So I hear that at least one of my three lone but loyal followers has complained about the long gap between my two most recent posts. 

I have an excuse. 

My computer is dead. 

Or maybe not completely dead.  When I turn it on it beeps at me steadily, much in the way of a fetal heart rate monitor with the volume way up.  However, unlike a fetus, it's showing no other signs of life at all.  I suppose some tech savvy person could possibly repair it, perhaps by harvesting/transplanting parts from another computer, but that tech savvy person is not me.  (what's a motherboard??)

Fortunately, I have an old laptop at my disposal.  A laptop so very old it that it works nicely for typing but has a 3 1/2 floppy disk drive rather than a USB port.  With a version of Windows so very old that it deems itself incompatible with any of the blank CDs that I coax gently into its slot.  I spent many days feverishly wondering how to transfer documents from the laptop onto a proper computer. 

Incidentally, my iPod also died last week - leaving me with little more than a 90's era laptop and a clock radio as far as modern technology is concerned.  Haven't decided if this situation is refreshingly retro or just kind of sad.