This very well may be my last post on my computer, my trusty Vintage Mac.

Maybe because I am getting old (my birthday is next week). Maybe because it’s been a long day of with the Gs. Maybe because I got a really generous pour at Barriques, my favorite writing place. But I am feeling rather sentimental about this.

On this computer, I quit my job and became a writer. On this computer, I wrote 2 1/2 cookbooks. On this computer, I sent hundreds of pitches which led to a handful of assignments. I still remember typing out the pitch that got me my first cookbook deal, written in a car dealership as I waited for an oil change. The prayers I have muttered under my breath and how my heartbeat would increase when I went to hit the Send button on emails to editors and agents. 

In my early days as writing, it was literally just me and this computer.  I remember dragging myself to it on mornings that I didn’t want to work and setting timers to help with my productivity. Like Dory in Finding Nemo, I would sing to myself: Just keep typing!  My fingers have flown across the keyboard in a surge of inspiration and in long pauses with frequents starts and stops on the days I struggled. 

 

When I took it in to be serviced this past Fall, the early twenties “Geek” (or are they “Genius’s”) informed me that I had a Vintage Mac and therefore they could not work on it.  Because it was so OLD.

Yes Geek, I know what Vintage means. I was an English major. She then informed me that technology, does in fact, change.

When I stared back at her with a gaping mouth, I think she thought she blew my mind. I just couldn’t believe how fast the years had flown by. It seemed like just yesterday I nervously bought it. At the time, it was a huge step for me, both financially and symbolically.

As I look in the mirror every morning and see tired eyes staring back, I feel a connection to this computer that does not seem to want to wake from sleeping. Each time I press the Start button, I have to hold it just a little longer and find myself saying a quick prayer that it will start this time.

It reminds me of the prayers and coaxing I gave to my Saturn whenever I started the engine before we traded it in.

If you can’t tell, I tend to cling to my everyday appliances with a loyalty that makes me wonder if I was a dog in my past life.

I have my next computer picked out, but I still haven’t ordered it. I know it’s necessary. I know that some day this computer just won’t start. In short, I know what must be done. I also know that this is a food blog, so you may not really care about how I feel about my computer. But I wanted to somehow pay tribute to this inanimate object that has meant so much to me.

Until next time……

(Vintage) Badger Girl

 


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