Here I am working on a laptop without a battery. I knew it was coming but had to wait until the battery was almost completely drained to notify Chris, the IT Director, who promptly extracted it. Now the extra utility of a laptop is essentially eliminated--soon after the old battery was garnered, I thoughtlessly yanked the power cord on my way to a meeting and got an involuntary power down; having rebooted in the conference room, I was tethered to the wall unless I chose to power down again (so I claimed the room for the rest of the day); and just moments ago at home, I had to strategically plan computer placement for the evening: the living room sofa. No alternating between the office and the sofa. No documentation on the front step with my cat. No bedtime email … I mean, sure I could do these things, but restarting the machine is a major deterrent.  

Ah, well Chris is on it. Overnight is tolerable, but the marked disutility of a laptop without a battery is worth a second thought for the sake of appreciating a fully charged machine.