Sometimes it's hard to say goodbye (to an old computer)

Last week my Apple Powerbook G3 wouldn’t power up.

Anyone fluent in Mac is thinking, “Your what?” followed by, “Manufactured when?!”

It’s true. I was still using an extremely old -- and until last Thursday -- reliable Mac. This was one helluva machine back in its day. And yes, its day was 13 years ago. And in this instance I wasn’t trying to be cool and retro. (Ok so I’m rarely cool and retro.) What happened is that I loved the keyboard. The latest Mac laptop keyboards are too light. By that I mean my fingertips slide off the keys. The Powerbook G3, henceforth referred to as Wallstreet, that keyboard. sigh. For anyone out there who likes the feel of a woman’s skin beneath your fingers, you’ll know what I’m talking about and you’ll know why I’m going to miss that machine. Those keys hugged my fingertips. And as I spend a fair amount of time writing, a keyboard that gently hugs my fingertips makes work seem less like work and more like pleasure.

Today when I made my way to the service counter at Tekserve, the kid who waited on me was really nice although I’m sure he was thinking, “Who is this whacko? I bet she still has a landline.” And I give him a lot of credit for not trying to push a new computer on me. I said, “I’m going to miss this computer so much I could cry.” Little does he know that last night I did cry. Tears were shed when I realized The Wallstreet was pretty much dead and data recovery would be our last act together. sniff.

And I do have a landline...