My work laptop is starting to show its age. I got it after the house was burgled, in early 2018, so it’s almost 5 years old. The battery is becoming unreliable, and after the last round of Windows updates, some parts of the dock stopped working. Which is bizarre, to my mind – the dock is a box which translates signals from many cables into one, and its functionality should have nothing whatsoever to do with the OS version of the computer listening to its signals, but it is what it is.

I put in a request for a new computer, and today I picked up my replacement laptop at the 13|37 office. And then realized I’d have to bring it home somehow. It came in an ordinary cardboard shipping box, and at first I thought I’d just tuck the box under my arm. Then I realized that I’d surely be tempted to put it down at some point during all the standing and waiting of my commute, and last time I did that with an extra piece of luggage that I don’t usually have to keep track of, I forgot it on the train… It would be quite unfortunate to lose my computer on the first day. So I repacked my backpack until I could fit both my usual equipment and the new stuff inside. Had to leave some other things in the office, but I managed to fit all the essentials.

Walking around with it in public was uncomfortable for body and mind, given that its contents weighed a tonne and were worth about 40,000 SEK or thereabouts. I imagined walking around with 40,000 SEK of cash on me, and kept anxiously hugging the backpack to myself when I sat on the train. It was a relief to get home and put down the weight, literal and figurative.