I’ll be the first to admit it – I was the guy your parents warned you about. The professional loafer. A master in the art of doing absolutely nothing. My CV was a tragicomedy of failed attempts and fired-on-the-first-day disasters. I couldn’t hold down a job if it was superglued to my hands. My days...

It all started because of my oldest son’s broken laptop. The thing was on its last legs for months, chugging and whirring like an old tractor every time he tried to do his homework. He needed it for his university applications, and we just didn't have the extra three hundred bucks for a new one, not...