Okay, so I'm a couple of screens short of the real deal and totally clueless about the stock market; my play acting is just me trying to feel better about the technical difficulties I'm currently facing.

Transitioning from my much-loved but tired laptop to my shiny new one, I find that so many documents I need are neatly tucked away in the drawers of my beloved filing cabinet - otherwise known as my email system - which I'm struggling to access.

I know exactly where everything is in there, and I miss that old familiar face.

With my retiring laptop down to the battery life of a small child's attention span and literally falling apart, I need to complete changeover before I lose everything.

Even though my new laptop is gorgeous, I feel completely helpless trying to find my way around the systems and make them do what I need, in a way that I like.

Without a 17-year-old daughter to help me, there is no doubt I would have had to seek professional advice.

In the time it took me to fold two baskets of washing and get another wheelbarrow load of wood for the fire, my eldest had my emails coming through like a dream and a lovely screen saver set-up; my three offspring posing like Charlies' Angels on their first day of school this year... just seeing that photo every time I open up is making me like my new machine more.

My precious first born didn't even moan and groan about helping me - like I did about folding the washing -she just tappity-tapped away, delving deep into my distant past to help me rediscover passwords, then found a way around it when I couldn't.

I have no idea how people without helpful teenagers are keeping up, although I suppose if they didn't take years out of the system to teach a small group of clients how to use cutlery, toilet and dress themselves, speak a language and be a good helper, they'd have had all that extra time to stay in touch.

My investment has been totally worth it.

Don't need any screens to tell me that.