New Keyboard, New Motivation

My keyboard has been broken for a while now. It was a known problem with the laptop I bought, and Dell did nothing about it. It started with the right shift key in December 2019. Then the home/end keys and some random buttons on the number pad. By September 2020, the W, S, and X only worked intermittently and were getting worse along with the 2, F1, and Caps Lock keys. On the other side, the +/= and rarely worked. I could get them to work if I got the keyboard heated up. This meant going against every instinct to keep my computer cool. I blocked the vents and would run Sims 4 in the background to get the keyboard super hot and then the keys would work. This was obviously not a long-term solution as it's very bad for the internal workings of the computer.

My goal had always been to replace the internal keyboard, but it was going to be an ordeal of like 50 screws and taking apart the entire laptop. I finally broke down and bought the parts at the end of August. First came the battery since mine would only hold a 30-minute charge. Got a good deal on one so figured why not. Then my new screen came. I accidentally broke the original last September when I closed it on top of the mouse dongle. It had a huge black bar going through the middle of it and would turn off every few seconds sometimes. It was a mess. That cost me $170 to replace, but I managed to get a good deal on it for a 4k screen. That left the keyboard.

It finally came on August 26, and I set to replace it... 50 screws and all. But ran into issues with the first screws after removing the battery. Stripped that screw and couldn't go any further. I wanted to cry. But after a week of suffering with the same issues and using the mouse to choose letters on the on-screen keyboard, I gave in and ordered a wireless keyboard. It's my only choice besides either paying a fortune for a shop to replace the keyboard or buying a new laptop. A $30 keyboard is cheaper than either. And the computer runs great besides the keyboard issues so I don't want to replace it. It's only a few years old, and I haven't found anything comparable for the price I paid that includes a 4k screen.

So, I now have a keyboard. I'm having to retrain myself because I got so used to typing on the broken keyboard, plus these keys are slightly closer together so I have to learn where to put my fat fingers. I keep hitting the enter key instead of the apostrophe every time it seems. But it's getting easier and easier every minute I type.

With the new keyboard has come new motivation to get some real writing done. I've been working on this interactive Wiki project for Ouran High School Host Club. I'm creating a Wiki using TiddlyWiki around the anime/manga that extends into an AU I created in my head. It spans like 20 years into the future. Creating a working Wiki takes time, though. I have to individually make each page and profile. This has been hindered by my keyboard issues. It's been slow-going. On top of that, I need to create the actual content of the AU story. Which I haven't done yet because I've been stressed out with the keyboard problems and mental health issues.

Now with the new keyboard and my meds working better... I might get some stuff done. I'm thinking of trying to write some drabbles as warm-ups. I suck at short-form stories so it will be both easy and hard, I think.

I'm at least feeling better about life in general now that I can type normally again. I didn't realize how much it was depressing me to not be able to type at my normal speed and have everything spelled correctly (I continued to do my online journal without correcting for the missing letters so the entries for the last year read like gibberish for the most part).