ELIZABETH MEETS THE DEVIL IN DETAILS

It all started out so innocently.

Just a simple thing. Really.

Because I travel a lot, I write with a laptop as my main computer. My first laptops came with a small screen, so I fixed that eye- and back-straining problem by having a second, larger screen.

When we started moving between winter and summer homes, I quickly decided that packing/hauling two second screens (my mate writes, too) was a bridge too far. Maybe two bridges. So I bought a second screen for me, Evan quickly followed, and we were back to just carrying our laptops back and forth.

Worked great, until my screen up north started going wonky on me. That's why this blog is in bold. No matter how I fiddle with the screen adjustments, anything else is too faint to read.

Eye-strain, anyone?

Okay, the screen is older than my grandchildren. It doesn't owe me a thing. So I'll just replace it.

Simple, right?

I can hear snickers and groans already.

When mixing/matching electronics, ain't nuffin' simple.

The screen I wanted isn't made any longer. The screen that replaced it has a different connection pattern than my laptop--mini or micro port, or some such nonsense. And no, no one has made a patch cord yet.

Okay, I'll buy a different screen.

Until my husband asks how old my laptop is. (Picture me hovering protectively over it whining mine mine mine.) He finally looks up the records. My laptop is almost three years old. I usually replace a laptop every three years. Along with auxiliary keyboards every year. Something odd about the hours I work and my electrical field--and really odd the way the techs look at me.

But I diverge. Um, that's digress.

So, now the choice is--do I buy a new screen for the old computer, which will probably paff in the next four months, at which point the new laptop won't mate with the new screen? Or do I swallow hard and buy a new laptop because my old auxiliary screen is dying?

*whimpers*

*thinks about how hard a laptop would be to replace while taking the boat up the Inside Passage*

*thinks about deadline*

*sucks it up*

So, around next Thursday I'll have a new laptop and a second screen guaranteed to break the bank and keep my eyesight and deadline intact.

Replacing a screen is such a simple thing.

Really.

When was the last time fixing a "simple thing" turned into a major money/time sink for you?