The last couple months have taught me both how much I rely on technology and how to survive without it. I lived on a mountain with no electricity for a year, so I’m not a stranger to living without technology, but it is definitely different when you are used to being able to use something and it all of a sudden is no longer available.
About two months ago I woke up to my laptop screen completely shattered. I hadn’t dropped it, I hadn’t stepped on it, I hadn’t even been using it. I went to bed with it being just fine, put it on a shelf, and woke up to the screen being broken. This kicked off my series of unfortunate technology misfortunes.
After dealing with some terrible customer service and practically no help, I ended up sending it to three different places and settling for an option that was the cheapest and also allowed me to get a warranty on the laptop. I previously did not have one.
This whole process took about two and a half weeks, and I thankfully was about three weeks ahead on my work so this was doable. Majorly inconvenient, but barely attainable. I ended up using my phone for all of the things that I was using my laptop for.
Next struck the next misfortune: my phone crashed. I had never seen something like this happen to an iPhone. It just completely shut down and I couldn’t revive it or get anything off of it. Once again, after talking to customer service for several hours, they solved nothing and told me the only way to fix it would be to send it in or take it to a repair store. Since the closest repair store to where I am is over two hours away and I had work, I had to send it in. I was not in a place to be able to pay for a big repair, so I told him I’d only send it in if I could make sure they wouldn’t charge me for anything until I gave the okay.
I was now without my phone. No contacts, no text messages. Since I live in the middle of nowhere and I don’t have a Mac laptop, there was no way for me to get info on my iPhone. I was at the mercy of Apple to get my repair done. This was incredibly inconvenient timing as I had just gone in for the first interview for a job and had no way to contact the guy hiring me except through my phone or in person. I had also applied at a place that I was still waiting to hear back on.
All in all, it was the worst. I realized just how much I depend on technology still. I thought maybe living without much of it for a year that I would be cured of it, but I it takes less than a week to be tied back into the constraints of being dependent on technology.
After dealing with Apple charging me almost $400 without my full understanding or consent, I finally got it sorted and dealt with some very good people who were able to get me a full refund. It was still a lot of time that was down the tube, but at least I wasn’t also out money that I couldn’t spend.
So, I have my laptop back, and not one week after I get my phone back, my laptop starts glitching. Every time I move it or touch the screen at all, the screen freaks out and turns black/grey and blinks. It didn’t start too bad, but eventually, it got the point that in order to use it I had to move the screen around for a couple minutes and find the perfect sweet spot where I could use it and the screen would work. It would usually work for 30 minutes or so and then it would freak out again and I would have to readjust.
Here’s the problem; this happens when I am working on a month-long project blogging every day, and more importantly while I’m working on putting together a podcast. This means recording interviews, setting up a hosting site, creating email campaigns, and researching a lot on everything. I simply just could not send in my laptop for two weeks to be repaired.
So, I did the best I could with what I had. I recorded 5 interviews with a laptop that was glitching almost constantly. I prepared backup ways to do the interview if my computer failed and was prepared to do what I needed to do if at any time the laptop just shut down. But as long as I could, I was going to use the laptop. At least until I was done with the month project.
Now, if you read until this point, you are either bored to tears, or you enjoy reveling in others misfortunes.
The reason I am writing this post is honestly for myself. It doesn’t have a ton of wisdom or knowledge for your life, but it is just a reminder to me that even in the midst of many challenges, it is still possible to accomplish your goals. This month was my most productive month in a long time, and the whole time I was dealing with tech issues.
My advise to you if you are ever in a situation like this, where technology doesn’t cooperate, or you are put in difficult positions out of your control, stop feeling bad for yourself or using this as an excuse. Grow up, do what you can do first. Now, think about what you can’t do, think through it again and make sure you really can’t do it. Once you decide you can’t do something, completely stop focusing on it. It does absolutely no good now except take energy and thoughts from your mind.
Be creative. Try and figure out a way to accomplish your tasks without your usual luxuries.
I write this post on a piece of junk loaner laptop while I await the return of my laptop. I adapted to my problems, and now I can continue working toward my goals. Not in style, but sometimes grunt work isn’t shiny.