Fifty dollars later...

The charger on my computer is working, nothing wrong with the power cords except that they keep twisting themselves up.  I don't know why. None of my other electric cords behave that way.  A nice young man at A+ Computers ran some diagnostic tests, and showed me his trick for untwisting cords (so evidently I'm not the only one with this problem).  He agreed with me that the best real fix would be to replace the old dead battery with one I can actually charge so I won't be dragging the cord from desk to sofa and back again.  I looked briefly, and a little longingly, at the new computers they had on display, but, after seeing the prices (yikes!) decided a $50 investment in a new battery is my best decision right now.  The older I get, the more I believe in keeping old things running as lomg as possible.  The battery has been ordered and should be here in a week or so.  He didn't say why they didn't have one in stock.  I suspect that it has something to do with the age and/or model of my computer.  Ah well, such is life for computers and gray haired ladies.