Stardate 09.29.2026
This morning, I woke up to a dead MacBook Pro.
Completely dead.
There was one small piece of good news.
At the end of the two-day DoNotAge® longevity conference, their technology team had reset my password so I could get back into my longevity account. I was in a hurry to get to church that evening and failed to write down the new password.
This morning, when I discovered the laptop was dead, I thought I had another problem waiting for me when I finally got it powered up.
Then I checked my phone.
There was an email from the DoNotAge® technology team offering me a temporary reset password for my account, which contains all the new information from the conference.
One problem solved.
Then I looked at the MacBook.
Nothing.
The power pack I had been relying on appeared to be nearly dead as well. I was six time zones from my comfort zone back home, in unfamiliar territory in London, and suddenly the computer that had been my connection to my writing, my work, my family, and the rest of my journey was gone.
This was a problem.
I went downstairs and met Rafael in the hotel lobby before breakfast. I explained what had happened and how important the computer was to my journey. I told him I wanted to live long and prosper. I also wanted to make it home without getting lost or missing my flight.
Rafael listened.
Then he sent me across the street.
First came breakfast. A scrumptious breakfast, as it turned out.
Then I gathered everything I had: the dead MacBook Pro, the power pack, every wire I had been carrying, and my bulky Insignia travel unit.
I walked into Kingcross Computer Center looking like a man bringing a patient into the emergency room.
The man helping me was from Iran. He examined the equipment and gave me the look a doctor gives you when he suspects there may be trouble.
Only for a moment.
Then he asked to see my MacBook power cord.
I handed him the big one that was still attached to the Insignia.
He looked at it.
Then he pulled off the small piece containing the American plug.
He reached for a UK plug.
He snapped it into place.
Then he plugged it in.
Boom.
The warp engines fired up.
The MacBook came back to life.
The same thing happened with the power pack.
Suddenly, I had power.
I had speed.
I had a lifeline.
Twenty minutes earlier, the system had been completely dead. Now the power level was climbing through 29 percent and continuing upward.
The problem had been the plug configuration.
Sometimes the answer is sitting right in front of you.
Sometimes you need another person to see it.
I took pictures of both men because I don't want to forget them.
Rafael didn't fix my computer. He listened when I explained how critical this was to my journey and pointed me toward someone who could help.
And the man at Kingcross Computer Center solved the mystery for £10.
I'm still six time zones from home.
I still have a flight to catch later this week.
I still have to navigate London.
I still miss my family.
But this morning, something changed.
My computer is alive.
My power pack is charging.
My phone has power.
My password problem has a temporary solution.
And I have warp speed capability for the remainder of my journey.
I came to London to live long and prosper.
This morning, three different acts of help came together: the DoNotAge® technology team, Rafael in the hotel lobby, and a computer technician from Iran across the street.
I don't want to forget any of them.
Sometimes prosperity looks like a successful investment or a great opportunity.
Sometimes it looks like a temporary password arriving on your phone.
Sometimes it looks like a UK plug snapped onto an American power adapter.
And sometimes, when you're far from home, prosperity looks like someone simply saying:
I've got you.
I was reminded this morning that help can arrive through very ordinary people and very ordinary moments.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” — Proverbs 3:5
Join me here:
https://substack.com/@michaelmulliganlivelong
Captain's Addendum
Bones: “Michael, remind me again why you carried every wire you own across London?”
Spock: “Because, Doctor, his survival instincts appear to be improving.”
Bones: “I'll give him that.”
Sometimes the journey gives us a problem we cannot solve from our own perspective. Then someone appears who sees the one thing we missed.
This morning, that one thing was a UK plug.
And somehow, the warp engines are running again.
Stumbling forward, one percent better, one day at a time.
🖖
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