. . . and here I am again, the proud (e.g., weary, irritated, resigned) possessor of a brand-new MacBook Air. Ugh.

When I got the call from the repair guy about the old machine, euthanasia was clearly the suggested route. Busted display, failing logic board, bad battery . . . the cost of fixing the old girl would have equaled the cost of purchasing a new one. 

And so, because I live 11 minutes away from an Apple Store (and because I have an excellent backup system: phew), the problem was quickly, if expensively, solved . . . another plus of not living in the backwoods anymore. If I'd been in Harmony, the angst would have been serious.

I'm relieved, because this was supposed to be a busy week of writing introductions and printing out materials and updating various Google docs and so on and so forth. Instead, I spent a chunk of prime work time gnashing my teeth and spring-cleaning the kitchen.

But we did go out to see a great Yo Lo Tengo show on Tuesday night, so that distracted me from my woes. And this nice new computer is indeed very nice and new. Such springy keys! Such a shiny screen!

Thus, today, finally, I'll be back on track. Lots of Frost Place stuff, reading faculty plans, finishing intro essays, dealing with logistics; and then, in the afternoon, housework; and then, tonight, going out to write, which I haven't done for a couple of weeks and probably won't be able to do again until after the conference is well over.

(By the way, I'm taking the car in for service this morning. There better not be some kind of machine virus going around. I don't think I can endure another fat bill.)