Mousepad Mania! Dirty Mouse Balls, Blocked Laser Pointers. Check Your Mouse!

Gently hold your mouse upside down in your hand.

Using your other hand, slowly twist the circular washer-shaped cap over the mouseball to release it from the mouse-frame.

Place this cap on your desk.

Turn the mouse over briefly to release the mouseball.

This mouseball may be dirty--So take a look at it to see if it is covered with dust, fuzz, or goo. It's pretty bad when you have dusty, fuzzy, gooey mouseballs! No wonder your mouse is jumpy, uncooperative, or sluggish.

Wash the ball in tap water, then dry it thoroughly with a clean lint-free towel.

Now that the mouseball is clean, check the inside rollers of the mouse housing.

You should see some rollers inside the cavity under the mouse. These rollers are what transfer the mouseball movements to the computer screen.

You may see gunk (technical writing term for dust, fuzz, and goo) wrapped around the rollers and perhaps clogging them up (another technical writing term!).

With a moist (I said "moist", not dripping wet!) cloth (similar to a lint-free T-shirt or the like), gently wipe the gunk off the rollers. You'll be amazed at the accumulated stuff on them.

When you believe you've gotten all the gunk off the rollers. Let them dry a bit (you can help them along with a dry cloth--again, lint-free).

Then, replace the mouseball, and reseal the cap over the cavity.

Your mouseball should move freely now. You are free to mouse around the country!

Of course, for maximum mouse movement (cursor movement, that is), you need to give your mouse a decent pad--a place to reside. A place that provides traction for your mouse. A mouse pad!

You can find a wide selection here. You can upgrade your mouse's abode... with one or more of the goodies presented here.

Hey, why not have a different mousepad for each day of the week? Or... for real variety, a different mousepad for each day of the month!

Let's go really wild... mousepad collectables--one for each day of the year!

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