There is nothing like a computer problem to bring one's creative endeavors to a crashing halt. I was finishing up my bit of the first draft of the new book and blogging as well. I was definitely on the case. Then I opened the door, stepped into the office and suddenly everything went black.

I woke up with a terrible headache and a figurative lump on the back of my skull. And, no, although the machine is working again, more or less, I still don't know exactly what's going on. Unlike a detective novel, this story isn't likely to have a good ending, unless you consider buying a new computer a good ending. Which it might be, if only it were an end and not just the beginning of almost endless saga of getting the thing up and running, getting my essential data and programs back on it, getting everything configured.

Oh, I don't want to even think about it. Would I rather be using a typewriter? My old Smith Corona Manual Portable had its drawbacks. Those carbon floppies for saving copies were not too convenient. The spell checker was a big, heavy external device on the shelf. The delete function kept my fingertips coated white most of the time and as for the overwrite...well it was slow...used too soon it splattered the delete function over half the paragraph, the machine and my glasses. But, to be fair, the typewriter actually printed as you typed. Let's see a computer do that.

Also, the Smith Corona never suffered from a corrupt file or a virus in its long life. The worst glitch it suffered was toward the end when it would punch a hole in the paper instead of making an "o". Kind of attractive when you held the sheet up to the light. Maybe the typer was getting into self expression in its old age.

For now, though, I am back to work and hoping the computer remains functional until the spring. One thing for sure, my typewriter didn't connect to the Internet.