Staring at a Black Screen

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WARNING: This is not my typical blog post, and it’s not about Christmas in the Bahamas. But it will explain why there may not be another post. 🙁

My wonderful MacBook Pro has “died” for unknown reasons. Started it up just fine yesterday morning, turned around to pour my cup of tea, looked back and saw a black screen. We have tried every possible solution found on the Internet. Nada. Doesn’t make a sound and it doesn’t do anything. Only 2 1/2 years old!  I began my retirement years and this blog with it. Will my retirement end with the laptop? Will the blog have to end without the laptop?

My mechanically gifted Captain even removed the back to take a look. Lots of dust inside. Disconnected the battery from the motherboard and put it back. Evidently there was a slim chance that might get it going again. Nope. Here in the Bahamas, there are no Apple stores, no Genius Bar, and no way to telephone Apple Support, who would in all likelihood tell me to take it to an Apple Store.

So, here it is, the Night before Christmas, and all through the ship, not a gigabyte  was stirring, not even a chip. It’s easy to say that this is a wonderful opportunity to get “unplugged,” but I’m not feeling that way. I imagine that it would be a challenge for most of us to give up our computers, even for folks like me who did not grow up with this technology.

That Mac held a lot of our lives in it – ALL of my photos, important documents and information, and numerous spreadsheets (I’m a former math teacher, I have a spreadsheet for everything). Yes, everything is backed up on an external hard drive (about 2-3 weeks ago?) but that doesn’t help me here and now. That will only help when this Macbook is repaired or replaced. It was also my method of staying connected, especially through my blog. I’m not sure if I can continue doing the blog without my trusty (haha) Mac. I’ve always imagined that I would someday revisit our cruising and boating years through the blog, when we are old(er) and gray(er). I wrote it primarily for me, as a journal and record.

Now what do I do? First, I have to put it aside and remember that it is Christmas. It would be even worse to lose my Christmas spirit because of this technological stumbling block. So, off we will go to a lovely Christmas Eve party at Deanna and Sarah’s island home, followed by the candlelight service at St. James. Life and living is about people, not machines.

Second, I’ll try to find a way to do some sort of blogging using Al’s iPad. But I’m not making any promises. I’m using my iPhone for this, and it is not fun or easy. Humbug. (Can you sense how much I am struggling with this technological disaster?)