I use two laptop computers. I have my personal laptop (on which I do all my online shopping, writing, and social media), and my work laptop (on which I do work only). I know some people think I’m crazy for having a computer of my own. Why spend that extra money, right?
Here’s the thing: technically, anything written on my work laptop belongs to my employer. They also have (obviously) the right to read it all. After 20+ years of employment, I know my employers pretty well. It’s unlikely they’d try to take ownership of my writing or even read it. But why give them the chance to disappoint me?
So, that means two laptops. I use them both almost every day. You’d think at least one of them could have a decent keyboard. But no. The keyboard on my personal laptop has such a sensitive touchpad that if I put any pressure near it as I’m typing, the cursor will jump to another place on the screen. This not only causes text to be suddenly inserted in strange places, but it sometimes causes on-screen buttons to be pushed, which takes me off that screen and eliminates any text I was working on. It is beyond frustrating.
For my work laptop, I use an external keyboard. You’d think that would be better, and it ought to be. But that keyboard has decided that it’s not interested in the letters G and H anymore. It just can’t be bothered (or, as it renders the word, “botered”). If I jiggle the keys, eventually I’ll get the letters I need, but I lose a lot of speed that way and risk a lot of errors.
I am used to things not working properly, and I’m used to being unable to fix those things independently. I’ve naturally developed a tendency to work around problems rather than try to fix them. This mental flexibility has saved me a lot of fuss over the years.
But geez! There are some things we should not put up with, and this is one of them. I am done with these keyboards!