Throwing red wine at my laptop

I particularly like writing at the kitchen table. So long as it isn't the kind of writing that requires total peace and quiet, I much prefer to be part of things going on. (You can find examples of some of these kitchen table products here and here -- and I think they pass muster.) The husband, however, has always said that this is an accident waiting to happen. One day the cup of coffee or the glass of wine would go all over the laptop.

Well, on Monday night it did. I came back after dinner out and thought I'd just check the email. The son had broached half a bottle of red wine, which was temptingly open on the table. I thought it would be nice to take a glass to have with the email -- and the inevitable happened. I didn't actually throw it at the computer, but I might as well have done. The wine went right over the laptop screen.

The good news is that the machine itself is working fine. But it is a bit disconcerting looking at the screen, which has the appearance of being covered by a colony of amoebas.

So what is the solution. Thanks to our computer officer, I am pretty certain that I need either a new screen, or at best someone to remove the screen cover, wipe it down and put it back. (The problem is wine trapped between cover and lcd screen we believe.)

So what are the options. There are some do-it-yourself instructions on the web. But they looked a bit like that old Monty Python joke "How to take your appendix out on the Piccadilly line." Dont go there, I thought.

So what else?

The University hardware support service were merchants of doom. The wine would have got in the works, so jump ship now and buy a new one, they urged. I'm reluctant to do that. I bought this one only nine months or so ago, I rather like it -- and whereas my old shiny one was spotted and whipped by the burglars we had earlier this year, this discreet black model lay unnoticed. So I'm rather attached to it. Besides the angle of attack from the wine makes me feel that it's worth taking a chance on it having a reasonable life expectancy even after this incident.

Apple (for it is a Mac) were helpful enough -- though wine attacks are not covered by my Applecare policy. The trouble is that to get them to do anything about it, I have to take it to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store on Saturday, where an 18 year old genius will offer a diagnosis (which I already have). Then the will need the machine for 7 days -- that's supposing that they have the parts etc etc. And it will probably be in the region of 250 to 350 quid. But it will be properly guaranteed.

There's plenty of adverts on the web for screen replacements, but you have to actually send the computer away (and how can you then be sure that they dont hack into your bank account etc? how can you even be sure that they'll do a decent job?).

So I sent a circular email round to the colleagues and got three replies. One said go with the Apple Store -- the geniuses are actually rather good. Two gave recommendations of "little guys" -- whom I am now intending to ring up.

This written, of course, from the kitchen table with coffee. No point in shutting the stable door . . .