Heroin Laptop

I finally bought my very own-just-for-me-brand new laptop in January of this year. It was a treat to me with the scholarship money I get for being such an awesome student. We have been inseparable ever since. This isn’t hard to believe when you think about all we can use our computers for nowadays.

I write blogs… on my laptop.

I correspond with family and friends… on my laptop.

I listen to music and watch movies… on my laptop.

I pay bills, reserve library books, and shop… on my laptop.

I do schoolwork and attend classes… on my laptop.

And I play games… on my laptop.

I love my laptop. It goes with me all around the house. If I’m baking in the kitchen, it sits on the table and plays music. I have a baking playlist on iTunes… don’t judge me. If we’re in the family room watching TV, my laptop sits on my lap so I can chat with friends or write blogs. Well, not exactly on my lap, but on a breakfast-in-bed tray which sits on my lap.

Donny has started referring to the laptop as my heroin. If we were headed downstairs to watch a movie I’d carry Jack and ask Donny to grab the laptop. Once seated on the couch he’d plug it in and then reach over to slap my arm. The first time he did it I asked, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Looking for a vein.”

Smartass.

Recently, I’ve found a new use for my laptop that has caused Donny to insist that I’ve taken it one. step. too. far. I’ve begun taking my laptop with me when I leave the house. Now you may be thinking, “Well, Nina… that’s what they’re for. They’re portable. It’s not unusual to take your laptop outside the house. They even make cute little carrying cases for them.”

Yeah, but most people take their laptops to work, or to the library to study, or to Starbucks so they can sit in the corner sipping lattes all day and pretentiously work on their “novels.”
Most people don’t take their laptops to Walmart.

To be fair, I don’t take it with me in Walmart. Just to Walmart. I leave it in the car while we shop. It started out that I wanted to be able to play those highly addictive Diner Dash style games on the ride to my Dad’s house. Then I wanted to listen to the music on my iTunes instead of the crappy radio or Donny’s even crappier CDs. Since he’s taken his sweet time installing a stereo that is iPod compatible this can easily be construed as being his fault. And you know… the more I think about it… he’s responsible for my laptop addiction reaching its next high (no pun intended.)

We were out volunteering for the Obama campaign one day when we realized we needed an address off of their website. So, Donny pulled into a Starbucks’ parking lot and we used their wireless from the car so that I could look up what we needed. Next thing you know I’m obsessed with logging on to other people’s wireless connections… from my car. The worst example came while driving back from Jack’s physical therapy appointment a month ago.

Donny’s driving, I’m in the passenger seat, and the kids are in the back. We stop at a red light.

“Why the hell do all these businesses have wireless with limited connectivity?”

“What?”

“Well, I’m able to connect to their servers ok, but I can’t get on the internet cause it says limited connectivity.”

“Who are you talking about?!”

“This Applebee’s right here.” I point out the window to the Applebee’s next to me.

“Did you really just try to connect to the internet… at a red light?”

“Yeah.”

“Why!?”

“Uh, to check my email,” I replied as if it were the most rationale thing.

Donny just shook his head.

“Junkie.”

I’ve begun taking my laptop with me to the bathroom. Don’t judge me!

Note: What Donny doesn’t know is that I’ll be buying him  his very own-just-for-him-brand-spanking-new laptop in a few weeks. We’ll see who the junkie is then!

So, what’s your electronic addiction?