Not such a bad day after all!

I've had quite a day, so far. I was getting out of my car on returning home after a wonderful conversation and lunch with my friend Jane, feeling on top of the world, when I dropped my new little laptop, case and all, on the parking lot, screen side down. The screen shattered. $430 and some change spent on Sunday for a refurbished machine that promised to solve work problems with which I have been struggling for over a year, gone in one little slip.

So what did I do. I cried, then I cursed the fact that I really was finding that laptop very useful and wondered if I was just like all the other privileged folks I find myself judging who suffer from technology attachment disorder. Then I realized I was going to use that machine for good work. Then I cried and called my husband, Terry, who even after four calls did not call me back. So I called my son who said he was so sorry, and then I cried and stamped and felt awful about ruining the lovely present my husband had just bought me, even though he wasn't answering his phone.

Finally, I remembered what my good friend Jane had said at lunch, that all problems have solutions and there was no point in wallowing in misery. So I called the repair folks, told the nice guy my sad story and asked what it would cost to put in a new screen and how soon they could do it.

Immediately, I felt better. So what if it may cost almost as much to replace the screen as the original price of the laptop and they may not have it ready when I travel on Monday. Those obstacles can be surmounted. I have the privilege of being wealthy enough to have it fixed, for which I am very grateful, and if it isn't ready in time it can be sent Fedex. I realized I was more upset about letting the solution to a problem I had been brewing about for years slip through my fingers, especially one which Terry felt so relieved to have helped solve.

Off I went to the computer store with my injured machine, congratulating myself that I hadn't totaled the car, that no one was ill or dying, and that I had not spent days kicking myself before I moved to bring light to a solvable problem. And on the way back I picked up my new, much better to see with, glasses and discovered a neighborhood cafe that does a delicious decaf/skim cappuccino and has wi-fi. I've been looking for such a place to work for some time now! All in all not such a bad day after all.