless you have dial-up and even then it's worth it).

It's too Funny!

Pokes Football

Wow!

That's just about all I can saw with the way the Pokes have come out this season. I can't tell you the last time they have been 5-0. Ever? Not that I'm complaining, I love it, I'm just surprised!

Granted, it's 5-0 overall, but only 1-0 in conference. This coming weeks game playing Missouri AT Missouri is going to be the hardest game they have played this season. But if they can make it past Missouri, it will be a huge hurdle. If they can't, I still don't think all is lost. So far, they are setting themselves up really well.

I've had a couple of my friends (non-pokes fans) tell me that at this rate, they could end up 8-4. I'm hoping it's much better than that. But they'll have to get past Texas, Texas Tech, Missouri and Oklahoma. None of those games will be easy, and the pokes will have to NOT do something they do all too often... Choke.

I'm not saying that they wont have to concentrate on getting past Colorado, Iowa State and Baylor, I'm just saying I believe they will beat them if they keep their heads in the WHOLE game.

So, do I think they can come away 12-0 this season? I truthfully doubt it. Is it possible? I think so. Do I think they'll do better than 8-4? Absolutely. However, I think they are still working on building the program and from what I've seen so far, I believe they'll be better next season than this season.

Go Pokes!

Air 1 Pledge Drive

I love listening to Air 1. It is such a great radio station.

Last Thursday, they started their pledge drive and it will go till this coming Thursday. If any of you listen to Air 1 and don't give, let me encourage you to give. Several years ago, we started giving to them. We listened to them all the time, and decided to give.

The surprising thing? We never missed the money.

Every time we get in the car, my boy asks if it's on Air1. The other day he told me that he always hoped the radio on the school bus would be on Air 1, but it never way. And it made him sad.

He listens to Air 1 every night as he goes to bed, and he listens in the car everywhere we go.

There is so much that goes into our heads through the music we listen to. I know the music I listen to affects the way I feel. So knowing that my boy loves listening to music that uplifts and points to Christ!

Cub Scouts

This past weekend, we had a cub scout campout. It was a lot of fun. The weather was just about perfect! My boy and I got there and got camp set up, had lunch and then managed to go on a hike on part of the Trail of Tears.

My wife made it too! This was the first cub scout campout that she has got to come to. My boy was so happy that she got to come. When he saw her, his face just lit up!

My boy is such a daddy's boy, but he loves his momma, and loves spending time with her.

So any mom's that might be reading this, I want you to know that no matter how big of a daddy's boy your son may be, they still want and need you to be a big part of their lives.