In Memorandum

Last week, my laptop died.

It was a dismal and distressing development, but not completely unexpected.

Poor Speed was getting on in years and had been showing signs of impending system failures for the 11 or 12 months. He was whirring and clicking and grinding and making all sorts of other pitiful noises. And despite his name, Speed had slowed, dragging his feet on the simplest of tasks.

But even after observing (and quietly lamenting) all of those symptoms, I was still in denial about the eventual end result of his issues. I made sure the most important of my photos were safe, but dropped the ball on backing up the other things that he had been hanging onto for me. Hence the dismay and distress mentioned previously.

Thank heaven for my natural propensity for pack-ratted-ness.

 It was bad enough losing my recipe files and my three year collection of ward conference talks, but I would be a basket case if I hadn't kept hard copies of my 2 1/2 years worth of Sunday school handouts and five semesters worth of institute lessons.

I have always felt that my worksheet hording habit was one of my more endearing qualities, but this is the first time it has actually paid off in a tangible way. Yeah me!

Speaking of my endearing qualities, you may have noticed that I have a tendency to name inanimate objects. For example: my car (Bling) , my blender (Juan) , my tv (Phil) , my camera (Tina) , the yearbook camera (Chad) , my ice cream freezer (Rose) , and a variety of other inhabit my home, my classroom, and my life.

 It's endearing, right?  In a cute and quirky and not at all in need of shock therapy kind of way.
I promise.  And you have to admit that Speed was a great first name for a laptop with the Surname of "Acer". A crazy person wouldn't be able to come up with something as clever as that.

At least, that is what Rose the ice cream freezer was saying over the weekend. And Rose has never been one to sugar coat things. She is very pragmatic and strait forward, almost to the point of being cold hearted.

Unlike Dante, who tends to be a bit more hot headed. Yep. Not crazy at all.

For a day or so, I thought I could make due with Dante to meet the majority of my Internet and computing needs. But I was wrong. Turns out that writing talks, preparing institute presentations, typing book sale info, working on lesson plans, putting together end of course assessments, and blogging all require an actual computer. (But don't worry, Dante. You and I will always have Where's My Water? and my Atolia novels.) So I spent money that I didn't have (Who needs new school clothes? It's not like appearances matter AT ALL in a junior high setting) and got myself a rebound laptop.

And for my sweet mother who was wondering how Hamish came by that particular moniker....

I also have a tendency to fixate on things, especially during the summer. Endearingly quirky, right?  At least that is the story I am sticking to until school insurance covers electro shock therapy. And even then, I will probably name the shock therapy machine.