The recent revelation that Apple will soon abandon iTunes has me thinking about replacing our seven-year-old desktop computer, a Windows model with massive hard-disk capacity made largely redundant by cloud storage services. I have always admired Apple design — yes, I know they are expensive, but so is replacing our hardware every few years — and I am tempted, finally, to buy an iMac and leave Windows behind. While decluttering the bank account of too much money, I would also lose that clunky tower and its tangle of dust-trapping cables.

I have been sick for a week — bronchitis again — and am now in the olfactory shutdown phase of respiratory hell. Himself, always a bad sleeper, is even more disturbed than I am by the loud bouts of coughing that punctuate my night. Decamping to the guest room does not help, as he can be rousted from sleep by a sparrow stamping on the eavestrough.

In this state, I fall asleep randomly and have the attention span of a gnat; consequently, no housework has been done since last Sunday. Outside is a different story; Steve the Garden Guy appeared the other day and wrought wondrous things in a few hours of frenetic work with spade and clippers.