When it rains, it pours. That’s true about the weather New England has had all June, as well as some sudden computer problems I’ve run into. All of a sudden, my MacBook Pro won’t turn on. I’ve tried all the reset key press combinations I could find and nothing has helped. I let it charge overnight, using the original Apple charger running off my power inverter, and it still won’t turn on this morning. I suspect either a bad battery connection, or the battery itself has failed. Naturally, Macs are not user serviceable, so I can’t open the case myself to take a look for something obvious.
I’ve spent the morning installing two years worth of updates on my old Lenovo laptop, which I got the MacBook to replace. Halfway through, during one of its numerous restarts, it forgot how to keyboard. The mouse works, but the keyboard doesn’t, probably because of a driver “update” that broke it. I can’t log into it to fix the problem, because entering a password requires a working keyboard. I have no external keyboard to plug in anymore, so thanks to Windows being Windows, that laptop is bricked, too. (It was so slow and clunky that it was nearly a brick in the first place, which is why I replaced it. That hasn’t changed.)
My last ditch effort is a tiny Windows laptop, more like the old “netbook” concept, so that I can at least continue to work. I don’t need much computing power for writing and editing. Videos won’t be happening due to its limited hardware capabilities, but it should get me by for at least the next few days so I don’t have to buy a new MacBook immediately. I began writing this on my iPad, which is fine for casual blogging but not for serious work stuff, while installing all the Windows updates the tiny laptop needed. Now I’m finishing this post on the tiny laptop, while verifying that I can log into and use all the various websites I need for work. It’s fortunate that nearly all of my work that currently pays me money is online, and not locked inside MacBook that won’t start. It looks like the backup backup is working fine, which buys me time to get things diagnosed and fixed instead of throwing money at replacing them immediately.
I think a new MacBook is in my near future, regardless. If I can get my current one fixed, great, but it was already a fairly old (by computer standards) refurbished unit when I got it two years ago. Fortunately, I’m at a point where I can justify dipping into my good-sized emergency fund to buy a new laptop to ensure that I can keep working. The current MacBook, if I can get it fixed, would then become my backup, enabling me to get rid of these clunky old Windows machines. There’s an Apple store in South Portland, Maine on my way back to New Hampshire tomorrow, so I’m going to see about stopping there to at least get my current MacBook diagnosed, if not repaired. If it can’t be fixed, I’ll start shopping around for a new MacBook.
My van is still stuck in Amy’s yard, but it stopped raining this morning. I’m waiting until at least mid-afternoon for the ground to dry out before even attempting to move. Fortunately, with the backup backup laptop working, I don’t need to rush out to buy a new computer today so that I can return to work tomorrow morning.
Smokey Da Van 