I have a BlackBerry Curve/Javelin 8900. For some reason, every time I’m in the office in all its cold and freezing glory my trackball decides to get stuck and doesn’t wanna move up. You know the old school mouse pre-optical version when something would get stuck inside the big trackball causing it to be completely useless? Yeah, that. These past few weeks it’s been irritating the crap out of me but when I’m NOT in the office it works completely fine! (Maybe it’s a sign that I’m not supposed to be a crackberry whore while working ha~!). However this week, it decides to completely eff the heck out. I tried various methods like the minyak kayu putih (Cajuput oil) one where you pour some on cloth and wipe it on your trackball. It would work but the day after it would get stuck again when I’m in the office.

So today(!), I found this method after consulting Father Google, which never fails. Although the video shows  that it was done with the Tour, I did it to my phone anyway and probably spent hours (in between work of course–we don’t wanna get fired right) trying it.

The Paper Strip Method for cleaning a BlackBerry

This method worked, although I had to set my frustrations aside when paper bits would get stuck inside (there are still probably some right now) so I used it with a straw. For a while the trackball got COMPLETELY stuck and all my efforts were wasted. Due to my utmost frustration I poured a whole lot of Cajuput oil (see minyak kayu putih reference above) and just rubbed it with my blouse like there was no tomorrow. IT WORKED. My trackball finally works right left up down. I don’t know until long but I hope until forever so I don’t have to spend money on replacement. The bad thing is, I smell like the damn oil and it is NOT sexy. Worth it anyway.. now let’s just hope my trackball doesn’t go mucking up again.

My office cubicle today. You know that green bottle you see on the left? I bought that especially for my trackball. Whoever thought of that method is pretty much a little genius. It is widely recommended by BlackBerry users around Indonesia because it’s a tried, tested and proven. The duration of the fix is questionable though…