While getting work done at Lisa's father's house this morning, I restored my personal laptop computer to a semblance of normality, using the clone that I'd sent here to Oregon when I headed off on the road trip. Once again, the non-booting drive could be read when attached as an external device, but wouldn't boot, so once again I have not lost any data, but have had considerable annoyance. I need another computer; I'm considering looking for a used Dell laptop, as I don't really need a top-of-the-line machine, and would prefer to have something compatible with the half-dozen batteries and multiple power supplies I already have in stock, rather than having to start all over and load me down with more techno-junk.
While waiting around in Denver, I discovered that there is a hole in my computer backpack. I could seal it by zipping up the expansion joint, but this morning while unpacking, I couldn't find my small USB hub that I had taken with me. I called the hotel just in case I might have left it behind there, but they didn't have it, so I expect it dropped out of the bottom of my bag along the way. It's not a huge loss, but a minor annoyance. If someone does find it and is honest, they'll call me, because it has my name and phone number on it.