It's a High Tech Life--UPDATED

When we last met, I had every intention of spending Labor Day weekend in labor--the light manual kind.

I was going to pack up all the china and glassware in my kitchen cupboards so the construction guys could come crowbar them off the walls.

But in one of those "for want of a nail, a shoe was lost" scenarios, I spent the weekend dejunking my study, packing things up for the thrift shop, moving furniture, and bringing crap down to the basement. And completely ignoring the kitchen.

See, my husband was using my old iMac for his iPod. And the iMac had been wheezing and groaning for a while. It had reached the point where it was doing the Macintosh equivalent of the Blue Screen of Death every other time he used it. So after spending yet another frustrating evening trying to get things to work, he decided to buy a new computer.

So off he went to the Apple store. And came home with the newest model iMac. With stereo speakers, a 24-inch screen, a Terabyte of memory, and an adapter so you can hitch it up to cable and watch this thing that you, Internet, are always talking about. You know, called "television."



I sent my husband away thinking we would simply swap one computer for another and get back to business. And he could help me pack dishes while listening to his updated iPod.

Foolish me. See, the thing is, a 24-inch screen begs to be watched. And not just alone, but with other people. And that meant some things needed to be added to my study. Like comfortable seating. And order. And cleanliness.

So it was out with the old, and in with the new. The trash went out. The recycling went out. The rummage-y crap went to the porch to await a drop-off day



The metric ton of crap that needs to be gone through or put into indefinite storage went to the basement.



And up and down, up and down, up and down I went, like a plastic bird dipping its beak in a glass of water.

So now, I have a nice new computer



in a tidy study



as long as you don't look too closely at the top of my desk



and I may never go outside again. And not because I'll be sucked into the new computer (although I will.)

It's because I still have to pack up those damned dishes. Because UPDATE: the construction company wants to demo the kitchen on Thursday. But I talked them into Friday, instead.

p.s. Moving boxes and bags of crap around counts as a Weight Watchers activity. A loss of 2.2 pounds says so.