We are in Fancourt, staying at my brother Alon’s place here. He is here with us too. And Lisa and Aras are also here. They all came down with us from Johannesburg to settle us in. I was once here in Fancourt a long time ago, for a weekend. I think that was about 20 years ago. It is raining now, and we just finished some load shedding.

Last night my old faithful Dell laptop died on me. I was on the phone with Dell support this morning early and they said it sounds like the motherboard is poked. It is still raining … pouring.

One way I am dealing with the nightmare of this insane war is to write. I make so many notes all the time. There are so many observations, and a tidal wave of emotions, all bundled with exhaustion and confusion. So to have my laptop go kaput now is just the pits. I am now using Alon’s laptop and they are all in the lounge listening to ABBA music and playing Jenga. It is still raining. But the electricity is back on so everything is ok.

After I chatted with the Dell support man in India, who was very friendly and on-the-ball, we drove to the mall, about 15 minutes away, and we went to the Incredible Connection and looked at the laptops there. I have always worked on an IBM compatible PC, but never on a Mac. I know, I know. And then, with a burst of inspiration that came from Luke, our brother in Cape Town, who was on a Garden Route solo bike trip, the decision was made: we purchased a MacBook Air. They didn’t have stock in the shop – it should arrive Monday or Tuesday. Bye bye PC … hello Apple laptop.

After what we have been through recently I didn’t things could get any more stressful, but when your work is mainly involving a keyboard, having your laptop konk out is just not cool. But not the end of the world. Just a proper pain in the ass, and a waste of time and some money. Soon I will be a Mac person. I am told by all Apple fans that I am going to love it after a few days of getting familiar with the MacOS.

I hope to be up and running again soon with a new laptop, and then I can try and write some more. Meanwhile, in Ukraine there are much bigger problems than my stupid laptop. Please God this nightmare war ends soon.