So, Hill has actually allowed Dave to be here on a weekday to help fix my computer situation. (And is wondering if he'll be here when she returns- that depends on how long it takes to fix all the disasters of late, I think.) Even funnier is she asked him to help her move stuff and stay here for the week before she leaves!

Anyway, he came last night and promptly got into grumbling at my room's lack of spic-and-span-ness as he hunted for CD's. I'm amazed he can act like it's any kind of surprise that my stuff piles up and no, I don't have a Proper Place to Put It AWAY.

For the record, I may have a lot of stuff and not know where to put it and be lazy about putting it away, but I have NEVER:

(a) left food lying around on the floor, for weeks.

(b) left the entire floor strewn with food, clothes, and animal dung.

(c) had to warn people that if they left their glasses unattended for a second, a cockroach might crawl in.

He's got friends who have done this. So I am not NEARLY that bad. Nor am I as bad as my grandmother and grandfather, whose house took about five months to clean out because rooms like the garage were so filled with stuff one could barely walk through. So there.

I just want to cry hard.

The problem with getting a replacement computer is that suddenly, you're constantly having to buy new crap left and right. And of course, at least half of it isn't compatible with the old crap any more, forcing you to buy MORE replacement stuff.

Meanwhile, my old computer has seriously started DISINTEGRATING. It was working relatively fine (for it) 24 hours ago, and now? Hah hah fucking hah hah. It probably would have stayed relatively fine had I not tried to mess with it.

Given the state it's in, I'm tempted to be honest with my mother and tell her that everything started to break at once and I had to get a laptop NOW, hah hah. Course, I'm not totally stupid, and know that she would consider that NO acceptable excuse and would rather I go without a computer for six months at this point in time, so I won't.

(And the laptop seems to be crashing an awful lot after I got home from work, I barely touched it and suddenly it starts to load very slowly...my Bad Computer Karma has obviously kicked in within 48 hours of my possessing it!)

My issues can be discussed in lists:

Things Done To Attempt To Get DSL To Work On My Laptop:

1. Installing new DSL software onto laptop. No connection gotten.

2. Digging up old DSL install CD and installing it onto laptop. Laptop was extremely unhappy with this.

3. Called tech support and found out that we'll have to buy a completely new DSL modem now. No, they won't send me a free one the way they used to.

Things That Have Crashed Beyond Repair Or Are Likely To Soon Because We Started Fucking With The Junker, And Now No Longer Work When We Still Need Them!:

1. The virus program, which has only worked about once a month, has found some virus. However, it won't DO anything about said virus (see next list).

2. The monitor is now starting to short out.

3. The DSL connection has now become hopelessly corrupted and won't allow us to reinstall it.

4. The USB ports now crash the computer if anything is plugged into them.

5. Any of the copyrighted mp3's can't be gotten off of the junker because I can't get an Internet connection to work on it.

Things I Have Utterly Wasted Money On In Attempts To Fix This Mess:

1. PC Remover program, $50, which we can't use because of the aforementioned virus that won't get off the computer. Dave is attempting to get things off and burn them onto CD's.

2. Virus program that only intermittently connects to the Internet to actually check for viruses, $50.

3. DSL router. I was going to send Dave to go pick me up one after lunch today. The options for shopping for ones compatible with SBC are Radio Shack and Office Max, the latter of which is located quite far off. He was all "I don't wanna go out there, can't I just go to Radio Shack?", but the RS here SUCKS horribly. Finally, we negotiated a compromise- I picked up a DSL modem in the school bookstore with my employee discount. Of course, the return policy is if it's unopened. He opened it up and THAT's when he discovered it was a router, NOT a modem. Fuck, $60ish wasted on that AND I'm stuck wrestling Hill for the dialup for the rest of the month.

As Dave pointed out, I am VERY UNPLEASANT TO DEAL WITH when I don't have a (preferably constant) net connection. Actually, what he said was, "Man, it's a good thing you don't do any drugs, because you'd be so bad if you didn't have a supply."

This is such a great time for me to be wasting money left, right, and center, too. Plus it's like, what ELSE am I going to have to replace soon? Will any of my old programs switch over or am I fucked?

Even worse, we went around looking for replacement modems in town and found NONE. And I finally went and checked my bank balance after buying the debacle and...OUCH. Holy fucking ouch. I know I made a big purchase this month and then had to buy other things, but...ouch. I could make it for the rest of the month and not raid the meager savings, but not with much cushion left. Good thing the university owes me some back pay by the start of August, but still. Makes me wonder about vacation plans. And no matter what I'd done with my money at this point, I will have to ask Mommy for money if the state doesn't pass a budget and I have no roommate. I REALLY need to stay on her good side this summer...

I'm trying to sell off the router to get some money back, but have my doubts anyone needs one in this crowd. (Gah, the idea of braving eBay...ergh) Dave is also talking about cannibalizing the junker and selling off the parts, but who knows if the thing won't have just gone up in flames before that happens.

Incidentally, one good piece of news today: Dave's grandma? Not dying AT ALL. She's got benign nodes, not tumors, not malignant, it was all a mindfuck. The family is discussing suing for malpractice because she was so convinced she was going to die. Oy.

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