My Chromebook is old and is about to stop updating. I need a bigger one than the one I have now too due to my eyesight getting worse because I'm in the early stages of macular degeneration. I'm a writer constantly researching everything and I need a reliable basic laptop that will allow me to continue my work. I also need an unlocked Android GMS 4G+ smartphone because the cheapo one that I have overheats and doesn't work well after I dropped it just one time. I need a smartphone because everything seems to require such, from banking to ordering food to using social media most effectively. And if I have enough money raised, I'd like to get a VPN for added security.
I don't need fancy, but I would prefer new so that I can get extended warranties and/or insurance for easier repair and replacement if necessary.
Writing is breathing to me, so I need a basic tool that allows me to do such. I prefer Chromebooks over PCs because they do the job and it's not as if I need massive gaming power or anything.
As to who I am? I live in a nursing care facility in Rhode Island. I've been in long-term care since July of 2021. I had uterine cancer diagnosed and treated in 2006 with radiation ending in January 2007. I had many pelvic radiation treatments and about fourteen years after they ended, I began having urinary issues. It turned out that my bladder and ureters were full of scar tissue and other crud that prevented my kidneys from draining properly. They're also too damaged to do possible repairs per my reconstructive urologist. In 2022 I had a percutaneous nephrostomy placed in each kidney so my kidneys could drain properly and keep working so as to prevent my going on dialysis for as long as possible. I'm extremely prone to infections now and if I get one anywhere in my body, all the latent infections wake up and try to kill me. I've been on pretty much every kind of antibiotic there is with the exception of sulfa-based ones due to my being severely allergic since July 2021. Eventually, I fear the antibiotics won't work anymore, but I'm trying to not dwell on that.
If you have a few dollars to spare to help a writer who has nothing but Medicaid have the basic tools needed to keep writing and researching and to stay connected to her friends and the world, I'd really appreciate it. I've looked at Chromebooks and am trying to figure out the kind of phone I need. Insurance and extended warranties aren't too expensive, thankfully.
My main request is that if you would undergo any hardship by helping me, please put yourself first. And any critters you belong to, of course.
Personal information about me -- Born and raised in North Carolina. I've lived in Memphis, north Mississippi, northwest Wisconsin, and Rhode Island. I spent over a decade working as a singer/actor in regional theatre, doing session work and singing in Memphis recording studios and nightclubs, and extra work in a half dozen films made in the mid-80s in Wilmington, NC. I can be seen in Blue Velvet in Ben's apartment when Dean Stockwell lip syncs to In Dreams, but I don't think I made it onto the screen in the other movies I worked on.
I went back to finish my BA at the U of Mississippi in my mid-30s. I have a Liberal Arts degree with a major in Southern Studies. I was first published in online lit zines beginning in 2000. I had a short-lived podcast that went kablooey because of my failing health.
I was my mother's sole caregiver for the last eleven years of her life, having left graduate school to do so. While caring for her, my uterine cancer symptoms and eventual diagnosis and treatment occurred. I've been through a great deal of medical trauma and personal trauma and now crave peace, quiet, and a safe place to be.
Many people want me to write about my life and I have several novels outlined and dozens of short stories dancing in my brain. That is why I need tools that will enable me to write, do research, and stay connected to the world.
My lifespan has been shortened due to my kidney and other health issues, but I know I have enough time to write what needs to get written. I
Thank you for reading. I figure if enough people toss in a few dollars that I'll be able to get what I need before long.
