Since I was a teenager, I've been acutely aware of how dependent I am on the tools that define a big part of my life. Even though my fantasies were of escaping into nature and living on my own, without any modern tools. (My father had the same fantasy, as I discovered in his writings after he died.) Maybe we all share these ideas and hopes?
Cars for example. Every time one of my cars has suffered a breakdown, my blood pressure has accelerated. The funny thing is that the actual process of getting the car fixed the past 50 years has almost always been a very positive experience, connecting me to those who can get the machine going again.
Getting me back on the road again.
In this era, it is my computer and lately my iPhone that is every bit as important as my scarred old car. I am so joined with my battered laptop that it feels literally like an extension of my body. How could I live without my computer?
It is the main channel through which I remain connected with the world. And the main way (along with NPR and TV News) how I figure out what is going on with the world. Except for the occasional speech or hand-written letter, it is the only way I tell the world my own stories.
Yet today I had to let my computer go. The four year old beast had become practically dysfunctional. Since it is still under warrant, Apple is trying to repair it. We'll see how that goes.
Yet I am back online, recovering my voice, connecting and communicating, thanks to another laptop. That is another story.
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