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Finally fixed the website connectivity issue on my trusty 2009 MacBook Pro. This the benefit of leaving it for a year, then attempting it on a day my head is at its clearest. Otherwise known as Christmas afternoon of the non-celebrant.

Inspired by scoping refurbished computers for a niece in Turkey, wondering if I can really recommend an older bargain-basement model given the known Chain of Trust issue with root certificates.

The good news is that it can be fixed, courtesy of Let’s Encrypt providing the root certificates to be installed locally on the aging machine itself. Enter the ubiquitous USB key for transporting the certificates to the internet-isolated device. And voilà.

You may think, “What’s the big deal? That laptop is ancient!” Which may be true in the fast-paced world of tech. But the thing about this laptop is it has a gorgeous keyboard, which is a big deal if you fancy yourself as a writer (warranted or not).

In recent years, in their mission to make devices ever thinner and lighter, laptop keyboards have been pretty rotten, with poor key travel and noisy switches. I know some people like the clickety-clack while hammering out a missive, but it’s not for me.

So we’re back in business, although that’s no guarantee I will return to writing. But it’s the thought that counts: the possibility. The idea that I could set myself down in a quiet corner — perhaps in the shed at the bottom of the garden — and finish something old or start something new.

This is a device founded on compromise, running an operating system released nearly a decade ago, and the last version of Word which supports it, released six years ago. In my head, I think, “If this was good enough for writers fifteen years ago, it is good enough for me today.”

I mean, does the march of technological progress change the speed at which the writer thinks? The laptop in question was my father’s, utilised for writing his doctoral thesis on the future of the rural church. Now it is mine, utilised for starting things in moments of impetus.

In its first few years with me it was a Linux Mint machine running OnlyOffice; a perfectly competent desktop stack. What pushed me back to a more mainstream setup was reliable integration with my preferred cloud file storage provider. All good, until it wasn’t.

So thank goodness for the quiet and calm of a Christmas afternoon, setting off a light bulb in my brain. Thanks to a chain of thought that started with me researching a computer for a niece, my go-to writing laptop has been salvaged.

But fear not, I’m only a spendthrift when it comes to tech for myself. No, I’m not going to burden a relative with some ancient tech they can’t support. Everyone else gets the very best from me. By the time I fly, they will be kitted out with all they need to complete their education. Inshallah.