Singing the Computer Blues

When I was in graduate school I had a professor, a smart man named Professor B, who seemed unfazed by the indignity of life. I always had the feeling that nothing would cause him to freak out. This was a deeply comforting characteristic in a professor. And it very much reminds me of one of the computer guys at my school, a young man named W, who listens to your problem and then solves it with great ease. And then, when you thank him profusely, he nods sagely and solves the next problem in his stack.

I have a Mac laptop computer provided by my school and I love it. I’d call it my second brain if the truth weren’t that the computer is really my first brain. I’d be lost without the little gem. So this weekend, when it engaged in some dubious behavior, I indulged myself in a little panic. Then I dropped the problem in W’s lap on Monday morning.

W did his level best but by Tuesday it was clear that the problem wasn’t easily solved. This morning my computer had to be loaded up and mailed to Apple, where one hopes they have their own W waiting to solve the problem.

W, recognizing that me sans laptop was likely to cause a fiery inferno of weeping woman, quickly hooked me up with a loaner. That means no pictures on the blog (because the picture file is on my real computer) and some other computing adjustments (oh how I miss my bookmarks) until my brain wings its way back from Apple-land. But the loaner is a welcome savior from the insanity of no computer at all.