Bouncing

I bought a laptop PC a couple of years ago. It’s a Dell Latitude, and I bought it used on eBay. I didn’t need “top of the line”, didn’t pay for that, and certainly didn’t get it. What I wanted was a basic PC that would run MS Office and do e-mail and the Web. It does those things nicely, sometimes faster than this desktop PC (which isn’t saying much, considering I bought my desktop PC in 1998. Really.)

There are two problems with my laptop. One, the CD drive doesn’t work. I had it replaced shortly after I bought the PC, but the replacement doesn’t work either and I’ve just decided it’s not worth the effort to have it fixed. It works sometimes, and if I’m really persistent I can get it to load new software, but I don’t mess with it if I don’t have to. If I switch the CD with the floppy drive (it’s modular – slides right out and can also be replaced with a 2nd battery), the 3.5” floppy works fine. But I usually transfer files via e-mail. And that’s the second problem – I can’t get the wireless network card to work. My USB wireless adapter, the one I use on the desktop PC, does work. So I switch the adapter as needed.

Fascinating, no? Anyway, I got the laptop for two main reasons. One, I wanted to be able to work other places than my computer desk if I have to go elsewhere. Two, I wanted to work comfortably elsewhere. Okay, that sounds like the same reason twice, but it’s not.

Let’s say the kids are riding bikes in the front yard and I want to sit out and watch them. I can take the laptop and work there. Problem is, I can’t see the screen in the sunlight. I hadn’t thought about that. But I can take the PC and work, albeit offline, at the playground or skating rink or wherever else I may be. I really hate writing longhand.

The other reason is this: I’m mobile and can escape distracting situations or go somewhere it’s just more comfortable.

You may remember that I had my “office,” for a while, in the bedroom. Problem was, if hubby wanted to go to bed, I was done for the night. I moved it to the dining room, and he promised not to hang out in the neighboring living room if I was working. But he always does, anyway. I get sick of sitting in this desk chair if I’m going to just be reading websites, say, blogs or helpful informational articles. So I’ve been going back up to the bedroom. Then he comes up there and I have to leave again. Which is just as well, really, because there are only so many comfortable positions for sitting on your bed with a laptop – and I’ve yet to find any of them.

Here’s the good news, though: I’ve started writing fiction again.

I have another idea for a novel. I don’t know if it’ll work, but I do know that I’ve stopped trying to write a certain kind of book and am instead just writing the story and worrying about the genre later. That’s got to be a step in the right direction.