Escape

 
I once spilled water on my MacBook, and shortly after, it shut down. In a desperate attempt to get the water out, I was going to remove the keys and shake it dry. I began with the escape key, but once I got it out, I realized that in the process, I had ruined the metal parts underneath and was thus unable to attach it back on, and that removing the rest of the keys would be just plain idiotic. Finally, my dad told me to simply flip my laptop upside down and leave it overnight. Lucky me; the next day, it was functioning again as if the spill hadn't happened. But I was now left with the escape key detached from its spot. Yeah, it didn't look pretty, but I went around without that key there for a long time.

Another time, I found that some of the white plastic-y stuff of my laptop was chipping away at the edge. I still had the pieces, so I put them back on with crazy glue (it looks crappy, but it's better than having that gaping slit the damage had revealed). I never returned the glue to my dad and left it sitting on my desk... Thinking, it occurred to me tonight that I could try reattaching the escape key to the rubbery ring with that glue. I did exactly that, only to find that the key was flimsy in its place. My solution to that was to use springs. Wait, where would I get such tiny springs? I decided to try creating them out of paper.

I tore out the key, and cut up and folded some strips of paper. I then noticed that standard paper isn't very sturdy, and keeping it folded for a long time would quickly lead to damage. So I reinforced the paper by putting Scotch tape on both sides. Then I cut up the taped area, folded, and glued. Hey, it worked! Yes, it's a little noticeable in that the escape key's a little raised compared to the rest of the keyboard, and I think I should have used four springs (one on each side) instead of two (but I don't dare ripping out the key when it's been crazy-glued...well, like crazy)... I have to press hard on that key whenever I want to use it now (though I almost never use it). But now I don't need to go around with a missing key anymore.

Yay, my keyboard's pretty again!

-bookguild