Pobody’s Nerfect
There come’s a moment in every Mac users life when they melt their computer by spilling a whole bunch of WD-40 on their Laptop. Right?
Pobody's nerfect, and in my several decades of owning various Apple products, accidents have happened despite my abundance of care. Here are a few of my Mac-misadventures over the years. Let these stories serve as a reminder that the AppleCare+ warranty you begrudgingly bought sometimes ends up paying for itself.
Mac
My First (& Only) Melted Mac - 15.09.2007
A semester at college studying chemical engineering: $3,000. Melting my MacBook with a hydrocarbon-based mineral oil: $2,000. Based off my math, it looks like my stupid stunt saved me some cash!
Nearly a decade and a half ago, a freak accident resulted in a bunch of WD-40 getting sprayed on my MacBook. To explain why this is far worse than just your typical spill, a user on Quora described what happens when WD-40 & plastics mix:
"The main ingredient in WD-40 is a light kerosene-like mineral oil, which is hydrocarbon based. Amorphous plastics and hydrocarbons don't play well together: hydrocarbons will attack the chemical structure of amorphous plastics, breaking them down - essentially trying to 'melt' them."
Yup. WD-40 got on my Mac, and my Mac got melted! And by the time I really got a handle on the situation and began attempting to clean it, a lot of the circuitry and plastic components had already been significantly compromised & disfigured, scrapping the entire computer. The only reminder I have of that fateful day are a few keycaps, oh, and the trauma of watching helplessly as the computer slowly melted before my very eyes.
iPhone
First (& Only) Stolen iPhone - 25.10.2009
Unbeknownst to me, my iPhone 3G slipped from my pocket and onto the seat of a taxi during a ride from the airport. I know this because I had my phone in the taxi and suddenly didn't the moment the taxi pulled away. Despite calling the iPhone (using a landline… gross) several dozen times that night and reporting the loss to the company, I never got it back. It was stolen; you can't convince me otherwise. I even had that annoying Sonar ringtone on my phone at the time, so I know that the cabbie heard that thing going off.
Despite having an active MobileMe subscription at the time, the biggest mistake I made was not securing my iPhone with Find My Phone. Why didn't I? No idea. iPhones were pretty new, and I was pretty dumb, so I probably didn't think I needed to lowjack my iPhone because I was convinced I'd never lose it. Or maybe I was concerned about the data usage or battery life being eaten up. Besides, what sort of person would be so careless with their most coveted piece of tech? Thankfully, I had the password lock enabled, which secured my content and wiped the device after 10-failed login attempts. Never again have I been so careless or naive to have a device not attached to Find My services.
First Lost (& Found) iPhone - 15.09.2010
I might have lost any credibility calling myself careful having a story about melting my MacBook & two back-to-back stories about leaving an iPhone behind.
This time I got luckier... while sitting on a mall bench, my iPhone 4 managed to slip out of my pocket. I can't recall what the decade younger me was doing, but coating my pockets with butter may have been within the realm of possibility given how easily phones seemed to slip out of them. Thankfully I'm someone who occasionally learns a thing or two from their past mistakes, and upon discovering that my phone was lost quickly logged into MobileMe, double-checked that the phone was locked, and flashed a "Lost Phone" message on the device.
Within 10-15 minutes of that message going out, I'd been contacted by the mall’s customer services informing me that an 'older gentleman' had seen my phone and dropped it off at security. Phone found; faith in humanity restored.
Knock on wood, but I've yet to lose, have stolen, or misplaced any other iDevice since that day.
Bumped up Against Disaster - 15.04.2012
Just a flesh wound! It could’ve been much worse.
I'll count myself incredibly lucky for having never cracked or broken the screen or glass back of any iPhone. Scratched? Yes. Lost? Twice. But shattered? Never!
In part, I'd credit this to having always used cases on my iPhone. And in this instance, Apple's iPhone Bumpers saved my ass when my phone slipped out of my hand when I tripped on the pavement trying to take a photo of some nearby deer. The picture I did manage to take wasn't even all that good. I also ran towards the deer, which is really the last thing you should be doing if you wanted to get closer to them for a photo, and probably the reason the photo ended up being so terrible.
iPad
Throw Caution (& iPads) to the Wind - 11.12.2012
Tough days, hard floors, & brain lapses don’t mix.
Came home worn out from a long & challenging day at the office, threw my bag down, heard a loud crunch, and only then did the neurons in my brain fire and register that maybe iPads and hard floors don't play nice together. And lo and behold, I open up my bag to find my iPad completely shattered, crunched up like a tank had driven over it. Looking at the photo again, I'm left questioning just how bad that day must have been to cause so much damage?
Thankfully, by the time this incident occurred, Apple had introduced accidental damage incidents into AppleCare. For a $50 fee, I was able to get the device replaced a day later.
Other
EdiblePods - 13.04.2018
Man’s best friend, AirPods worst nightmare!
I flirted with disaster the first time my AirPods fell out of my pockets (seriously, what the fuck is wrong with my pockets?) and into the enclosed foyer where our new pup stayed during the day. Thankfully she paid them no mind, and I came home to untouched, unchewed, unconsumed AirPods.
But the second time it happened, I wasn't so lucky. This time when I left my AirPods behind; the bugger sunk her teeth right into the case, leaving several bite marks on the enclosure. Thankfully she neither pierced the battery nor got into the case to eat/chew the AirPods themselves, and the few marks she made suggests she quickly got bored with them.
