Computer Surgery

I regret to announce that my laptop went into surgery last week.  Well, not immediately.  Clearly unwell, I left it for extended diagnosis. It felt strange as I walked away from my constant companion of 6 years with a certain amount of dread.  Which turned out to be appropriate as the consultant announced it would require major surgery and have to stay in for a few days.  While under the operation procedure it sadly perished.  Apparently the battery had expanded to mess up the internal organs.

I was promised that all the key personality traits and knowledge could be transferred to a new machine which I collected late yesterday.  I am trying not to expect too much.  Signing back in to some essential programmes has proved highly stressful with password amnesia.  Indeed, accessing my blog took a painful 30 minutes, as attempts became ever more desperate.

Unfortunately, the dead computer was strongly tied in with my seminary past.  Two distinct systems divided responsibilities of accessing and storing data.  Finally, severing from this past has mightily disrupted the new machine with all kinds of stuff still to be found, including my sermon preparation for next Sunday and notes for my Tuesday teaching (which began last night).  It has added an unwelcome frisson to my life. 

But I was also challenged.  Just how much had I come to be dependent on a machine which is vulnerable? And how much did I need all this data going back 23 years?  Good questions.  I am chastened and am trying to simplify though (very) kind friends have said they would like the blog posts to continue. Well, for a little while, anyway !