YOU may have noticed that my usual, Sedbergh and Dent District news columns, are missing this week. I’ll explain.

The necessary equipment went on the blink, i.e. the PC. It really had me worried.

I did my best to settle myself to the possibility that I had lost everything on it while cursing myself for not having saved certain things on to a disc.

Here in Sedbergh like in most places there are special individuals who possess magical powers over these machines and are able to touch a few keys and fix what you have been sweating blood over all day.

My friend ‘Mike the Web’, is one such person. So I asked if he could assess the damage.

At first the diagnosis was not too promising but he added reassuringly that I probably hadn’t lost everything.

As it turned out it was just a simple problem that he put right in a matter of minutes. Oh, the relief, I could have kissed him.

There is so much drivel on this machine that I believe I need and can not do without it‘s ridiculous.

If it vanished it would be like losing my purse, replaceable but painful.

I feel vaguely ashamed of how much I rely on this device, but I’m confident I’m not alone in this.

I think it may have something to do with the notable human trait of not wanting to miss anything.

Consequently, I spend half my day answering emails.

Roughly six months ago I fished out my long forgotten bodice ripping, blockbuster novel and had it transferred from floppy disc, (that’s how long ago I wrote it), on to CD.

It was my New Year’s resolution to revisit the story and use my improved editing skills to rework it.

Trouble is my PC offers so many distractions I haven’t even looked at it yet.