Missing Tiny Parts Near Latch -- Any ideas?

Question

Hi all --
Well, after about nine months of virtually flawless operation, my beloved PowerBook has suffered its first (albeit minor) injury:
You know how there are four little bits of plastic (rubber?) around the top edge of the display that serve to prevent the screen from touching the keys when the display is closed -- I'm talking about the pieces of plastic (rubber?) about a little less than a quarter of an inch long, one located near each top corner of the display on the sides, and two located on either side of the latch mechanism --
Well, the two located near the latch mechanism are missing in action and presumed lost, and I am wondering whether anyone out there has experienced this problem before and, if so, what they did to remedy it? Are those parts available from Apple online, by phone at a local Apple Store or AASP? Are those little parts even all that necessary given that the other two (the ones near each top corner, on the sides of the display) are still in place?
And yes, I know that I can call Apple and those other places, and I will, I'm just wondering if anyone else has already been down this road and might be able to help me navigate it a little better.
Thanks & Happy New Year to all.
-- JDee

Answer 1

And A Happy & Healthy New Year to you Jrsy! And to you as well John.
I had seen that iBook thread, but the "bumpers" on the iBook are different than the PowerBook's little screen protector chicklets. The iBook has two little circular rubber pads, one in each of the two top corners of the screen. They're nice-sized little circular buttons of rubber.
The PB, on the other hand, has these tiny (easily lost, it turns out) little quarter-inch pieces of rectangular rubber, one on each side of the left and right top corners of the screen, and one on each side of the latch mechanism in the center of the top side of the screen.
I actually had the one on the left side of the latch fall off a few weeks back, but I was somehow able to find it (as it had miraculously landed in between the F keys and the top edge of my keyboard). (Well, perhaps "miraculously" is a little strong given the subject matter, but it was lucky.) Using a tweezer and some deft hand-eye coordination I was able to put it back in its place (albeit, I now realize, only temporarily).
To the extent anyone's curious, those little pieces of rubber (or whatever) are largely hollow, except for one end which has a little, tiny cylindrical piece of rubber on it. Underneath, where it affixes to the PB, is a corresponding inverse shape, i.e., a little, tiny circular indentation where the cylindrical piece fits and a little, tiny rectangular piece that fits into the hollow rectangular portion of the rubber screen saver thingy. I can see the undercarriage now for both pieces, so I know they are lost and not merely "pushed into the lid assembly" as John had suggested.
Pheew. That was hard to describe. And, I would imagine, soporific for anyone still actually reading this post. So, it's definitely time to sign off, but first I thank you and John for your kind attempts to help.
Looks like I'll have to deal with AppleCare on this one (or perhaps pay a visit to Tek Serve or that shop near University Ave. that the T man recommended a while back, if I can remember it's name), but I think I'll wait a little while until the post holiday rush is over to do so.
For the time being, notwithstanding the lost of those tiny, mini, micro parts, elegant, sleek, and sexy high-powered and creative computing remains the order of the day.
Thanks again.
-- JDee