I’m very possibly in the middle of losing a battle with a techgod. It’s subtle, but ignoring the signs of the demise of my computer set up might just be pure stupidity at this point.

Firstly, it probably important for you to know that I’m not great with change. See the keyboard I’m still using after all these years as just one speck of evidence.

Secondly, I promised myself six years ago that I would replace my laptop every three years (as the AppleCare ran out) because I’d been left without a computer three times in the past due to massive crashes. The first crash lost most of my early writing (screenplays, etc) and the second one was crazy inconvenient because we’d just moved to an island with no Apple Store (or Apple tech repair).

Now. I’m due to replace my current laptop at the end of December (Michael is operating off my six-year-old laptop, so he’ll get to ‘upgrade’ to my current laptop as well). But … the price has REALLY increased on the MacBook Pros and we’re in the middle of a major addition to our cabin (aka hemorrhaging savings) … plus with the constant headache, I’ve only managed to release two books in 2020 instead of my typical four. So … I’d been thinking about not replacing the laptop as planned, just pushing it for a few more months … maybe another year?

Apparently that line of thought was enough to rile at least one techgod.

Because yesterday my laptop crashed three times in a row. While I was proofing the audiobook for Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3). It normally crashes – MAYBE – two or three times a year.

Then, this morning, I head out to the office, all ready to write, only to find a strange little plastic dot on my desk next to my trackpad.

Apparently this foot is needed to trigger one of the ‘touch’ sensors of my trackpad. And yes, my trackpad is almost as ancient as my keyboard. It’s also cracked across the front. In two places.

The point is, I can’t figure out how the hell the foot fell off. There are no moveable (or loose) parts. No way to replace it without cracking off the back of the trackpad.

And that is just … weird.

It also might be a sign [other sign?] of pending computer doom.

I might have to give up, give in, and order new … everything.

But first I’m going to put the $$ I dump into Dropbox to good use and actually back up a bunch of files. Yes, I have a backup hard drive that I use every ten days. But it is also six years old …