Our computer keyboard died unexpectedly. When the 14-year-old announced its demise, I promptly went to fix the problem by rebooting (which worked the last time the keyboard started getting temperamental). So when the little box for the password popped up, I typed the password, and the little stars representing the letters of the password popped up just fine too — but the “Enter” key would not work. Either of them. (The “Backspace” key was also dead, as were the “Caps Lock” and “Num Lock.” Strangely, all the actual letter keys seemed to be working, though.)

For a few seconds, I contemplated the misery of being without computer access until at least Friday…when I can afford to replace a keyboard. After shoving that horrible vision aside to make way for the possibility of solutions, I hit upon a brilliant scheme! I asked my offspring to run up to her room and retrieve the keyboard from her computer (which is currently non-functioning, anyway).

A few minutes later, everything was up and running smoothly. Except for the part where I’m used to an ergonomic keyboard, and therefore feel like my fingers are constantly bumping into one another and typing makes my shoulders feel hunched even when I’m deliberately sitting up straight. I’d forgotten how uncomfortable and awkward typing on a standard keyboard is…