Happy Birthday Jim.
And I see I have a tropical storm named after me -- or is it the female Chris that the storm is named after? Alberto, Beryl, Chris.... Alberto is male, so, I guess Beryl is female and Chris is male. What an honor...
I have used a laptop exclusively since 92 or so, and oddly, each time I go to buy a laptop, I end up with a Toshiba. I believe I'll have an Intel Mac Laptop next time though.
What I do is push the laptop back about 12-18 inches on the desk and let my forearms rest on the desk so there isn't as much of an angle on my wrists which is supposed to prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Then, the chair is adjusted so that my back is straight and my arms are at a 45 degree angle, which reduces the angle considerably. I'm able to sit there for 16-20 hours without any back or neck pain. Whether that is a good thing or not, I don't know. At least with back or neck pain I would get up from the computer from time to time.
It is pretty easy to hook up an external keyboard and monitor to my machine, though I haven't done that. With today's USB keyboards and the external monitor port, if your main machine is dead, buy a USB keyboard and plug it in where your main machine is...
or use it as an excuse for a day off.
Pardon me, I must go buy some petrol. Seems my fuel delivery guy didn't, and I seem to be threatening.