On Dead Modems and Backup Laptops

Okay, so I finally caught up with this century a couple of months ago and retired my trusty ThinkPad 600. In its place, I bought a ThinkPad T42. It has everything, wi-fi, wireless radio and a host of other features I don’t need, plus it has XP Pro on it. That, I finally figured out, I did need as it allowed me to access software and some websites that Windows 98SE couldn’t touch.

But three months later, the DVD/CD-R died. IBM/Lenovo replaced it within three days. On Sunday, the modem just up and died. One minute working, the next minute gone. No back-up modem for the machine either.

So what did I do to meet writing deadlines? Pulled out the 600 of course. Met all the deadlines and remembered why that laptop has lasted me six years. It is one tough computing wonder.

I could send the T42 back to IBM/Lenovo and have it fixed. But I didn’t really want to be without it – I’ve come to really like the feel of it for writing, surfing and a host of other computer stuff. So, instead, I bought a couple of PCMCIA modems and now I’m back in business. With a double backup – extra modem. And the 600.

I had thought about selling the 600, but now I know for sure I’m going to keep it. I’ve formatted an extra hard drive and now it will be my DOS machine. It flies. And when I’m serious about writing, well, there’s no World Wide Web enticing me to procrastinate.

Best of both worlds, me thinks.