Only in Australia could you have this unusual computer problem.
I had a little down time today thanks to some tree loppers taking out the broadband cables, so I went out to lunch. When I returned and opened the front door, I put my bare foot (yes, I’m Australian) down on something cold and scaly. I looked down to see a blue tongue lizard sitting on my doorstep.
I was a bit stumped about what to do as one of these took the end of a kids finger off a few years back (according to the news). In truth I think they are harmless, and this was only a small Blue Tongue.
I had only put my toes on him, so it didn’t seem to have slowed him down although he did have a little accident on the step.
The computer problem
After a brief pause for us both to get over the shock he charged in my front door and into one of my computers. I had left the case open due to a problem with the graphics card. He crawled into the hard drive bay and would not come out.
The solution to my unusual computer problem?
I didn’t fancy sticking my hand in there to grab him, so my solution was to put the PC out in the garden and build a little brick cave for him to crawl into. It took him about 30 minutes to be coaxed out but eventually I recovered the PC.
Now while no case cover is great for cooling computers, a better solution would be not to leave my computer case covers open.
Epilogue
Some years later I had another unusual computer problem. I had a strange and terrible smell in my office. I had hunted high and low for the source without luck for weeks. Eventually it faded away. A few months later when doing some upgrades to my computer I finally found the source. My cat likes to bring mice he has caught in to show me and on occasion lets them go. This small mouse had somehow climbed in the case even though it was closed – I suspect through one of the expansion card ports. I’m not sure if he succumbed to his wounds or the heat inside the computer case was too much for him. I buried his desiccated remains in the garden.
Did I learn my lesson? I guess not as I update this post with an open case beside me but it is on a table rather than under it.
If you aren’t familiar with Blue Tongue Lizards, this video of a larger specimen eating my cats food might help to familiarise you. My cat certainly thought she was scary.