Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

Last year, when my old PC kept breaking down, I invested in a laptop so I could continue blogging/writing.

It was a good plan I thought at the time, despite the fact that said laptop came with Windows 8 installed on it. Learning that was a nightmare, but I stubbornly persevered and business continued more or less as normal.

When the main PC finally shuffled off, I replaced it and stopped using the laptop as much, just in the evenings when I was curled up on the couch.

Two weeks ago, the laptop refused to charge and after investigation, it would seem the battery had died. All I had to do was change it.

I couldn’t really afford to have a professional do it, and had heard that it was possible to do it yourself, even though my laptop was one of the harder ones to handle.

I made sure to order the right battery and even found a site online with illustrated step-by-step instructions, so I was confident I could do it. Secretly, I was scared stiff, I mean, anything could go wrong. It usually did.

When the battery arrived, my stomach turned over and I didn’t want to open the box. The thought of what I intended to do was making me feel sick, but it was time to put my courage to the test.

First, I had to remove eleven screws from the base of the laptop. Then I had to carefully lever the laptop apart, being careful not to yank the connecting cable, but to pull it gently out of its connection.

Four more screws held the battery in place, and there were two more connecting cables. My confidence was building. I was actually doing it!

All I had to do now, was reverse the process. Sounded simple, didn’t it?

But it wasn’t plain sailing. The screws were all different sizes and the instructions hadn’t indicated which ones went where. I hadn’t thought to make a note of it either. But the hardest part was joining the new connectors, stupid strips of plastic with a set of metal teeth on one side that you had to shove into even weirder looking places.

After ten agonising minutes, when I thought I would have to give up, I managed to do it and the laptop looked the same as before. Nothing left over or sticking out so I took a very deep breath and plugged in the charger.

I didn’t have a clue how long it would need. So gave it an hour and then I switched the laptop on. Hard to do with all my fingers crossed by the way, but as I watched, the screen flickered into life and my screensaver appeared.

I couldn’t believe it, I had successfully managed to do one of the most complicated procedures I have ever come across. My ego doubled in size, and I was unbearably boring for the rest of the day, patting myself on the back.