Save The Kids With Catchy Laptop Fire Prevention Phrases!
I’m sharing this story with you so you don’t have to go through the horror I experienced. Please, people, learn from my mistakes and have a fruitful life before it’s too late!
I was blogging when The Boyfriend brought his puppy, Blue, over. Spuff was not amused.Â
In all the cat-dog chaos, I set my laptop on top of a burning candle. Not on purpose.Â
The Boyfriend, a firefighter, asked what was burning. I said, “I’m not cooking anything tonight that smells like toxic plastic.” Then I noticed my laptop, rapidly melting around the flame of the candle. Â
What now? I’m sitting two feet away from a fireman and nothing’s sinking in by osmosis. Do I stop, drop and roll? Implement my escape plan? Begin crawling on the ground to avoid the heat and smoke? Do I get some baking soda?Â
It’s sad that all these options had to run through my mind before I actually removed the computer from the flame.Â
But hey, I’m not blaming myself. I’m blaming the school system, my parents and our government for not having the foresight to drill laptop fire relevant phrases like, “Stop, drop and roll” into my memory bank. I mean, what catchy phrase comes to mind as a course of action when you think of laptop blazes? See!  The empty set! Oh sure, Texas gives every child a laptop in the classroom. But do they teach them what to do in case they burst out in flames? No. They don’t.   Â
It’s one thing for a kid’s laptop to combust in flames, but what if it were you? You’d be forced to talk on the phone or actually meet with someone face-to-face! OMG!
So, that’s why in addition to opening a discussion forum here on what we can do as a community, city, nation and world to end the senseless burning of computers, I’ve started a for-profit organization called, “My Laptop Is On Fire, So Now What Do I Do?”  Or MLIOFSNWDID? for short.Â
Here’s how it works. With my new internet upgrades since the fire, you can leave your suggestions for how to handle a laptop fire, including catchy phrases that can be taught in our schools, under comments. As soon as your comment is posted, your bank account will be hit for the cause.
Do it. It’s for the children.   Â
July 20th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
…not makin excuses here ,but sherri’s reaction time was slow due to head cold/low grade fever/advil sinus meds/classic air-travel funk/jet lag…..plus it was a long day at work.
….me i was just lost in her brown diamond eyes.
…the computer was saved,no cats or puppys were harmed,lessons can be learned.As a non-profiting member of MLIOFSNWDID,and reformed computer burner(its one day at a time).Please help and surport Sherri with your comments.
it helps to think of her as a sorta a Smokey the Bear for computers,only shes tiny and pretty and smells good,not hairy and large and bearlike ,or lives in the forrest.
thanks
July 20th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
well, now im offended. the last woman i dated was hairy, large and bearlike.
July 20th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I was pituring the screen bending down and grazing the candle but now that I have seen the debris I don’t know how she did it. It’s on the bottom like she sat it on a stove!
July 20th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
How wide is this candle that you could balance a laptop on top of it while there is a cat/dog fight going on? I think we need PICTURES! I hope Hazel and Jimmy were not harmed in the chaos that ensued!
July 20th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
does anyone see the irony of this ? computers allow us incredible information on any subject, world wide instant communication……technology undreamed of just a generation ago…..yet ….. we are still burning candles.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:49 am
Sherri if it makes you feel better I was at a wedding Saturday and someone sat a napkin over a candle, not quite the same as a laptop, but they did. The two ladies sitting there just watched the flame get bigger then yelled fire and nobody responded but me and a lady from another table. She poured water on it while I used the part of the napkin that wasn’t on fire to put the rest out. So you aren’t the only one that gets mesmerized by the flames.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:06 am
MaryS910, Hazel and Jimmy were resting. They just got back from Switzerland. Unfortunately for HRB, they weren’t harmed. But there’s still hope.
It was a small candle, but there was a lot of junk on the table…magazines, other fire hazards. The laptop got mixed up in all that. I’m surprised, usually’s it’s Spuff’s tail that ignites.
Interesting perspective, tommy.
Watch out BF. You know I’m workin’ my way toward the woods. As soon as I get there, I’ll become hairy, large and bearlike.
Next time this happens (ha, like I’m expecting it), I’m sure I’ll have the presence of mind to get it on tape.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:23 pm
How did it get burned on the bottom?
July 21st, 2008 at 3:43 pm
why didn’t you call your safety engineer for this blog!
July 21st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Major oversight on my part, Kimmy! Should I have been wearing a neon safety vest?
July 24th, 2008 at 11:53 am
“Stop, Drop and Scroll”
July 24th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I’m in awe of you, cbp.