I�m suffering from phantom keyboard syndrome.

You know how when people have a limb amputated they often feel like it�s still there? The same thing has been happening to me all weekend with my computer.

My shiny, zippy, not at all very old iBook was stolen, along with both my cameras, when some bastard broke into our house on Friday. Betty's lap top and a few other bits and pieces also went.

All in all it could have been a whole lot worse. I had backed up all my writing from the computer in February, and have only been working on my one book since then. Which, thankfully, given I have to submit it to the competition this week, I had put on disk last week and was carrying around in my hand bag rather than my computer bag.

Also, they didn�t trash the house or go through very much of our stuff, and it was all insured.

Of course I�m told they quite often like to come back to the same house a couple of weeks later and do it over again, so I won�t exactly be relaxed about it for some time, but relatively speaking I�m pretty calm. Neither of us slept on Friday night, but I slept like a stone for most of the rest of the weekend, so the initial nerves have worn off. Though I�m not looking forward to opening the front door this evening, but that can�t be avoided, so I�ll just have to take a deep breath and go for it.

Over the course of the weekend there were more than half a dozen times when I went to reach for my computer. To make a note, to look something up, to re-read something. Not having it there was so strange. I haven�t been without one computer or another at home since about 1988, and have had my own lap tops since 1995. It is so strange not to have it there.

By the end of the weekend I had made several notes in the notebook I carry around with me all the time for jotting down ideas etc, but it simply wasn�t the same to be sitting on the couch doing that instead of typing them up.

Mind you, I did manage to bash my hand opening the oven yesterday which has resulted in the top of my left index finger being quite bruised, and the top of my left middle finger being cut quite badly in two places, so typing wasn�t at the top of my list of favoured activities by the end of the day. (I�m typing this basically one-handed.)

On top of all of that, someone also backed into our front fence and took out one pillar and about a quarter of the brick fence. Didn�t leave a note or anything either, just put the pillar back on, sideways, and dumped the broken bricks in the garden. Also, the washing machine broke down two weeks ago and the repairman is waiting for a part from Sydney before he can fix it. This week hopefully, because I�m feeling like I�ve just moved out of home, lugging giant bags of laundry around to Dad�s to do.

On the good luck side of the ledger I did get a bargain on a fantastic 9 piece saucepan set yesterday, but I�m thinking that perhaps I might be owed a little more good fortune. I�m hoping so, anyway, given that I�m flying to Brisbane this Friday. Now, let�s see: the washing machine broke down on a Friday, the fence got run down on a Friday, and the house got broken into on a Friday. Should I be flying on a Friday, or have I used up my back luck quota?

I really hope I�ve used up the quota.