My laptop died a week ago. It was six years old, and I can’t really blame the thing. It held up pretty well being logged around the world. Nevertheless, I have been discombobulated ever since. Thankfully it wasn’t the hard drive that crashed, so I didn’t have to fret about my files being lost (I’m also pretty good about backing up the most important stuff).

It simply wouldn’t turn on anymore, and all computer experts I consulted advised that it wasn’t worth the money to fix whatever electrical part had given out. Of course, the way things go, I discovered its death right before my Skype session with my Hebrew teacher in Jerusalem was about to start, which discombobulated me even further.

I realize this is a first-world problem. Thankfully my family has more than one laptop, and I could immediately use my son’s, as he is in school all day and when he’s home he mostly uses his tablet. I was able to do most of my work, but with hurdles. His laptop isn’t set up like mine, doesn’t have my files, doesn’t have my programs. And then, sure enough, a day into me using his laptop, which is as old as mine was, its sound system went nuts, howling incessantly like a submarine horn. I could only work on it if I muted the speakers, and that precluded me from watching my Hebrew videos. As I said, hurdles!

I’ve spent the last week toggling between various computers at work and at home, none of which is mine, and none of which is set up the way I need it. No settling down on the couch with my laptop to sink into work! In the meantime, we’ve bought a new laptop for me, but it hasn’t arrived yet, and even when it does, it will take some time to set it up the way I need it, to turn into another reliable companion.

All this is to say I’ve been amazed at how much not having my laptop has disoriented me, how much it runs my life, how much I depend on this piece of technology. Oh, sweet and reliable companion that it was! Not having my particular email setup in Outlook, for example, really bothers me. I feel cut off, dead in the water! So, bear with me while I get back in the saddle, while I make friends with a new machine.